Let me run this past you – you are in the middle of a recession, projects are being put on hold, cargo throughput figures are down – which means revenue is down, the company is ‘tightening its belt’ and you want to invest in a new or updated terminal operation system (TOS)? Yes, according to many operators now is the time to update or invest in a new TOS. As volumes and revenues at many terminals have decreased, the pressure to become more efficient and cost-effective has increased. Implementing the right technology solutions now will help them achieve these goals, therefore many operators don’t see the cost of IT as an expense – they see it as an investment. The distraction of staff and disruption to the terminal operations that often occur during systems implementations can be significantly mitigated during low volume periods. As the economy looks towards recovery, terminals want to be prepared to handle increased volumes by having new systems in place.
Investment
When researching this subject for our 2009 feature we discovered that there were different levels of service packages with some software companies offering an ‘all inclusive’ package while others offer a monthly fee for upgrades and maintenance. In combination with the Total Cost of Ownership we looked at the market as a whole. But there was one company that commented on “our total cost of ownership” question. “In order to make sure that we all talk about the same thing, it is necessary to repeat the definition of TCO: the total of direct capital investment in hardware and software plus indirect costs of installation, training, repairs, downtime, technical support and upgrading,” said Andreas Reinhard, CEO of Greenwave. “I noted during all my years in the market that this is not necessarily understood by all to the full extent. Therefore the comparison of TOS systems/prices is often more challenging than it seems at first sight.” Based on this information we contacted some of the software companies and we found that while were quite open with their costing others were not so forthcoming due to competition. Indian-based CMC is for example charging around 20 to 22% of the total project cost for their maintenance package. While Germany-based Inform applied their company policy of confidentiality for their pricing of the Terminalstar product. Periodic upgrades of the Terminalstar including all product enhancements may be part of the individual maintenance and support contract, while the company also offer a 24/7 technical support. Others like Greenwave don’t offer a special maintenance package since their monthly subscription fee per module automatically includes continuous upgrades, corrections and improvements. “With this subscription our customers experience at all times the latest version of their product – the T3,” said Reinhard. “When choosing the T3 application the terminal operator does not have to worry about TCO. T3 is delivered as a Service (SaaS) – you order today and work tomorrow on your existing PCs with your existing broadband connection to the internet,” Reinhard added. US-based RMI states that their annual maintenance fees for their OASIS product are in line with software industry averages. Cost varies based on volume, size and the number of terminals. The OASIS package provides for a tailor-made annual maintenance investment. Fellow American company Tideworks Technology limits the total cost of ownership of their terminal operating system (TOS) as this is vital to the success of their customers and their business. Their business model is built around creating the greatest overall value and return on investment for their customers. A few examples of how they achieve this include the licensing of their software; the customer receives all of the features and functionality contained in the application. “We believe whether or not a customer decides to use features contained in the software should be an operational decision, not a financial one,” said a company spokesperson. As part of their maintenance and support programme, they provide all software upgrades at no additional charge, including new system features and functionality.
State of the market
According to Tideworks Technology they have not seen any cancellations or postponements of projects. As previously stated In fact, they point out that many operators are finding now is the ideal time to focus on implementing new technology. RMI reports to have not sold any new terminals in 2009, although their existing customers continued to invest in product enhancements and new projects for existing terminals including include road ability compliance and wide-span crane integration. For CMC it was a difficult year with major investments like infrastructure and IT being placed on hold by the operators. CMC expects that this year will be more promising as [future] customers are planning to invest in IT projects or are simply keen to upgrade their existing systems. Greenwave acknowledged that 2009 was a difficult year but felt that towards the end of the year there was more interest for their products. The company signed a major contract with a Swedish logistics company. The agreement includes five container terminals along the Norwegian Coast, including the second largest terminal in Larvik. This contract has already spread positive signals to other potential customers. Greenwave is quite confident that they can further build on their success in 2010 and already three major container and multi-terminal operators have expressed their intention to work towards an agreement. The company expects to have another five additional terminal customers by the end of 2010.
CMC
CMC, part of the Tata conglomerate, provides several ports and cargo products including their MACH, CALM, ROAM, WARM products and claim that all are proven around the world with better levels of service, support and quality. “We compete with the global players and provide world-class solutions at competitive prices,” stated the company in response to our questions. “We have carved a niche in the market with the above products, and we enjoy a high reputation in the industry for our trust-worthiness and prestige the brand-TATA carries.” CMC has been focusing on bringing the best product to the market at a lower cost, and recently introduced their Global Invoicing Payment System (GIPS) to their product line, which – according to the company – is highly affordable in comparison to the other COTS solutions in the market. The company has various projects that it is currently working on including a cargo logistics management system for a major Government port in South India, a similar system for the largest private terminal operator at Mundra Port. It is also working on two warehouse management systems, one for India’s leading provider of integrated multi-modal solutions for the logistics of bulk and containerised cargo (with 3 locations in India) and one for the largest supplier of plywood and decorative veneers in the Indian plywood market. It is also involved in around 10 maintenance projects.
Esoware
Many small and startup terminals, confronted with huge investments, are struggling to find a TOS, geared to their requirements and in particular, their budget. Esoware Srl in Italy is the distributor for the range of Copas software products for terminals and recently opened an office in Rotterdam, the Netherlands managed by Frans Jol, who has extensive experience in the terminal business. In 2005, Copas purchased the software from Esoware whilst re-developing the system using modern tools, terminal ICT experience and a lot of creativity. Furthermore new modules were developed and integrated. Copas decided to design their products with the needs of smaller terminals in mind, whilst they also understood the need of any terminal, small or large, to be able to use a comprehensive and complete set of functions, from graphical planning systems to advanced EDI-systems. Today, this affordable software, known by the name of COPAS TOS, has been installed successfully on more
than 10 “wet” and “dry” terminals throughout Europe. The main module, STEP2, can be used on its own and covers all multimodal activities, from ocean vessel and feeder vessel to barges, rail and truck activities. The GATE WIZARD offers full functionality for the truck gate operator, whilst the “wizard” setup ensures simple and intuitive use of advanced techniques, offering a logical workflow and avoiding mistakes or omissions. Additional modules include YARD, a graphical yard planning and monitoring tool, offering an easy way of creating a graphical layout of the terminal, inspecting yard areas, planning areas for certain types of containers, customers, vessels, etc. The software can also be used to create housekeeping moves and for a variety of other functions. EDISTEP is a fully automatic EDI translator and transmitter, capable of handling all possible EDI-messaging, including the well known standard UN/Edifact container messages but also non-standard formats in various layouts can be handled. PLANMASTER, is a full function graphical vessel planning tool, offering advanced tools for planning of containers, taking into consideration the characteristics of the vessel, like for example the stack heights and maximum weights as well as the full stability of the vessel. Other modules are available, including RAILS, a graphical rail planning system, TIS, a terminal invoicing system and several other modules covering functions for terminal access control, automatic gate, radio data, customs formalities, integration with local port community systems, etcetera. All modules are fully integrated.
Greenwave
Greenwave has designed the T3 – Terminal Transaction Tool for terminal operators working at small to mid-sized terminals but T3 can be re-configured to be used at large terminals as well. The system can be enhanced by additional comprehensible and fully embedded modules. The most popular modules are the BookingAdministration and Wireless Module. The BookingAdministration module supports the process from the reservation of empty boxes straight to the final move when the container leaves the terminal, regardless of how many process steps that are involved in the process. The Wireless Module facilitates the entry, administration and control of tasks between the different cargo handling equipment operating on the terminal, either working on mobile or fixed devices. It is the “absolute key” to reducing turnaround times, reduce unnecessary lifts (lower equipment operations and maintenance costs), improve space utilisation and create a more focused and undisturbed working environment. The company recently introduced the fully integrated GateBooking-ISPS, ACMS-Access Card Management System and graphical Yard Planning modules. The GateBooking module enables communication between trucks and gate by means of SMS. Information about containers to be picked at the terminal is sent directly to the truck drivers including the specification of cargo type, size etc. Available drivers of the predefined trucking company can book cargo via SMS and the T3 will then allocate the cargo to the truck which is closest either in time or distance. The ACMS supports the administration of ISPS certified equipment and personnel for multiple terminals without geographical constraints. The module works ‘hand-in-hand’ with the GateBooking module. Their existing Yard Planning module has completely changed and is now fully graphical. All activities on the yard can be handled with user-friendly ‘drag-and-drop’ functionalities. The module allows the user to change individual background views which are connected to the real geo-coordinates. This allows also the use of GPS device driven positioning of either containers or moving cargo handling equipment. According to Reinhard, system integration has in general two main advantages for the terminal/depot operator, lower process costs and building stronger business relations. “We expect this trend to continue and even gain in strength over the next few years,” he added. The company has been focusing on the “forgotten” terminals while their competitors focused on the much larger terminals. With a strong customer base the company understands the needs of the operators and is now ready to service the larger terminals.
Inform
Terminalstar unifies the experience of Inform and HPC in the area of state-of-the-art software solutions and port business. As a TOS it is designed for real time control of all container terminal processes. Due to its flexible and modular design the system can be individually adapted to meet specific customers’ requirements. Terminalstar provides perfected optimisation algorithms to improve equipment and yard utilisation, to reduce reshifters and to eliminate bottlenecks. “Due to a unique migration concept and architectural design of the software it can replace step-by-step former TOS or parts of it – while vastly reducing any migration risks. Additionally, any third party system (e. g. positioning systems, OCR gates, accounting systems etc.) can easily be integrated into Terminalstar,” said Udo Niessen, Senior Vice President Logistics Division at Inform. Terminalstar is in use at the largest HHLA-Terminal in Hamburg, the Container Terminal Burchardkai CTB and running in parallel to the existing TOS since August 2009. Since then it gradually has taken over more and more functionalities from the existing TOS during a seamless migration process. It communicates via interfaces with HHLA’s own Container Basis System (CBS), with Navis’s stow planning (SPARCS), with the container crane management system, and with each Straddle Carrier and its positioning system.
LogSys
First of all there is a big difference between LogSys and the other TOS developers (for example Tideworks, CMC, Greenwave, etc) as their main focus is on dry bulk, break bulk, general cargo and multi-purpose terminals, and not on pure container terminals. “This focus makes it essential that our software is enormously flexible, as the large number of different commodities needs to be handled in one system. The same system is used by both dry bulk and general cargo terminals,” said Hans De Hondt, Sales and Marketing Manager at LogSys, Belgium.” The focus of our developments can be put into five categories. First of all, we are focusing on making our software as flexible and multi-purpose as possible. LGS.Stevedore, our terminal operating system, has default flows but those flows are adaptable to the needs of different commodities. Handling fertilizer in bulk in software is quite different from handling metal coils, but our software is capable of handling both. Secondly, we focus on other services terminal operators offer. We have developed, and still are developing, modules for various activities like road transport, forwarding, and inland shipping. Thirdly, we focus on the management of internal activities, with modules for payroll management, maintenance management, financial analysis, and KPI’s. Next we focus on customer communication. With LGS.E-Connect we have a default portal that helps terminals communicate with their customers. Terminal customers can check stock status, truck movements, invoices, all online and in real time. Our plan is to further develop this portal as it has already proven to be very valuable to terminals and a real time and money saver.” And last, but not least, said De Hondt the company focuses on different types of automation. Automation is fairly standard in container terminals but new to a lot of small- and medium-sized bulk and general cargo terminals. Recently LogSys became a LXE Preferred Partner, to include handheld devices in their offering. “The past year was a good one for us starting the implementation of LGS.Stevedore at a large break bulk terminal in Belgium (unfortunately we are not yet allowed to reveal its name) and we are close to closing another deal in Italy with Europe still our main focus,” De Hondt told World Port Development. “Last year, we have gone live at Manuport Ghent (a dry bulk terminal in the Port of Ghent, Belgium) and we are close to going live at Manufert (a
sugar terminal in the Port of Antwerp). Although we have raised a lot of interest in our solutions we do still feel that terminals postpone decisions. However projects have not been cancelled. I can only confirm what I mentioned in last year’s article: our TCO is lower than average, certainly with a default yearly support and maintenance fee of 15 % of the license value,” he added.
RMI
US-based RMI is continually working to reduce the cost of ownership for their OASIS product. Specific areas for cost reduction in operations include improved container cycle time, railcar per diem and purchase reductions, and lift equipment purchase reductions. In addition, there are labour savings through automated load planning and gate processing, coordinated work movements within the terminal, and improved information flow for management and customers. “We feel the combination of extremely high functionality with the ability to offer the product at a low upfront investment gives OASIS the lowest TCO possible,” stated a spokesperson at RMI. More recently the company began a project to implement OASIS in a SaaS model with a major North American railroad (name withheld as final contract is pending). Other enhancements include browser-based vehicle mounted interfaces on container handling equipment, touch-screen gate kiosks for automated driver instructions, and wide span crane optimisation for task scheduling and sequencing. “We believe the SaaS model will help us to be well positioned for growth with terminals and ports who might otherwise not be able to take advantage of a solution like OASIS due to the large upfront investment associated with a traditional software license,” concludes the company.
Tideworks Technology
Tideworks also offer a software-as-a-service (SaaS) model to allow smaller terminals to outsource complete system management with minimal capital investment. For terminals that elect to host their own systems but still want to reduce IT overhead and free up resources, Tideworks also offer a variety of optional services, such as server administration, database administration, application monitoring and electronic data interchange (EDI) support. They also minimise the need for customisation by providing flexible, adaptable solutions with built-in configuration parameters that enable the system to map easily to the terminal’s business processes. Their solutions scale with growing operations, enabling terminal operators to implement a modern, expandable TOS at a minimal total cost of ownership. A good example of this is Santa Marta International Terminal Company (SMITCO) in Santa Marta, Colombia. They started with Spinnaker Planning Management System standalone, which helped them increase vessel productivity by 200 percent. As the operation grew, they added Mainsail Terminal Management System for advanced TOS features. Only a couple of weeks ago Tideworks announced it has been selected by the SP-SSA International Terminal (SSIT) to implement its container terminal operating system (TOS) at the green-field terminal being built outside of Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. The SSIT project represents Tideworks’ first deployment of its container terminal solutions in Asia. Operated by a joint venture between Saigon Port, SSA International Holdings-Vietnam and Vinalines, SSIT will support container traffic in the South of Vietnam and address the region’s growing shipping needs. The new terminal is projected to open in July 2011. “Vietnam’s container volume continues to grow,” said John Cushing, General Director of SSIT. “We sought a technology partner to provide a state-of-the-art TOS solution built on a dependable and proven technology platform.” SSIT will implement Tideworks’ comprehensive suite of container terminal management software including Mainsail Terminal Management System, Spinnaker Planning Management System, Traffic Control, Forecast and Digital Bridge. The terminal will also leverage Tideworks’ interactive Web tools, which provide real-time access to key cargo information and operations data to enhance customer service as well as limit data entry and paperwork. Tideworks will provide complete systems integration services, ensuring its solutions interface with local customs authority, as well as mobile computing devices and vehicle mounted displays. Additionally, Tideworks’ TOS will interface with SSIT’s accounting system and comply with existing steamship line customers’ electronic data interchange (EDI) standards. SSIT is designed for an annual capacity of 1.2 million TEU and will play a critical role in shifting container volume from the existing ports in Ho Chi Minh City to less congested, deep water container terminals. In March the company announced the availability of Intermodal Pro, a comprehensive terminal operating system (TOS) for intermodal terminals. The system includes highly intuitive graphical tools and flexible user-driven reporting that eliminates the guesswork from intermodal terminal operations, enables more efficient loading and unloading of trains, and boosts productivity while reducing operational costs. The system’s flexible, user-driven reporting tools, as well as a centralised network topology allow intermodal terminal operators to centralise planning, equipment tracking and gate operations from multiple terminals. In addition, a sophisticated electronic data interchange (EDI) engine and translator allow terminals to easily trade booking and billing data, making it easy to exchange sensitive information with customers, partners and back-office systems. Intermodal Pro will be deployed at CSX Intermodal’s operations at Evansville Western Railway’s new Northwest Ohio Terminal (NWOH), which is targeted to open in early 2011. At the beginning of this year, Tideworks announced the successful implementation of Digital Bridge at two of Florida’s largest terminals – Ports America Tampa and Port Everglades Terminal (PET). Digital Bridge is a Web-based monitoring system that provides terminal operators with complete visibility into real-time terminal performance and facilitates operational and customer service improvements. Digital Bridge enables terminal management to analyse data using dynamic gate, yard, vessel and rail metrics, so they can make informed business decisions. Ports America Tampa and PET are utilising Digital Bridge to enhance terminal processes and customer service by providing easy-to-use performance monitoring tools.
Total SoftBank
Total Soft Bank Ltd (TSB), South Korea has been working hard to improve their CATOS software and put a bigger emphasis on the web-based modules, specifically the operational management, EDI and statistics modules can be provided to users via web applications. Last November, Total Soft Bank Ltd (TSB), South Korea, announced that Port of Gothenburg has gone live with their CATOS software product. In 2008, Gothenburg signed the contract with TSB to replace its in-house terminal operation system with CATOS. The software was installed with advanced functions such as real time grounding and dispatching and equipment pooling. Its web application interface will be of benefit to the users providing the fast and accurate work process and intelligent decision making throughout terminal operations and management. After a week of the system roll-out, Gothenburg hit 137 moves per hour at peak times. In addition to the terminal operation system, Gothenburg chose TSB’s solutions including the web-based rail & truck pre-notification system and CFS operation system. Recently, Gothenburg incorporated their VTMS (Vessel Traffic Management System) through PLUS (Port Logistics Unifying System), which is a comprehensive web-based port community system of TSB. CMA CGM, the French shipping line, also signed a contract with TSB for their Lattakia International Container Terminal operations in Syria. In 2008, LICT handled a total of 570,000 TEU and CMA CGM is planning to increase this to an annual container throughput of 1 million TEU.