During 2015, PTI interviewed a number of port and terminal professionals who gave expert opinion and insight into some of the biggest challenges and opportunities facing the port industry today.
The general consensus among interviewees was that ports need to increase productivity while at the same time decrease their costs.
PTI has compiled a list of the top 5 interviews of 2015:
1. Navis: How to Create Change
PTI interviewed Chief Marketing Officer and Vice President of Navis Andy Barrons, and he articulated how the current systems in the container supply chain are not meeting the needs of shippers. He believes that the industry is becoming more complex as a result of increased ship sizes and requires more planning, visibility and sharing of processes.
2. Konecranes: A New Era is Underway
Mr Thomas Gylling, Global Automation Sales at Konecranes Port Cranes believes that the biggest issue affecting ports is the pressure to utilise economies of scale while operating in a competitive market, which is affected by the increase in container volumes. Konecranes is working to increase productivity by providing container handling equipment in order to improve turnaround times of ships, trucks and trains.
Klaus Peter Hoffmann, Vice President and Managing Director of Terex Port Solutions, spoke to PTI about the current need for semi automation and full automation of entire port processes in a bid to cut down costs. Mr Hoffmann said that his company is actively working to help its customers facilitate the larger containerships and increased container volumes.
4. Haropa Ports
When PTI interviewed Mr Antoine Berbain, Managing Director of Haropa Ports, he said that the Port of Le Havre Port Authority was planning to launch a multimodal terminal in June, 2015. The project was created to tranship containers onto rail wagons and consolidate containers from the waterway and rail through to the port.
5. CyberLogitec: The Technology of the Future
Jason Hyeon, Head of Terminal Business Unit at CyberLogitec believes that the factors that are the most essential for a port to be productive come via enhanced operational efficiency and process automation. With regards to process automation, CyberLogitec recently launched its Eagle Eye solution to help port and terminal operations become more flexible in order to deal with unexpected scenarios. He believes that even conventional terminals should be adopting automated processes.