Creating something from nothing
A combined Navis and APS approach at Los Angeles' Pier 400 improved visibility for train-based equipment
One benefit of alliances that can pay dividends for end users is the development of solutions that did not previously exist.
The knowledge-sharing and transparency that partnerships offer can, it’s claimed, lead to innovative thinking to meet unique challenges faced by ports.
Matt Ramsey, APS Technology Group director of business development, points to APM Terminals’ Pier 400 terminal at Los Angeles as an example of the benefits of a combined approach.
“Here, the customer needed greater visibility to train-based equipment and movement in order to properly manage the loading/unloading process.
“Together with Navis, we delivered a system that automatically creates a train inventory, provides GPS-level coordinates of all railcars and containers on each track within the facility, and allows for the assignment and confirmation of work instructions, all without manual intervention.
“No single application could meet the objectives of the final solution and it required tight integration of multiple parties to successfully execute,” says Mr Ramsey.
“Navis and APS have recently deployed OCR technology to improve quay crane operations at APMT. By purchasing the solution Navis and APS has pre-integrated, we were able to reduce the deployment time and eliminate any custom development that would have been required,” adds Navis vice president of business development, Chuck Schneider. “Since Navis has pre-integrated the APS OCR solution into our software, APMT was able to work with us to deploy a turnkey product that Navis will support going forward.”
Navis is currently undertaking similar projects for some of its customers in Long Beach, which it believes will result in “shorter projects, less custom development and a solution that will be supported over the long run by Navis”.
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