TECH TOC Conference to be held at TOC CSC Europe
How do maritime container terminals face up to the big ship challenge? As larger and larger vessels enter all shipping routes, even niche trades, terminals around the world are under increased pressure to improve productivity, reliability and efficiency. Meeting the challenges requires not simply bigger and faster equipment, but just as crucially more intelligent working practices and usage of the vast amounts of data collected from the mass material flows that characterise modern container terminals. All this is taking place at a time when the global port and terminal industries are facing demands to do business in a cleaner and safer way, TOC Events Worldwide said in a media release.
Achieving improved container terminal operating performance on all fronts will be the focus of three days of intensive debate and practical case studies at the new TECH TOC Conference, held as part of the 38th TOC Container Supply Chain Europe in Rotterdam on 25-27 June 2013. This free-to-attend conference will explore key topics including terminal automation, electrification, big data, handling system optimisation and more.
A centrepiece of the conference will be a debate session on Achieving Operational Excellence - Terminal Operator Plans, Priorities & Challenges. Port executives including Curtis J. Foltz, Executive Director at Georgia Ports Authority, USA, David Huck, Head of Port Operations for Peel Ports, UK and Tom Ward, Chief Engineer at Ports America will share international perspectives on how to take terminal performance to the next level.
Automation focus
While robotic equipment is still used at just a fraction of the world’s container terminals, the trend is clearly upwards, especially for large-scale greenfield projects. Joost Achterkamp, Terminal Area Project Manager for Abu Dhabi Ports Company, will update attendees on one such, discussing lessons learned from bringing the Middle East’s new semi-automated Khalifa Port online late last year. Achterkamp will give practical insights into how the project developed from concept to completion, and how and why automation was implemented. Moving to a current project, Amine Nebri, General Manager Automation for Long Beach Container Terminal (LBCT), will discuss development plans for one of the first ever large-scale terminal automation projects in the USA.
From the technology side, Daniel Pagac, Director, Product Management, at Kalmar Australia, will look at the commercial use of ‘Autostrads’ in the Port of Brisbane and discuss current and future global potential for automated straddle carriers. Oscar Pernia, Director Product Management Automation at Navis, and formerly part of the team that developed the Mediterranean’s first semi-automated container terminal in Algeciras, will give a view on Building State of the Art Container Terminals through Optimisation and Automation, including the criticality of the terminal operating system (TOS) in automation project success.
Latest developments in automated RTGs will be also reviewed by Tuomas Saastamoinen, Sales Director Port Cranes at Konecranes, joined by Diego Sanchez, Product Manager and ASC & ERTG Group Coordinator at Cavotec, who will focus on the growing trend towards RTG electrification.
The trend to electrification
Electrification and emissions reduction will be a key topic throughout TECH TOC, including a future view from port technology pioneer Dr. Mathias Döbner, Executive VP at Terex Port Solutions, on Full Electric Terminals – Our Challenge for Tomorrow. Döbner will argue that, following the current trend in the automotive industry, the terminal sector needs to transition towards electric drives and mechatronics, supported by smart control systems and reliable sensor technologies, to convert a diesel-driven industry into an electrified one. Other presenters will explore new environmental equipment technologies including hybrid reach stackers and zero-emissions terminal trailers/tractors.
Turning to advances in terminal intelligence, Robert Inchausti, Chief Technical Officer for Navis, will speak to the Myths and Realities of Big Data. What is it and what can the terminal industry learn from other sectors? How can information be used in the terminal market to drive competitive differentiation? Included in the presentation will be a primer on the latest tools and practices in analytics as they can be applied to terminal intelligence.
Alongside the big picture views will be a series of practical case studies addressing various aspects of today’s data-driven container terminal operations. From Adriatic Gate Container Terminal, Sebastiano Cerneka, IT Manager and Ognjen Ruzic, Operations Manager, will talk about Implementing 3G Mobile Communications for Terminal Network Connectivity, including what motivated the Croatian terminal operator to switch from Wi-Fi and how 3G compares in terms of cost and performance. Adoption of alternative WiMESH technology in France will be reviewed by Christian Raux of Luceor. Boris Susmak, Head of IT at Port of Koper, gives a case study on how to successfully replace an ageing TOS, while Gustavo Flores, Operations Director at SPRC, will outline how the Colombian terminal operator was able to dramatically boost its container yard performance by fine turning its TOS parameters. A further session from Dr. Leif Meier, Senior Consultant, RBS EMEA, and Dr. Holger Schütt, CEO, ISL Applications will examine new developments in optimised equipment control, in particular intelligent RTG dispatching,
“The goal of the TECH TOC Conference is to provide a high quality platform for all the stakeholders in port and terminal efficiency to come together, share experiences and expertise, and map out solutions to common current and future challenges,” said Rachael White, Content Director at TOC Events. “We are really pleased that terminal operations experts from so many corners of the globe will be joining the discussions at the first TECH TOC Conference in Europe alongside the international equipment and technology industries.”
About TOC Worldwide
For nearly 40 years, TOC Worldwide has provided the market-leading conference and exhibition forums for the global port and terminal industries and their customers. With a change of name to TOC Container Supply Chain, the TOC event portfolio is now evolving fast to attract a wider audience of container supply chain professionals.
Taking place each year in the world’s four key shipping hubs – Europe, Middle East, Americas and Asia – each TOC is now a complete container supply chain event for its region, bringing together cargo owners, logistics providers, carriers, ports, terminals and other key members of the container supply chain to learn, debate, network and foster new business solutions.