HBS system to boost efficiency

Launched by DP World and industrial engineering specialists SMS Group, the automated BOXBAY stacks each container in an individual rack and can store containers up to eleven stories high, offering direct access to each container to eliminate unproductive reshuffling. A system that offers quick and easy access to containers would help improve operational efficiency, pointed out John Tyler, director of port planning at WSP.

“If the system has the ability to provide instant access to any container without reshuffling the containers on the quay then this will make stack flow more efficient,” he said.

The system aims to improve handling speed, energy efficiency and safety, plus reduce operating costs. It is designed to deliver the capacity of a conventional terminal in a third of the surface area and this “dense stacking design offers the benefit of utilising land,” he added.

Additionally, the automated system is similar to other automation concepts, offering the benefit of symmetry in operation.

While a pilot project for BOXBAY will take place at DP World’s Jebel Ali Terminal 4, Mr Tyler stressed that owning the piece of land a system is being built on provides financial backup and the security of ensuring it can stay on that particular bit of land.

Regarding risk management, he warned that taking on an internal warehousing arrangement is important – as the system may be prone to mechanical failure.

He added that as port land is often reclaimed and not necessarily ideal for structures requiring deep foundations, any development should take into account that the foundation of a structure needs to be stable enough to support it.

By Rebecca Jeffrey