The ‘Port de Sète, Sud de France’ Regional Public Establishment, which operates the Sète commercial port, has decided to equip the site with a goods management system to ensure more fluid transit of both imported and exported goods. Subsequent to the port’s implementation of the ship management system, CAPSUD, in 2012, it needed a goods management tool to further develop the port community.
The AP+ implementation contract will be signed in October, in line with the contract award notice sent to MGI on 7 August. The AP+ system will be installed in the last quarter of 2014.
Florence Brochard, MGI Project Manager for Sète, said, “I am very happy to come back to this project and work with the Sète community, which has always supported the idea that a CCS would be an advantage for the Port’s development.”
AP+ will cover all goods transit operations in the port area, from the time the ship makes its call declaration to the time the goods exit the port zone. It will establish connections between all private port entities – freight forwarders, consignees, shipping agents, terminal operators, carriers (rail, river and road) – and public organisations – Customs, the Port Authority and veterinary and phytosanitary services. Through optimisation and the implementation of paperless logistics processes for each of the port’s core businesses, goods will transit Sète Port more smoothly, providing the largest port in the Languedoc region with increased competitiveness. AP+ will make it possible to track goods in real time while ensuring data confidentiality. It will also incorporate national and international regulatory requirements for safety and security (Import Control System, Export Control System and Container Security Initiative), an issue closely monitored by local customs authorities.
François Mahé des Portes, President of the MGI Executive Board, comments, “There are no simple projects, just determined and demanding professionals who take responsibility for their business, like at Sète Port.”
According to Mr Olivier Carmes, the port’s new Director, “Our stated aim is to bring all port entities together under a single window. This is a joint project that involves all companies operating in the port community. AP+ must be seen as a real advantage that helps improve Sète Port’s competitiveness and attractiveness.”