The measure of things
Drewry Shipping Consultants advises clients on a host of possible KPIs but again, as Drewry ports director Neil Davidson points out, it all comes down to the way they are measured and used.
Take box/crane/hour (or moves per hour) measurements. In the early days of containerisation, the use of the words box, container, teu, move, was not important.
Now, with different sized boxes and multiple lift spreaders, things have changed. A crane lifting 25 x 20 teu containers in an hour is simple enough. But what about a crane lifting 25 x 40 teu boxes (50 teu/hour), or a crane fitted with a twin-lift spreader doing 25 moves per hour (50 teu/hour), or a crane handling a mix of 20 and 40 teu containers?
Equally “an hour” may be measured in different ways. From first lift to last lift? Total time between the chosen start and finish of an hour? Some even measure average moves per hour when the crane is actually in operation, deducting time when the crane is idle due to weather, breakdowns or other delays in the operation.
“The main issues with all KPIs are first, being able to collect the data accurately, regularly and consistently, and second, when comparing one port with another, making sure you are comparing like with like, says Mr Davidson. “All too often, it’s apples and pears.”
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