Addressing the Amsterdam meeting of the Port Equipment Manufacturers Association (PEMA), Alex Duca, head of design and automation at APMT said: “We are rethinking equipment design and manufacturing protocols as a way of enhancing productivity, as well as improving port equipment operators’ lives and workspaces. It is our Terminal Eco-System concept.”

He believes this is necessary if the industry is to successfully deal with the challenges it faces from changes in global liner shipping and logistics, and if real improvements are to be made in equipment design and automation.

“There are significant new innovations which can be integrated into the port equipment manufacturing industry, such as Google Glass-type windshields and sensors that could provide better safety visibility and awareness around port machinery for drivers,” Duca elaborated. “These next-generation machines, specifically designed to interface directly with Terminal Operating Systems, and with other cargo handling equipment and even with waiting truck drivers, could have a major impact on safety and productivity.”

While new systems and technologies could often be installed on existing equipment, he stressed that manufacturers’ proprietary standards often made this difficult and highly challenging.

“It is particularly noticeable when it comes to crane retrofitting, which is becoming a much bigger issue as terminals are having to gear up to accommodate ultra-large container ships and they need higher and wider gantry cranes as a result,” he said. “Crane enhancements are hampered by proprietary control systems that make the wider rollout of modular retrofit packages excessively complex.”

He added: “There is also a vast opportunity to improve equipment positioning and container location services as well, through increased standardisation. Let me challenge you today to bring the cargo handling equipment manufacturing process and features up to the speed of the car industry and jet engine industry, and let’s create a world-class ‘Terminal Eco-System’ to meet the challenges of an exciting and evolving port industry and to help make our people on the frontline safer and our customers profitable”.

While many attendees agreed with Duca’s sentiments, there were also some that expressed serious concerns over APMT’s approach.

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This complete item is approximately 300 words in length, and appeared in the February 2015 issue of WorldCargo News, on page 2. To access this issue download the PDF here.