IF dockers go the way of dairymaids - that is, into total obsolescence - then Rotterdam's new Maasvlakte II is showing the way with its automated terminal.
APM Terminal's chief operating officer Henk De Groot described fully automated terminal operations from top to bottom, starting with the quay crane.
If a top crane operator can do 30 moves per hour, this is the best time, and not something he does all day, said Mr De Groot. Not so the machine, he said. Automated cranes do that all day - and night - as long as required.
Unlike traditional quay cranes, in which the operator bends over and looks down at the containers as they are lifted off and on the vessel, the automated crane is operated remotely from the tower.
The operator oversees the operation in front of a computer, his vision not distorted by wind, rain or fog, he said.
The result is that the traditional crane operators will be beaten by 50 per cent more productivity, without even having the machine go faster than 30 moves per hour, which they can.
The automated cranes have two hoists. The main hoist, which works over the vessel, is computer-controlled. The computer lowers the spreader to within a safe distance of the container.
The operator then lowers the spreader the final few feet to the container. The container is then lifted from the vessel and moved a short distance to an elevated platform on the landside of the crane.
The main hoist is then immediately free to return to the vessel.
A second hoist then moves the box from the platform to an automated guided vehicle (AGV) on the ground. Since the electric AGV is driverless, with no man in the vehicle at risk, the hoist can be safely automated.
Each AGV can place the box into a support structure at the front of the assigned stack, allowing it to scurry back to quay crane for a new load, not being forced to wait for the automated stacking crane to arrive before it can depart.
Also, the stacks are segregated as to mode of inland transportation, truck, intermodal rail and barge.
Gate operations are also much improved. Stacks are perpendicular to the vessel and gate, so the trucker need drive only a short distance from the in-gate to the stack.
The auto-stacking crane lifts the box from the stack to the truck chassis. Tests at the terminal say average in and out turn times are 30 minutes. US ports average 45 minutes to an hour.
To make the terminal-to-truck interchange efficient, APMT enforces two requirements upon truckers.
They must file their documentation through a single electronic portal, and all truckers must make an appointment.
If the trucker misses the two-hour window in the appointment, the driver must proceed to a holding area and make a new appointment.
PORTS
06 May 2015 - 21:32
Maasvlakte II: How automated container terminals run - from a distance
IF dockers go the way of dairymaids - that is, into total obsolescence - then Rotterdam's new Maasvlakte II is showing the way with its automated terminal.
PORTS
06 May 2015 - 21:32
Maasvlakte II: How automated container terminals run - from a distance
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