JLT Mobile Computers, Swedish developer and manufacturer of rugged computers for demanding environments, has joined the Navis Ready Partner Program and will initiate validation of its rugged vehicle-mount computers against the Navis N4 terminal operating system. Validation of JLT hardware is expected to be completed soon and will underline that the JLT products deliver the best possible performance and reliability in the most challenging working environments.

The Navis Ready Program is a validation program for suppliers of different technologies designed to operate within a marine container terminal operating environment. All devices designated Navis Ready have been tested in a simulated environment to ensure that specific messages have integrated effectively with a specific release of Navis N4 terminal operating system (TOS).

JLT mobile computers are already used extensively in this environment and by becoming validated under Navis Ready, both existing and future customers will be assured that the hardware and software have not only been designed to work together but have been validated to provide an optimal customer experience.

Confidence boost
Validation is an important endorsement of quality and reliability. Shipping ports and terminals win and maintain business based on their up-time and their efficiency in moving containers from ship to shore and then onto their final destination. Reliable and efficient IT equipment is a critical element in the overall communication infrastructure, and instrumental in delivering quality of service.

Whether tracking cargo through a port or enabling the automation of processes or equipment, the demands on computer hardware and wireles connectivity in ports are substantially higher than in the average operating environment. Validation and acceptance into the Navis Ready Program will demonstrate that JLT mobile computers meet and exceed these demands.

“We are experiencing an acceleration in the number of customers within the port segment using our rugged computers,” said Per Holmberg, CEO, JLT Mobile Computers. “By collaborating with Navis, whose terminal operating system is used by the world’s leading container terminal operators, we can demonstrate that our solutions comply with Navis Ready requirements, providing an extra level of confidence to our customers.”

The operator is part of the ADMP Group, which has also commissioned another 28 Actros over the last two years. The majority of these vehicles also wear the DJB Haulage livery, while the rest work in Willmotts Transport colours.

All are Actros 2545 models with flat-floored BigSpace cabs and state-of-the-art 330 kW (449 hp) straight-six engines which drive through smooth Mercedes PowerShift 3 automated transmissions.

The latest arrivals were acquired with funding support from Mercedes-Benz Financial Services. They are based at DJB Haulage’s new, two-acre depot on Southampton’s Marchwood Industrial Estate and pull 40ft and 20ft skeletal trailers, including specialized ‘splitter’ versions – the operator moves over 15,000 containers a year for shipping lines and freight forwarders.

Willmotts Transport, meanwhile, operates from the logistics centre at the Group’s headquarters on the Quarry Way Business Park in Shepton Mallett, Somerset, and offers a wide range of transport and warehouse storage services, with a particular focus on the retail sector; it is also a member of the Palletforce network.

Willmotts Transport and DJB Haulage run a combined fleet of 80 trucks, all but nine of them 44-tonne tractor units. As recently as 2011 only four of its vehicles were by Mercedes-Benz; today, more than 30 wear three-pointed stars, with two other brands accounting for the remainder.

Group Transport Manager Andy Tuck said: “With regular returns of 9-10 mpg the Actros is, on the whole, the most fuel-efficient vehicle on our fleet, and the latest, Euro VI versions are proving every bit as economical to operate as their predecessors.

“Through continued training and increased utilization of the PPC (Predictive Powertrain Control) system specified on the Euro VI versions, we are hoping to further improve fuel economy.

“Our drivers are also very happy with their roomy, well-appointed cabs, while the strikingly modern appearance of the Actros on the road can only enhance our own company’s image.”

Long-serving Group Fleet & Training Manager Martin Hammett has recently completed a ‘Train the Trainer’ course at the Mercedes-Benz facility on Wentworth Park, Barnsley, and has been trialling Daimler FleetBoard’s telematics system with positive results. The operator’s drivers, meanwhile, are benefiting from training delivered by City West Commercials.

“We have our own workshop but also rely on Mercedes-Benz dealers to maintain our vehicles,” added Mr Tuck. “Our relationship with City West Commercials has gone from strength-to-strength over the last few years – its team provide an excellent service.”

Willmotts Transport was founded in 1918 by George Willmott, in Wells, Somerset. DJB Haulage, meanwhile, was established in 1992, also in Wells. The two companies joined forces in 2010 under the Group Business of ADMP Group Ltd, a company under the ownership of Andy Stott and David Buxton.

But that will soon become a thing of the past. In two years’ time operators of these types of craft will be trained using a Fast Small Ship Simulator (FSSS).

That’s just one of the many advantages that will accrue when the FSSS prototype becomes available as a result of the project started today. Other benefits include: increased levels of training, resulting in accident prevention in practice; elimination of the dependence on weather conditions to conduct education and training; no wear and tear of operational FRISCs now used for training and a sharp reduction in fuel costs. In addition it opens up the possibility of training with other simulators, including marine simulators such as the Ship Handling Simulator (SHS).

Objective
The Fast Small Ship Simulator project aims to develop a simulator geared specifically to the operator as actor in a dynamic nautical setting in which broaching, slamming, surfing, planing and capsizing as well as the interaction with other vessels or objects (quay, beach, pier, jetty etc) function as the key elements of risk during the operation of small fast manoeuvrable craft.

Joint venture
This project is a joint venture between DMO, the military equipment arm of the Dutch Ministry of Defence, Dutch research institute MARIN and suppliers Cruden and Tree C Technology. The naval defence school DVS and the Surface Assault and Training Group (SATG) of the Royal Navy are participating in this project as key end-users.

The agreement was signed for the Ministry of Defence by Major General Peter Dohmen in his capacity as chairman of CODEMO, the committee overseeing the development of defence equipment. The general revealed that private enterprise, particularly small and medium-sized businesses, are encouraged to submit development proposals to the Defence Materiel Development Committee. Should they be judged to be relevant initiatives with the prospect of generating returns for Defence, then CODEMO will give the go-ahead. The FSSS project is one such initiative.

Consortium
The FSSS project is unique in its high degree of technological innovation as it is the first in the world to link advanced manoeuvre- and seagoing simulation technology, modern motion alignment and state-of-the-art visualisation of conditions in an integral way.