The Hindu Business Line : Kochi port moving to paperless operations

Kochi, Nov 9 To discuss and address various issues and concerns of its users, DP World, the container terminal operator at the Cochin Port Trust recently conducted interactive sessions with the trade in Tirupur and Coimbatore.

Focus on changes

The session focused on the significant changes that had taken place in terminal operations and work practices over the past year at the Rajiv Gandhi Container Terminal.

The participants included exporters, importers, shipping lines, Container Corporation of India, clearing agents, steamer agents, freight forwarders etc, a statement issued here said.

Capt Subhash Kumar, Deputy Chairman of the Port, highlighted the significant developments on the anvil at the port, besides giving an overview of the existing facilities at the port, the traffic dealt with and the efforts taken by the port to reduce transaction cost to its customers by increasing efficiency and reducing hidden costs.

He also focused on the initiative of the port in shifting to a paperless operation by mid 2008 with the implementation of an ERP system.

Initiatives

Mr Suresh Joseph, General Manager, DP World, spoke of the customer focused approach of the company globally as well as in Kochi. He pointed out the customer-friendly initiatives such as the setting up of a office in Coimbatore to service the customers in Tirupur and Coimbatore, the introduction of the IVRS and SMS facility for receiving information on vessel arrival/departure and also tracking of containers from the gate to the vessel and vice versa.

The introduction of the customer support system which facilitates the trade to log in their complaints and suggestions through the DP World Web site with a time bound commitment on the response was given special mention.

Mr Elvis D’cruz, Commercial Manager, DP World, emphasised the importance of the growing EXIM business in Tirupur and Coimbatore and the need for various agencies such as the shipping lines, freight forwarders, clearing agents to work together to provide an efficient and cost-effective solution for the customer to choose Kochi as their preferred Gateway.

Later at the interactive session, the trade appreciated the efforts taken by DP World in streamlining the operations at the terminal.

However, they expressed concern on the frequent strikes and hartals in Kerala, the delays at the Walayar Check Post and the bad condition of the roads in the State resulting in the diversion of container traffic to other ports in South India.

The DP World officials assured the trade that all efforts will be taken to facilitate the elimination of bottlenecks in the system and work towards making the Rajiv Gandhi Container Terminal a very customer-friendly and efficient terminal.

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