Ocean Carrier Demands
What are ocean carriers asking for? In the case of Maersk Line, it is a reduction of port stay from 18 to 12 days on the Asia-Europe round-trip routes. Imagine a mega-vessel on an Asia-Europe loop with a call size of 8,000 moves at a terminal with 6 hour shifts. Assuming the quay crane operation is concentrated on 25 of the 46 bays typical of a Triple E, therefore 320 boxes per bay, and 7 cranes per shift working at 25 gross gang productivity (GGP), the operation will be complete in just over 45 hours.
If GGP can be improved to 35 moves per quay crane, then operations would be complete in about 32 hours, thus saving 12 hours and achieving the carrier stated goal of a total of 12 days in port. It seems simple enough to understand, but when working on the operational frontline, it is less easy to execute. Besides, having more productive solutions on the quay side will not address the overall problem if the entire system is not performing accordingly.
We believe better integration between technology, processes and people can move terminal operations forward in terms of practical results on operational productivity, reduced port-stays and operational costs. In this technical paper we highlight the available solutions and comment on the necessary changes that could impact not only technology but processes and culture, conceptualising the maritime supply chain as a system and covering processes both for shipping lines and terminals.
Areas of a port that …
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