In its latest newsletter, Realtime Business Solutions (RBS) identifies five key lessons the maritime and container industry should take away from its experience in 2020.
Confronting and leaping over a series of hurdles have yielded many critical lessons for the Maritime and Container Industry to practice and carry forward, RBS said.
Although the pandemic has proven how quickly knowledge can become redundant, it has revealed the importance of maintaining duality and flexibility when faced with an onslaught. A few key takeaways to consider:
Optimisation
Operations and management governed too rigidly, struggled in performance during the pandemic since ports and terminals dealt with something extraordinary and unique. Effective optimization requires flexibility in system technology and all management levels to achieve visibility, paving the way for a dynamic response to changing conditions. Adopting proven technology and ensuring it tailors to the port’s objectives and vision will grant financial and operational optimization. Only then will pure optimisation benefits such as cost savings yield for port and terminal operators to leverage.
Automation and Digitalisation
Operations that heavily relied on human interaction must have hindered overall terminal performance during lockdowns. Digitalising and automating where possible are some of the greatest lessons that the pandemic has revealed to the Container Handling Industry. Automation will facilitate social distancing while also ensuring minimal errors develop from planning down to work instruction execution – all of which are critical to employee well-being and the port’s productivity levels. Financial resources depleted for many in the initial stages of the global crisis, as they fought to grapple with the disruptions in conventional life. Therefore, many can no longer afford to leave room for error or allow for an increase in expenses – work smarter, not harder.
Safety
The health and safety of your employees is the first and foremost priority of any business. Therefore, enforcing effective safety regulations to protect the health and well-being of personnel is critical. Strengthening protection procedures in managing different cargo types, moving containers, maintaining hygiene, etc., to ensure tasks and operations adhere to the local laws will also drive terminal performance stability in the Maritime Industry. Standardizing safety protocol will offer better control even in instances of safety infringements.
Environment
Not only has the global pandemic contributed to the worldwide crisis, but climate change has become more rampant, exposing the absence of climate responsibilities prevalent in industries. Rising temperatures and natural disasters have destroyed resources and even caused casualties. As a result, an increasing number of executives have recognized these events as the impetus for enforcing environmental goals, ensuring there are active efforts to adopt greener technology to alleviate climate change.
Security
Due to the pandemic, all businesses worldwide who had the capacity converted their workspace online, and millions were suddenly working from home overnight. However, it fosters the perfect environment to prey on so many individuals online. Increased instances of breaching privacy, security attacks, and compromised data have risen. The rushed transformation left little time for employees to receive adequate training on security risks and learn methods to fend off such breaches. Therefore, it is critical to incite visibility in operations and amongst teams to fortify security. Businesses and organizations in the Maritime and Container Industry must develop effective protective procedures and adopt appropriate technology to create a more robust plan in vulnerable times.
