APM Terminals Moín achieves 29.8% reduction in vessel port stay
APM Terminals Moín has achieved an impressive 29.8% reduction in vessel port stay, one and a half years ahead of schedule. At the same time the terminal has reduced average truck turn times to an industry-beating 22 minutes. Together, this has improved trade competitiveness for Costa Rica, is Lifting the Standard of efficiency for customers, and reducing CO2 emissions significantly, according to the company's release.
Early 2022, APM Terminals Moín embarked on a three-year journey to achieve a 30% reduction in port hours compared to a 2021 baseline. Working in collaboration with customers, authorities, and the entire port ecosystem this has now been achieved.
This collaboration was supported by the deployment of Lean principles to analyze and enhance "Farm to Ship" supply chain journeys, resulting in customised solutions aligned with market demands.
Multiple vessel idle time Kaizen (continuous improvement) events were carried out to map processes and identify efficiencies and best practises. Together these improvements have shortened vessel idle times from an average 160 minutes to just 70 minutes.
A unique gate ‘berth plan’ initiative has resulted in the allocation of fast gate lanes to specific customers for empty pick-ups. Specific time slots are allocated in alignment with a particular shipping line vessel call. This has helped the terminal to dramatically reduce the number of empty units idling in the yard, overall yard density and increase yard efficiency.
The implementation of advanced technology-driven optimization of equipment availability and deployment has delivered 25% higher productivity and 20% lower man hours per move. Contributing to this are the implementation of asset digitisation, remote equipment health monitoring, a new workforce management system, equipment automation and OCR (Optical character recognition) supported by APM Terminals’ globally standardised advanced terminal operating system.
The additional capacity created at APM Terminals Moín has already attracted two new liner services and enabled the expansion of value-added solutions. The terminal has experienced record-high volumes and is prepared for further growth.
