Eliminating unproductive moves using clever storage

This is the first time that the storage system, manufactured by German plant technology supplier, SMS group, has been put into commercial use.

“We have taken a technology that has proven its effectiveness in the metals industry in Germany and further transformed it to create BOXBAY, an innovative container storage system to enhance global trade,” said Sultan Ahmed Bin Sulayem, group chairman and CEO of DP World.

”The technology reflects our continuous efforts to embrace technologies that enhance the flow of trade and further enhances Dubai’s position as a global leader in the ports and logistics industry.”

Tried and tested

The BOXBAY high-bay storage technology will be seamlessly integrated along with the existing mode of ARMG/truck operations as a retrofit on an existing empty storage area at PNC.

The system allows direct access to each container at any time, eliminating 350,000 unproductive moves per year. This will improve the overall truck servicing time by 20%, further improving PNC’s service delivery to its customers.

BOXBAY is fully automated with additional safety features built in. DP World also intends to power it by using solar power, generated by photovoltaic panels on the roof of the storage system, complementing DP World’s drive to decarbonise operations.

DP World developed BOXBAY in a joint venture with SMS group, which originally created the storage system to handle heavy metal coils.

A pilot facility was then built at Jebel Ali’s Terminal-4 in January 2021. By the end of June 2022, 190,000 container movements had been carried out under realistic operating conditions to verify the market maturity of the system.

DP World has a 66% stake in PNC, which handled 5.3 million teu in 2021.