ITLI Listicle Articles | 4 Ways to Improve Container Terminal Productivity

Written By: Hani Fayez El Henawy

- AR Senior at Hutchison Ports PPC, Egypt

- Masters in International Transport, ITLI, AASTMT

1. Container Handover

Intending to improve equipment productivity, we could focus on container handover first. Driving containers from point A to B in a yard is not only about driving, but foremost about locating a container and delivering it to the right place. The most vital prerequisite for efficient equipment productivity is having containers for fast pick-up and delivery. For that, yard inventory must be as accurate as possible by removing all assumptions about the position.

2. Avoid Misplaced Containers

The source of this problem is inaccurate logs of container positions in the yard. This happens when containers are transported to the wrong targets, or the wrong container is picked-up. The probability increases if the containers are temporarily placed outside predefined mapped slots due to insufficient container space. A proper process should indicate that the pick-up vehicle is correct and enable the twist-lock function to avoid such a scenario. Unplanned moves should not be completed and, at best, not even start. With a proper process in place, almost no container will be lost ever again.

3. Monitor the State of Vehicles

Another idea to improve equipment productivity would be to minimise unexpected breaks of machinery. Maintenance and monitoring are the only ways to counter the possibility of a machine breakdown. For example, a process that automatically monitors fuel consumption, tyre pressure, engine temperature and battery status could foresee a mechanical problem and plan maintenance or repair when the machine is not in use. This will keep your equipment productivity at a high level, reduce operational costs, and increase safety by avoiding a dangerous tire blowout.

4. Shift Planning

Synchronising your container terminal assets bears additional improvement to equipment, labour and crane productivity. Imagine a process which allocates and reserves assets for a future date (ship arrival) and plans a particular shift: workforce, cranes, and vehicles will be calculated accordingly to your unloading time frame and other operational requirements, balancing efficiency and performance to increase the throughput.

To know more about the academic and professional programs of the International Transport and Logistics Institute (ITLI), please visit the following:

Webpage | LinkedIn | Facebook | Instagram