Automation has been maturing and spreading to all sizes and types of terminals.
We have delivered automatic stacking crane automation to 27 different terminals around
the world, each having between 4 to 72 cranes per terminal.
The typical terminal adding automatic stacking cranes today is no longer a huge end load
type terminal semi-automated terminals have been very successful around the world.
When it comes to fully automated, it will still take some time - five to ten years - before
we see them around the world.
We are yet to see automated vehicles which are competitive in a medium cost environment,
but this may change very soon as the development of self-driving cars and road trucks is moving
out very fast.
Terminals vary a lot in size, in layout, in the cost of labour, amount of transshipment,
the modalities, and so on.
The task is to automate the best configuration for each terminal.
This still this does not have to mean a big engineering effort.
Using a proven automation package, using interfaces from our library and having a proper verification
of the system prior to deployment, we can assure that the cranes move containers when
the first order is served.
Remote and automated ship-to-shore cranes have taken off faster than the automatic stacking
cranes that came before.
With our remote ship-to-shore package delivered to a dozen terminals on five continents, many
ship to shore crane drivers now experience a modern working environment and working in
a team of the terminal.
The team aspect is really important for terminal efficiency.
By bringing operation tasks for gate, yard and quay to a central control room, we can
achieve a continuous operation and exception handling can be addressed using all skills
and resources.
Today, we provide the environment where the digital generation feels at home.
Mega cranes is a driver for automation and remote operation.
An operator’s cabin today sits at the height of the centre of the London Eye.
The travel distance for hoist and trolley average has increased by 50%.The active rope
length, when the crane is operating over a ship, is now up to 40 metres instead of 20
metres just a few years back, and when you get down over a small feeder ship over the
quay it can be even 60 metres.
This means that there is a real challenge to keep productivity up.
Remote operation provides visual aids and the independency of high speeds, heights and
accelerations.
Automation provides automatic landing with long ropes and enables real utilization of
high speeds and accelerations.
Will we see global solutions, or will we see big shipping lines, alliances or logistics
providers have their own eco-systems?
Here the overall consolidation in the industry will come into play.
The industry has just to use existing technology to catch up with modern business practices.
Digitalization is crucial for further process automation, as correct information at the
right time is a must.
We today use artificial intelligence for identification of equipment and for crane scheduling, but
for further applications, quality of data and processes is a must.
This is especially important if special treatment and priorities are going to be offered for
individual containers, which may be necessary in the future to attract new types of cargo.
Looking ahead, the big calls require big improvements in the key terminal KPIs.
I expect less, but bigger terminals handling significantly more boxes per metre of quay
wall and especially per hectare of land.
This will in many case have to be achieved by reequipping existing terminals.
It requires higher performance using bigger cranes and that no time is wasted due to missing
or incorrect information.
Cranes and sub-systems will become a lot more intelligent and active in operational planning,
identifying and efficiently handling exceptions.
We simply need to do more with less so we will continue to move the industry to become
safer, greener and more productive.