In this edition of the Journal, we take stock of 2021 so far. As the industry timidly emerged from a pandemic-ridden 2020 there was anticipation that things would not return to normal any time soon, but few could have predicted one of the world’s largest shipping routes being completely blocked.
The obstruction of the Suez Canal was just the first of many challenging events the supply chain has been faced with this year. With this in mind it is now time to consider how ports and terminals best react to the ongoing disruption, as it does not look to subside any time soon.
Kris Kosmala, a supply chain thought leader, notes in his article for PTI, “What we have learned during the prolonged disruption is that the terminal can only be as efficient as the terminal users allow them to be.”
He argues that data insights in particular ought to be shared with third parties beyond ports and terminals in order to have a smooth flowing supply chain process.
Kosmala also provides his thoughts on the state of just-in-time arrivals and how successful automation at container terminals has been in dealing with fluctuating traffic.
We also hear the thoughts of renowned industry commentator and CEO of Vespucci Maritime Lars Jensen who evaluates whether container capacity at ports needs to be increased, and by how much if so.
He also provides his thoughts on what tools a terminal can look to in order to mitigate supply chain disruption in the short-term.
Change is afoot at one of the industry’s biggest players, Navis, which was acquired by Accel-KKR in June 2021. PTI spoke exclusively to Benoit de la Tour, President & CEO, Navis about the new ownership and discuss what’s next for the company.
A clear focus is being put on cloud technology and moving both the company’s products and customers to the cloud. De la Tour commented that due in great part to the pandemic, as well as recent challenges, ports and terminals will continue to invest in the cloud and in innovative technologies designed to manage costs, increase capacity utilisation and keep cargo flowing without disruption.
Finally, we hear from INFORM about how the company has witnessed an uptick in interest for its optimisers since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic. In an exclusive interview with PTI Dr. Eva Savelsberg, Senior Vice President, INFORM, talks about how the market is adapting to the challenges it is facing and its new “Linker”, a proven middleware, which has been successfully integrated into its Syncrotess Rail Scheduler, an add-on solution to optimise train unloading and loading processes.