VesselsFlow / Manuals AI

From manuals to PMS-ready data in hours, not months

Drag and drop your vessel's scanned or digital PDF manuals. Manuals AI reads text, tables and drawings to extract equipment details, maintenance jobs, spare parts, torque values, operating limits and lubricant specifications. Get structured Excel files ready for your PMS and ERP, with every row linked to its source page.

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DMS-30_instruction_manual.pdf

The manual, page 4

4. Planned maintenance schedule

Check gear oil level and condition ~~Weekly~~

Clean the sludge outlet, check discharge ~~Monthly~~

Intermediate service (IS): clean bowl and disc stack, renew bowl seals ~~2 000 h~~

Major service (MS): IS plus spindle bearings, friction pads, flat belt ~~8 000 h~~

Change gear lubricating oil ~~1 500 h or 6 months~~

Clean feed pump strainer ~~Monthly~~

Calibrate water transducer WT-2 ~~12 months~~

What comes out

Equipment	Job	Interval	Page
Separator	Check gear oil	1 week	p. 4
Sludge outlet	Clean, check discharge	1 month	p. 4
Separator bowl	Intermediate service	2,000 h	p. 4
Bowl spindle	Major service	8,000 h	p. 4
Gear housing	Change lube oil	1,500 h / 6 mo	p. 4
Feed pump	Clean strainer	1 month	p. 4
Water transducer	Calibrate WT-2	12 months	p. 4

7 jobs, 12 spare parts, 6 torques from 7 pages

From PDF to structured Excel in three steps

Skip manual data entry and lengthy implementation projects. Process a single manual or upload forty at once.

Drop your manuals. Start the process.

Drag and drop your PDFs and assign them to the vessel and equipment. Manuals AI takes over, using OCR to read scanned pages.

Let AI do the reading.

AI processes text, tables and technical drawings page by page in the background. Close your browser and return when you're ready.

Review. Export. Put your data to work.

Verify extracted data against its source pages, make any corrections and download structured Excel files for your PMS or ERP.

From a page in the manual to a row in your spreadsheet

Explore a sample fuel oil separator manual alongside the structured Excel data extracted from it. This example uses a demonstration document.

Input: page 7 of the DMS-30 separator manual, the spare parts list.

Equipment	Part no.	Description	Qty	Drawing	Page
Separator bowl	DMS-30-1101	Bowl hood seal ring	1	30-100	p. 7
Separator bowl	DMS-30-1102	Sliding bowl bottom seal ring	1	30-100	p. 7
Separator bowl	DMS-30-1103	O-ring, distributor	2	30-100	p. 7
Separator bowl	DMS-30-1110	Disc stack, complete	1	30-100	p. 7
Bowl spindle	DMS-30-2201	Spindle top bearing	1	30-200	p. 7
Bowl spindle	DMS-30-2202	Spindle bottom bearing	1	30-200	p. 7
Drive	DMS-30-2210	Friction pad set	1	30-200	p. 7
Drive	DMS-30-2215	Flat belt	1	30-200	p. 7
Feed pump FP-30	DMS-30-3310	Feed pump strainer element	1	30-300	p. 7
Kits	DMS-30-K-IS	Intermediate service kit (items 1, 2, 3)	1	–	p. 7

Job	Interval	Trigger	Responsible	Spares	Page
Check gear oil level and condition	1 week	Calendar	3rd Engineer	–	p. 4
Clean sludge outlet, check discharge function	1 month	Calendar	3rd Engineer	–	p. 4
Intermediate service: clean bowl and disc stack, renew bowl seals	2,000 h	Running hours	2nd Engineer	DMS-30-K-IS	p. 4
Major service: renew spindle bearings, friction pads, flat belt	8,000 h	Running hours	2nd Engineer	DMS-30-K-MS	p. 4
Change gear lubricating oil	1,500 h / 6 months	Whichever first	3rd Engineer	–	p. 4
Calibrate water transducer WT-2	12 months	Calendar	ETO	–	p. 4
Check bowl spindle vibration	3 months	Calendar	2nd Engineer	–	p. 4

Joint / measurement	Thread	Value	Note	Page
Cap nut, bowl spindle	M20	85 Nm	Lubricated thread	p. 5
Motor flange bolts	M12	70 Nm	Dry	p. 5
Frame hood bolts	M10	40 Nm	Dry	p. 5
Feed pump cover screws	M8	22 Nm	Tighten crosswise	p. 5
Bowl lock ring	LH special	0-marks aligned	Spanner T-301	p. 5
Bowl spindle height	–	42.0 ± 0.5 mm	Gauge T-310	p. 5

Parameter	Normal	Warning	Action	Page
Spindle vibration velocity	< 7.1 mm/s	7.1 mm/s	Stop above 11 mm/s	p. 4
Separation temperature, HFO	98 ± 2 °C	–	Raise temperature if water in clean oil	p. 2, 6
Back pressure, clean oil outlet	1.5–2.0 bar	High back pressure alarm	Open valve, clean outlet line	p. 2, 6
Operating water pressure	2–6 bar	–	Check if oil leaks at sludge outlet	p. 2, 6
Motor current, running	approx. 17 A	–	Feed only after full speed	p. 3

Point	Lubricant	Quantity	Change	Page
Spindle gear housing	ISO VG 220	4.5 l	1,500 h or 6 months	p. 2, 4

Sample output, DMS-30 separatorEvery row links back to its page

One manual, all the data you need

Each one is an Excel file your technical department already knows how to read. Pick the sheets you need for each manual.

Equipment register

Organised records of machinery, systems, manufacturers, models and technical specifications.

Planned maintenance

Maintenance tasks with service intervals, running-hour triggers and condition-based requirements.

Spare parts

Part numbers, descriptions and quantities, linked to their reference drawings.

Clearances and torques

Nominal values, tolerances, wear limits, tightening torques and hydraulic pressures.

Alarms and operating limits

Set points, alarm thresholds and shutdown values for equipment monitoring.

Lubrication data

Lubricant grades, quantities and change intervals, ready for your vessel's lubrication chart.

Overhaul procedures

Step-by-step instructions ready to build into maintenance jobs.

Technical images and drawings

Drawings and exploded views extracted from manual pages, classified and linked to the relevant equipment.

Fleet-wide parts index

A searchable index of part numbers from every manual, across your fleet's machinery and vessels.

Nothing is approved until your engineer approves it

Review every extracted row alongside the manufacturer's wording and source page. Correct values, confirm accurate entries, add notes or create additional rows where needed. Your edits and additions are included in the final export.

The manual's data + New rowDownload Excel

#	Equipment	Maintenance job	Interval	Page	Status
1	Separator	Check gear oil level and condition	1 week	p. 4	Verified
2	Separator bowl	Intermediate service: clean bowl and disc stack, renew bowl seals	~~2,500 h~~ 2,000 h	p. 4	Corrected
	Maker's wording “Intermediate service (IS): clean bowl and disc stack, renew bowl seals (IS kit). Interval 2 000 h.” Correction 2,500 h read from a smudged scan; corrected to 2,000 h by the 2nd Engineer. Note Use kit DMS-30-K-IS. Last done at 13,300 h.
3	Bowl spindle	Major service: bearings, friction pads, flat belt	8,000 h	p. 4	Verified
4	Gear housing	Change gear lubricating oil	1,500 h / 6 months	p. 4	Verified
5	Water transducer	Calibrate WT-2	12 months	p. 4	Unverified

Stop searching manuals, ask them

Ask questions in plain English or Greek and get answers drawn from your own manuals, linked to the source page. Search within one vessel or across your fleet.

Answers grounded in your manuals, with page references
Relevant crew notes displayed alongside each answer
Supports both scanned and digital manuals

What torque for the bowl spindle cap nut, and is the thread lubricated?

The cap nut on the bowl spindle is M20 and is tightened to 85 Nm with a lubricated thread.

Before reassembly, check the spindle height: nominal 42.0 mm, permissible deviation ±0.5 mm, using gauge T-310.

DMS-30 Instruction Manual, p. 52 vessels

Chief Engineer, 30/01: measured 42.2 mm at the last overhaul, within limits.

The crew writes on the manual, and the manual remembers

Add measurements, manufacturer-approved deviations and photos directly to any manual page or extracted data row. Row-level notes follow the maintenance job into the export, preserving practical knowledge for the next engineer.

DMS-30_instruction_manual.pdf, page 5 All notes (4)

Page 5 of the sample manual: bowl overhaul and tightening torques

On this page

1, p. 5

Lock ring spanner T-301 is kept in the purifier room tool board, drawer 2.

2nd Engineer, 14/03

2, p. 5

Spindle height measured 42.2 mm at the last overhaul. Photo attached.

Chief Engineer, 30/01Photo

On data rows

Torques, cap nut M20

Maker confirmed by email that 85 Nm also applies to the new spindle version.

Superintendent, 21/05

Maintenance, intermediate service

Kit DMS-30-K-IS ordered for both sister vessels in one PO.

Technical manager, 08/04

Compare manuals. See what changed.

Compare manuals across vessels, manufacturers or editions. Using the extracted data, Manuals AI highlights differences in maintenance intervals, operating limits and tasks, including jobs listed in only one manual.

Maintenance: 43 differences, 51 only in A, 4 only in B aux-engine_A.pdf vs aux-engine_B.pdf

Item	A	B	Status	Note
Turbine side cleaning	Clean during operation, 100–200 h	Wash under operation, 250 h	Difference	Same task, B washes less often on an identical turbocharger.
Lube oil filter elements	Clean when differential pressure is high	Clean when pressure is outside 0.4–0.5 MPa	Difference	B has a specific pressure trigger.
Governor hydraulic fluid	First after 1,000 h, then every 3,000 h or 6 months	–	Only in A	No governor fluid change appears in B.
Cylinder head bolts	–	Retighten in firing order, 12,000 h	Only in B	Engine-core maintenance missing from A.
Lube oil cooler	Clean at overhaul	Clean at overhaul	Same	–

Exportable to Excel

One part. Multiple vessels. A clearer purchasing picture.

The same spare part can appear in several manuals under the same manufacturer's code, and still be ordered separately for different machines and vessels.

Manuals AI brings matching part numbers together across your fleet, helping your team identify shared components, coordinate purchasing and avoid duplicate orders.

This consolidated view also helps engineers build a critical spares list to support equipment reliability.

Spare parts consolidation, fleet

1,673unique codes from 4 manuals

4codes in 2 or more manuals

4vessels compared

Code	Manuals	Vessels	Machines
FE-2210-08Lube oil filter element	3	4	8
OR-125-NBRO-ring 125 x 3, NBR	2	3	5
DMS-30-1102Sliding bowl bottom seal ring	2	2	4
BT-1225Backup battery, control unit	2	2	3

Your fleet. Its manuals. One connected view.

Link every manual to its vessel and equipment. A colour-coded fleet map shows manual coverage for each ship, making gaps easy to spot. Share one manual across matching equipment on sister vessels to avoid duplicate work, and view AIS vessel positions alongside each ship's technical library.

Fleet FlowAIS, 5 of 5 with a position

3 or more manuals1 to 2 manualsNo manuals yet

NORDIC AURORABulk carrier, 82,000 DWT6 manuals, 14 exports
AEGEAN TRADERContainer, 4,250 TEU4 manuals, 9 exports
PACIFIC MERIDIANContainer, 4,250 TEUshares 3 manuals with AEGEAN TRADER
ATLANTIC PIONEERProduct tanker, 50,000 DWT5 manuals, 11 exports
CORAL EXPRESSRo-Ro, 2,100 lane metresno manuals uploaded yet

Sample fleet: names and routes are illustrative. In the platform, positions come from the AIS network.

Good to know

Input	Digital or scanned PDFs, including manuals spanning hundreds of pages
Output	Structured Excel (.xlsx) files organised by data type and vessel
Fleet	Manuals linked to vessels and equipment, with shared manuals across sister vessels
Access	Company-only access, role-based permissions and two-factor authentication
Storage	Files stored privately, outside publicly accessible web folders

Questions

Does it work with scanned, paper-only manuals?

Yes. Manuals AI uses OCR to read scanned pages and extract their data. If your manuals are still on paper, our on-site digitalization team can scan them for you.

How do I know the data is right?

Every extracted row links to its source page for easy checking. Clear status labels (verified, unverified or corrected) show what has been reviewed, with every correction recorded for traceability.

Is my data used to train AI models?

No. Your manuals are processed through business AI APIs that do not use customer data for model training. Access to your manuals is restricted to your company.

Which ERP formats do you support?

Exports use a standard Excel format. Share your ERP's import template, and we'll map the columns to match your system's requirements.

Do I need VesselsFlow PMS?

No. Manuals AI works independently, delivering structured Excel files for your existing systems. If you use VesselsFlow PMS, the extracted data can flow directly into it for review and approval.

Try it on one of your manuals

Send us one manual and the data you need from it. We will send back the Excel files so you can judge the result.

Request a demo