Smart Port - NC- 9 GROUP TR.

Ports have to become more efficient to lower costs and increase performance for shipping companies. To achieve this, there is a growing need for operators to invest in capabilities that reduce turnaround and waiting times for ships, and cut cargo holding times.

Globally, it has been witnessed that port improvements can increase productivity and unleash efficiencies. Take for example, the highly automated ports in Hong Kong, Singapore and Taiwan can undertake 46 crane moves per hour. This makes them 13 percent more efficient than ports in the Middle East and 43 percent more efficient than North American ports in unloading cargo.

Further, Singapore’s port has an average ship turnaround time of 12 hours (with a best of six hours)—which is 150 percent better than the global average, and twice as efficient as Shanghai. Singapore consistently achieves higher customer satisfaction than other ports in the region. Port operators need to follow the lead of these markets, and innovate and re-engineer their businesses, creating lower-cost enterprises that can deliver more attractive offerings for shipping lines.

Port operators can now ‘buy’ productivity increases by automating their operations. Ports in Indonesia, Vietnam and Malaysia are using automation to quickly boost productivity in ways that weren’t possible for older operators. “In our experience, automation technology can deliver a 30 percent boost in productivity. To stay ahead of the curve,
leading port operators should continually update their use of automation to further raise the bar on productivity improvements,” said an Accenture report.

“Just twenty years ago, terminals were planning vessels with stickers and physically monitoring terminal activities and container movements. As the terminal operations industry faces new operating demands, new tools, new equipment, and new software have been developed and are now available. Since this industry is demanding more efficient terminals, automation is becoming the norm,”.

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