When the American Association of Port Authorities staged its annual "Smart Ports" seminar in Oakland in March, the host gateway was able to showcase its digital shipping platform, which should debut and speed up global trade flows by the third quarter of 2018.
BY PATRICK BURNSON
Published: May, 2018
When the American Association of Port Authorities staged its annual “Smart Ports” seminar in Oakland in March, the host gateway was able to showcase its digital shipping platform, which should debut and speed up global trade flows by the third quarter of 2018.
It was just one of several new announcements made by top U.S. ports signaling a tidal shift in the way containerized ocean cargo will move in the future.
“We are building an online portal for transactions that range from tracking to transporting containerized cargo,” said Port of Oakland Senior Project Administrator Eric Napralla. “The move aligns with an industry migration toward digitalization of international supply chains that every port authority recognizes.”
This common platform promises to provide a single window for shippers to get personalized cargo status updates and check ocean vessel schedules. At the same time, it should help shippers pay freight-handling fees and make appointments to pick up their inbound goods.
Oakland is working with New Jersey-based logistics software provider Advent Intermodal Solutions to create the portal. The firm’s eModal port community system is already used by every marine terminal operator at the port. That will make it easier to roll out a common platform, said Naparalla.
“Terminals are the ‘pivot point’ where containerized trade, ocean vessels, trucks and trains converge to transport cargo,” said Napralla. “Advent will aggregate information from Oakland’s four terminals to create a harbor-wide community portal.”
Speculation that more “Uber-like” drayage models might take advantage of this development has yet to be addressed, but portside truckers will at least soon know exactly when and where to dispatch drivers for container pickup. Marine terminals would benefit from more efficient movement of cargo in and out of the port.
“They’ll only log in to the portal once,” Napralla said. “Then they can navigate the entire port with a few simple clicks.”
Navis Surveys Supply Chain on Automation
More evidence that ports are initiating digital advances surfaced recently in a global port terminal survey conducted by Oakland-based Navis, a part of Cargotec Corporation.
According to Navis researchers, increasing numbers of terminals are using higher levels of automation to improve productivity and efficiency and ultimately raise their competitive advantage in the market. Respondents to their global customer survey show that a majority of terminal operators (74 percent) clearly believe that automation in some form (full, equipment or process automation) will be critical to stay competitive in the next three to five years.
The results from the TechValidate survey, Challenges and Opportunities for Automation, were gathered from over 75 Navis customer respondents at various stages of automation. The survey delves into current views on the importance of automation, future plans for automation projects and perceived benefits and challenges, as well as projected improvements to productivity and operational costs achieved through automation. Navis customers are among those actively exploring the potential for automation including:
• 20 percent of respondents are already fully automated and 13 percent are investigating this option.
• 37 percent already have process automation and 40 percent are investigating this option.
• 21 percent already have automated equipment and 24 percent are investigating this option.
“Within the next 20 years, I believe it’s not only possible, but likely, that we’ll see a fully autonomous transport chain,” said Raj Gupta, CTO of Navis. “This could extend from loading and stowage of the container, autonomous sailing to its destination, unloading by automated cranes and then finally being loaded on to autonomous trucks and trains for the final destination.”
That forecast is not without its skeptics, however. John Driscoll, maritime director for the Port of Oakland, says that while he never discounts the potential of technology, “this seems aggressive given the issues of safety and cost.”
Navis maintains that automated terminals can deliver consistent performance hour after hour each day and reduce the chances of interruption due to job actions.
Indeed, Navis customers exploring these upgrades in some capacity believe automation can help them realize important benefits including increased operational safety (65 percent), better operational control and consistency (62 percent), lower overall terminal operational costs (58 percent) and increased operational productivity (53 percent).
While the expected benefits are clear, many are taking a more cautious approach. The top challenges cited by respondents are costs that are too high (68 percent), a lack of skills or resources to implement and manage automation (52 percent), challenges with labor unions (44 percent) and the time it takes to implement (30 percent).
As terminals achieve their goals and capitalize on their investment, more terminals around the world are likely to make upgrades of their own. According to the survey, the projected outcomes for automation include:
• 30 percent believe automation could increase productivity by 26-50 percent.
• 29 percent believe automation could increase productivity by 16-25 percent.
• 19 percent believe automation could reduce operational costs by more than 50 percent.
• 29 percent believe automation could reduce operational costs by 26-50 percent.
• 33 percent believe automation could reduce operational costs by 16-25 percent.
“While the potential is there, there are still several barriers that need to be overcome in order to make automation a realistic option for some of the smallest terminal operators in the United States,” said Gupta. “But as we saw in our survey, exploration and implementation will continue to evolve to meet the needs of their shippers.”
Patrick Burnson is the executive editor of Logistics Management. www.logisticsmgmt.com
