`Port'ing technology

Jebel Ali, the flagship container terminal of the Dubai-based DP World, is the crown jewel of the Gulf. Last year, the world's eighth biggest container terminal handled around 10 million TEUs (twenty foot equivalent units, also referred to as 20-ft containers). In other words, every 3.15?seconds, a box was handled at this terminal that uses technology in all the major areas of operations.

While other global container terminals were focussing on increasing business, DP World invested in technology by streamlining Jebel Ali terminal's system and automated the processes wherever possible. The move paid off after three years, says Mohammed al-Muallem, Senior Vice-President and Managing Director, UAE, DP World,

For instance, in 2008, during peak congestion in the terminal, a truck's turnaround ? the time it takes for a vehicle to enter and leave the terminal ? used to be around eight hours. This has come down to 30 minutes, thanks to gate automation.

?Technology has transformed the way customers do business with us. Today, a trader using technology can deal with our port, the Free Trade Zone and also route the cargo through air ? all through a single window,? he says.

Jebel Ali, with capacity to handle around 14 million TEUs, is not a local port but a hub port for the Gulf and also serves Iraq, Iran, Indian sub-continent, East Africa and Central Eastern countries. ?We serve nearly 2 billion people as part of the supply chain,? says Muallem.

The terminal is the world's single biggest, catering to ships of around 18,000 TEUs ? most Indian terminals can handle ships of less than 10,000 TEUs. ?Our philosophy is to be ahead of the capacity and customer requirement with technology as the core,? says Muallem.

Control room

As with airlines, ships come to the terminal with a fixed day schedule and leave the port on a scheduled date and time. The terminal should enable this, for which ?we are dependent on technology' for information sharing between the terminal and shipping lines, he says.

A control room manned by nearly ten people monitors continuously on its screens the entire functioning of the terminal ? there is hardly any human seen at the terminal. There are nearly 80 cameras at various locations covering every angle in Terminal One and around 160 cameras in Terminal Two. If there is any backlog or problem in the terminal, the control room zooms the camera to find out the reason and takes action accordingly.

Gate automation

One of the most significant technology deployments in the terminal was gate automation to get rid of paper work and allow trucks to enter and exit the port without human intervention, says Muallem. When a truck comes into the terminal, everything is monitored remotely. Two years ago, RFID (radio frequency identification) tags were installed in over 6,000 trucks calling every day at Jebel Ali so that when a truck enters at the gate all the information about the vehicle is available on the RFID tag. The readers at the gate obtain the information from the tag within seconds, and send the information on to the terminal operating room for planning.

Dubai Trade

DP World has also created a portal called Dubai Trade where a trader can use the online system and key in the exact container to be picked up from the port and even pay the Customs duty online. One can also electronically issue instructions to the truck company to pick up the box from the terminal.

An electronic number is issued to the truck and tagged with the registration of the vehicle assigned to pick up the particular box. The moment the truck enters the gate, the reader scans the number from the RFID tag and the registration number ? both should match with the information available.

As soon as the truck enters the gate, the control room in the terminal knows that that particular truck is entering the terminal to pick up a particular box from a particular location.

Improved turnaround

Thanks to Dubai Trade ? the online commerce portal for DP World's UAE region, which provides a single access point for customers to manage their business activities with DP World ? and gate automation, the average turnaround from the time a truck enters the gate to pick up the box and exits with it is less than 30 minutes as against nearly 8-9 hours earlier, reiterates Muallem.

Also, as a security measure, once the truck enters the gate, it is monitored 360 degrees, photographs taken (earlier it used to be checked manually) significantly reducing time at the gate. There is no waiting time today at the gate.

end of manual documentation

As the transition to automation is currently under way, the trader still has a choice ? to route cargo through Dubai Trade or do it manually, which involves processing and documentation in the terminal and manual payment over the counter. An electronic token is issued at the counter and the truck picks up the container from the yard. Nearly 70 per of the trade has moved online and ?we expect the rest 30 per cent to move in the next six months. We will then close down our documentation centre. Instead of forcing our customers, we are educating them on the value automation brings in,? says Muallem.

One of the obstacles in automation was not having enough banks in the network. This has been sorted out with majority of banks brought into the online system to enable electronic payment.

Air cargo

The Dubai Trade portal has also been extended to Emiratesskycargo (the cargo division of Emirates airlines). The trader dealing in sea cargo can use the same portal to ship cargo through air.

?We are trying to put all these in one system so that a trader can have ease of access; for example, if a cargo arrives in Jebel Ali port and he has to fly the cargo by air to another destination in the Gulf region. The system also links the ports, airport and the Jebel Ali Free Zone ? all interlinked and in one location. You cannot find such a combination anywhere in the world. For a trader, it will be a one-stop shop dealing with a single portal. Our focus is to help a customer who can benefit by coming to us through the port, airport or free trade zone. It is all about speed and IT helping us to be in speed mode,? says Muallem.

Pay back

Every project has a pay back period, and ?we start a project first looking at the returns.? For instance, gate automation has reduced turnaround time to minutes instead of hours.

?If a customer idles his truck for two hours, he is losing a lot of money. The returns could be one year to three years depending up on the value it creates to our customers. If there is congestion in the terminal, it will affect the flow outside as well. We just do not invest for the sake of doing a project. We invest when we see there is benefit from all sides,? signs off Muallem.

> raja@thehindu.co.in

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