Kalmar, part of Cargotec, and Nokia, will expand their ongoing collaboration to provide new solutions for ports and intermodal terminal operators seeking to automate operations and achieve greater productivity, the company said in its release. Nokia and Kalmar will combine their communications and cargo handling technology expertise in new joint go-to-market ventures, integrated solutions development and research collaboration.
In the first of the new collaboration programs, Nokia and Kalmar will incorporate Nokia 4G and 5G private wireless into offering development for use with straddle carriers, automated stacking carriers and rubber-tyred gantry cranes. This will enable ports and terminal operators to increase container handling efficiency and enhance on-site safety levels.
Other near-term technical collaboration will focus on 5G research projects in Finland as well as on ultra-reliable positioning for safe acceleration of automated cargo handling equipment.
As a key component of joint go-to-market and solutions development, Nokia will provide the Nokia Digital Automation Cloud (DAC) solution. Nokia DAC is an industrial-grade digitalization platform that provides a reliable, secure, and high-performance private wireless network with industrial connectors and edge computing capabilities on a cloud-based monitoring system.
In 2019, Kalmar and Ukkoverkot (now Edzcom), a leading private LTE network provider, announced an agreement with Nokia to build a wireless digitalization infrastructure for port and terminal research and development.
Nokia has more than 220 large enterprise private wireless customers of which more than 30 are 5G. Analyst firm GlobalData has named Nokia as market leader in the private wireless marketplace.
Kalmar offers the widest range of cargo handling solutions and services to ports, terminals, distribution centres and to heavy industry. Kalmar is the industry forerunner in terminal automation and in energy efficient container handling, with one in four container movements around the globe being handled by a Kalmar solution. Through its extensive product portfolio, global service network and ability to enable a seamless integration of different terminal processes, Kalmar improves the efficiency of every move.
Kalmar is part of Cargotec. Cargotec's sales in 2019 totalled approximately EUR 3.7 billion and it employs around 12,000 people.