Archives: What our members say

 

1. What do you think is the current status of standardization in the container terminal industry, what are the points not addressed yet?

A lot of work has been done in the standardization of message flows between industry participants, mainly terminal operators, shipping lines and customs authorities. Although the underlying technologies may need to be updated (or are being updated) from traditional EDI to webservices, the format and exchange of data is quite mature. Where the focus is currently is to bring this level of maturity to the exchange of data between equipment/machines and operational and planning systems.

 

2. From your point of view, why are standards important moving forward in the 4th industrial revolution and IoT?

In order not to have to build from scratch the interfaces between sensors and equipment and operational systems, these standards should be developed and adopted by the industry. The effort to develop these on a per project basis make this a costly and time-consuming exercise which slows down the adoption of technology into the industry which will improve safety as well as efficiency.

3. What do you expect of the work at TIC 4.0 and what was the main reason becoming a member?

The expectation is for the TIC 4.0 to lead the discussion and development of a common vocabulary and propose a set of standards which can be adopted by both equipment manufacturers and terminal operators. It should also serve as a bridge between the industry and other similar standardization initiatives and regulatory bodies. Yilport joined this association to contribute to the development of this body of knowledge as well as to learn and benefit from the work done by the committee.

 

4. What was the most encouraging experience working in TIC 4.0 together with the members?

From the outset, it has been rewarding to both agree on the goals and objectives of the organization, as well as to develop the methodology and processes that it will follow. The collaboration and common purpose shown by companies (that traditionally compete) to work together for a common goal and the improvement of the industry we are all part of has been inspiring.

 

About the member/author:

YILDIRIM Group of Companies first entered port business in 2004, and it established YILPORT Holding Inc. in 2011 to combine all port and container terminal operations under one roof. YILPORT Holding is an Istanbul-based global terminal operator, holding the motto “Privilege Becomes Standard” and “Game Changer” close to its heart. The company is proud to be acclaimed as the fastest growing international terminal operator in the world.  YILPORT Holding continues its global expansion as the only Turkish company to be listed among top 20 international terminal operators. It has an ambition to rank in the top 10 international terminal and port operators by 2025. Its experienced management team is committed to a strategy of solid growth and expansion.

Mark Wootton is the Chief Information Officer for Yilport Holding and represents the company on the TIC 4.0.

 

 

1. What do you think is the current status of standardization in the container terminal industry, what are the points not addressed yet?

Standardization in the container terminal industry is on a very low level. Especially looking at the details: the variety of terminology and range of definition is very big. Even in one terminal the position of the same technical item is identified in a different way, depending on the vendor. I just saw this with identifying the exact position of a wheel with regards to the container handling equipment. Even in a traditional (non-digitised) world – imagine the amount of misunderstandings that are being caused by this lack of standards. Digitising a process and making sense out of the data based on this foundation is almost impossible!

For the industry, being on such a low level is good news in two ways: there is a big potential for improvement and there are a lot of low hanging fruits. Both means that the positive effects of standardization will become visible, which is a huge motivation for all involved parties.

 

2. From your point of view, why are standards important moving forward in the 4th industrial revolution and IoT?

Standards are important to minimize the cost of moving forward in the 4^th industrial revolution. The cost of implementation in a standardized environment will be lower compared to the current situation, because items can be identified in an unambiguous way and the interpretation of signals and messages is clear.

Standardization in the container terminal industry also allow start-ups and traditional companies to develop small solutions that can be applied to many similar problems. This is a speed booster for the development in the industry. Just remember, what was achieved in the internet sector with all the open source software development kits. Imagine that would happen in our industry as well!

 

3. What do you expect of the work at TIC 4.0 and what was the main reason becoming a member?

We expect to closely connect to innovative parties in the industry. We share our experience and knowledge and learn from others, which gives us new ideas and possibilities.

The main reason for becoming a member was to push the process of standardization. This can only be achieved, when experts in the industry participate, share their knowledge and support the idea.

 

4. What was the most encouraging experience working in TIC 4.0 together with the members?

Getting in touch and closely working together in the meetings with industry leaders across the world is a great experience! It makes me grateful to have the opportunity to participate in the TIC 4.0 initiative to sustainably improve the industry and create a foundation for something that will last.

The most encouraging experience was when Boris Wenzel presented the Terminal Links pilot in Malta at the #CTAC2020. In this short presentation, you could see how the magic of standardization when implemented in the right way can change the business to lead and steer transparent processes and make better and informed decisions.

About the member/author:

Luisa Kempf is the Chief Technology Officer of EUROGATE Technical Services GmbH. EUROGATE a shipping line-independent container terminal group with container terminals in 12 locations across Europe. Luisa supported the initiative from the start and EUROGATE is one of the founding members of TIC4.0.

 

1. What do you think is the current status of standardization in the container terminal industry, what are the points not addressed yet?

In order to better understand the standardization evolution and its complexity in the port industry I would like to point out some important facts in this process.

Standardization is one of the port industry challenges since the first container terminal was opened in 1932 in Pennsylvania ; only one year later the first obligatory parameters of containers were established under the International Chamber of Commerce and Bureau International des Conteneurs, but this was not internationally  accepted; first steps of standardization  for the  sea transportation started after WW2 with the main patented invention of the goods containerization in 1956 in US by Mc Lean, with, among others, the twistlock invention. His main idea was to use containers that were never opened from supplier to end user usable by sea or road.

Despite dozens of systems were in use, impact was huge and undisputedly contributed to the development of the international trade.

The first standard ISO (668) for the freight containers was published only in 1968, 12 years after and then is regularly updated.

I made this short summary just to see how long time and efforts took at the beginning for a standardization in our conservative industry.

Recently personally involved in the ISO, IEEE, IEC standardization of the connection of the shore power supply for ships, it took almost 10 years to implement.

Many other standards followed in the ports and maritime industry, some imposed by among others IMO, or recommended by the users, various associations and consultants. Still there is a lot to do.

 

2. From your point of view, why are standards important moving forward in the 4th industrial revolution and IoT?

Standards are paramount not only due to the 4th industrial revolution; specifically with the Artificial Intelligence fast development and implementation, when we already started to delegate to machines human decisions, fight for increasing efficiency a matter of economical survival, standardization became  a must and the reduction of timing for its granting, should be a goal for everyone.

 

3. What do you expect of the work at TIC 4.0 and what was the main reason becoming a member?

Our Association, PEMA, is  representing many port equipment manufacturers acting worldwide with proven expertise and experience in this domain ; our technical committees are very active in showing the innovations and the latest “state of the art “ port technologies; our role is to contribute with recommendations also for new standards and make modern technologies more known to the industry. The cooperation with TIC 4.0 is natural, a combination of manufacturers knowledge and port operators, each one contributing and accelerating  the development of new standards.

 

4. What was the most encouraging experience working in TIC 4.0 together with the members?

PEMA’s mission is to provide a forum and public voice for the global port equipment and technology sectors, reflecting their critical role in enabling safe, secure, sustainable and productive ports and thereby supporting world maritime trade.

Chief among our aims is to foster good relations within the communities we represent, by providing a forum for the exchange of views on global trends in port equipment and technology design, manufacture, operation and maintenance.

PEMA also aims to promote and support the global role of port equipment and technology by raising awareness with the media, customers and other stakeholders; forging relations with other industry associations and bodies; and contributing to best practice initiatives.

Sharing with operators and end users port technologies is very useful for the industry and this is also the main reason we supported from its inception together with FEPORT the TIC4.0. The challenge of moving faster to standardization remains; this is  due to various Intellectual Property obstacles, the full respect of fair competition, national regulations implementation and not the least the willingness of the manufacturers to share their newest technologies in order to become international  standards, in other words to be in the public domain. TIC 4.0 is a new association and as Port Equipment Manufacturers Association we reiterate our wish of a successful cooperation for the benefit of the terminal users and the industry.

 

About the member/author:

Director & Board member Fimer Group, previously being the Cavotec Group NV co-founder from end 80t and its CEO since the listing at Nasdaq OMX for over a decade. He is also Group Chairman of the Board of Lastminute.com, a SIX Swiss listed company and member of various Boards worldwide. Ottonel started his career in one of the ABB companies with port applications. He is a registered professional engineer in France.

 

About PEMA – Port Equipment Manufacturers Association

Advanced equipment and technology underpin the performance of today’s seaport, marine and intermodal terminal industries. PEMA represents the interests of equipment and technology suppliers on a worldwide basis, providing a platform to inform, educate and promote best practice, both within the industries we serve and externally with port and terminal operators and other key stakeholders.

 

 

1. What do you think is the current status of standardization in the container terminal industry, what are the points not addressed yet?

I think that standardization was lacking in the terminal industry and this is how and why TIC 4.0 came to birth. The main objective of TIC 4.0 is to bring together terminal operators, port equipment manufacturers and software suppliers to define, develop and maintain standards that enable the sector to face critical challenges like digital transformation, energy transition and the evolution towards automation. This objective will allow both operators and manufacturers to adopt a common language regarding port operations and implement Industry 4.0 models. The existence of these standards will foster an efficient adoption of the Industry 4.0 paradigm and at a lower cost, enabling operators, manufacturers and software providers to share a common understanding of the key aspects that affect the operations and logistics of port terminals.

The needs and points to be addressed are numerous particularly because we are in the middle of a transition period and embracing the fourth industrial revolution. We are “learning while walking”.

 

2. From your point of view, why are standards important moving forward in the 4th industrial revolution and IoT?

Without standardization, mutual understanding and dialogue between port equipment manufacturers and solution providers and their customers would have remained a non-satisfactory one essentially stimulated by offers from port equipment manufacturers while customers feel now a strong need to build interoperable systems. It is therefore very welcome that both sides agree on a common language. I think that the COVID 19 impact will also speed up the process somehow as everybody needs to be agile and resilient and better understand the pace of change that is necessary. The work that has started within TIC 4.0 working groups promises to be fruitful and constructive.

Moving into the fourth industrial revolution also means that the terminals also realize that they are more and more connected to the seaside but also the land side and that all efforts to streamline processes, standardize and have systems that exchange data with other parties of the logistics chain will provide them a competitive advantage and will allow them to perform sustainable operations too.

 

3. What do you expect of the work at TIC 4.0 and what was the main reason becoming a member?

FEPORT has been a supporter of the initiative since the beginning as this corresponds to our members’ priorities. Standardization implies a level of maturity among industry players which have realized that improvements and performance can also be achieved by defining common standards.  A closer interaction between terminals and manufacturers with the objective of the elaboration of industry standards will favour the development of Internet of Things, Artificial Intelligence, further technological innovations in the port sector. Innovation will also be the best means to support sustainable and efficient port operations.

 

4. What was the most encouraging experience working in TIC 4.0 together with the members?

1.     Attending to all TIC 4.0 meetings has proven to be very stimulating but being a privileged witness of the collective intelligence that emerged from the group of experts who sat together to organize the work was a really fantastic experience. There you see the potential of co-creation and how standardization can support this industry’s transformation in the era of the fourth industrial revolution, with all its components.

 

About the member/author:

Lamia Kerdjoudj is the Secretary General of FEPORT – Federation of European Private Port Companies and Terminals, since 1993, FEPORT represents the interests of large variety of terminal operators and stevedoring companies performing operations and carrying out activities over 425 terminals in the seaports of the European Union. FEPORT speaks on behalf more than 1245 companies employing more than 390 000 port workers.

FEPORT’s aim is to promote the interests of its members, i.e. national associations and global multinational companies, and to maintain constant dialogue with all EU institutional and non-institutional stakeholders.

 

1. What do you think is the current status of standardization in the container terminal industry, what are the points not addressed yet?

We are just at the beginning. With the new Terminal Industry Committee 4.0 (TIC 4.0) it is the first time that all the actors of our industry sit down together with the clear intention to agree about semantics and protocols, in order to formalize and standardize the language used in our industry. At last, our industry has become conscious that without an easy interconnection of systems facilitated by commonly accepted standards we cannot build a complex system, unless it is a custom-designed complex system that will be really expensive and risky to undertake.

 

2. From your point of view, why are standards important moving forward in the 4th industrial revolution and IoT?

The main reason our industry is one of the last ones to embrace the 4th industrial revolution is because we don’t have the basics in place to interconnect and share data; for this reason, automation remains exceptional in our industry. Until recently, every player in our industry thought that to develop closed solutions based on own standards was a competitive advantage, but most companies realise that it is too complex and limitative, and that an easy plug-and-play integration of each element, several levels of orchestration and optimization require a high level of connectivity.  Unlike other industries, our initiative TIC 4.0 immediately involved terminal operators and their suppliers, terminal equipment and solutions providers to work jointly on elaborating a common language: this collaboration will ensure a faster adoption of the standards by both clients and their suppliers.

 

3. What do you expect of the work at TIC 4.0 and what was the main reason becoming a member?

We need to develop a long term solution for the connectivity of equipment in the terminal environment, that allows us to deploy a high level of technology in our existing terminals at a fraction of the cost and risk of failure that it would entail to do it alone with a custom designed solution. Terminal Link has many partners in their terminals, imagine what it would imply to implement and manage a different solution for each digital project:  the cost would be very high vs. being able to adopt standard solutions.  Standards have to allow us to deploy modular solutions and interconnect them easily and transparently, allowing us to evaluate and optimize each one and their combination.

 

4. What was the most encouraging experience working in TIC 4.0 together with the members?

I was grateful to discover that all our competitors shared exactly the same vision than us, and of course the same problems. When we work together we know that this work is going to require a long time. Each one of the TIC 4.0 members gives their best knowledge to ensure that the result will be bullet-proof for the applications in our industry. The level of expertise is really high, and both solution providers and terminal operators are completely focused on the usability of the standards in the real world. After one year and a lot of work, we know that the scope is so huge that we just wrote the first page. But this page is going to be a good foundation for all the future content of TIC 4.0

 

About the member/author:

Boris Wenzel is the TIC4.0 President, a global terminal operator with investments in 23 container, conventional and ro-ro terminals around the world, and is the founder and President of the Terminal Industry Committee 4.0 (TIC 4.0) Association that has been incorporated in 2019 with the aim of developing standards for the cargo handling industry.