Keeping logistics chains flowing beyond borders

In the Netherlands, a 2008 survey by Portbase estimated that the value created by the use of its PCS services at Amsterdam and Rotterdam was in the region of €40m-€60m ($55.8m-$83.7m) per annum.

Iwan van der Wolf, chief executive of Portbase, cites more accurate information exchange, lower administration costs, more transparent planning, faster throughput times, fewer mistakes and optimal re-use of information among the list of positives bestowed by a PCS.

“This results in more efficient port operations for all players,” he adds. “The supply chains are benefitting in the area of lower supply chain costs and higher port quality due to the quality and transparency of the port process.”

The Portbase plan now is to convince other Dutch ports and more companies beyond the Netherlands to adopt the system and further generate economies of scale. “We are currently in discussion with other Dutch ports such as Flushing and Terneuzen in order to connect to the system,” he says.

Mr van der Wolf believes that PCS systems can also transcend borders just like supply chains. “Logistic chains do not stop at the border,” he says. “International information exchange is increasingly becoming both a matter of added value and of necessity. It is therefore logical that cooperation should take place between the port community systems of the ports in various European countries in future, and Portbase would like to play a key role in this.”