TERMINAL OPERATING SYSTEMS
INNOVATION REMAINS THE TARGET FOR TERMINAL OPERATING SYSTEMS
Credit CyberLogitec
John Bensalhia looks at how the latest technological breakthroughs are boosting Terminal Operating Systems for ports
Innovation remains the word of choice for today's Terminal Operating Systems. Wai Mung Low, head of business consulting, CyberLogitec Global, outlines the four main ones. “Dashboards and business intelligence modules capitalising on big data; 3D visualisation; the capability to handle multiple types of cargo, and not just containers; and finally, the automation of terminal operations.” Cloud technology and automation have had a massive impact upon the container terminal industry. “This has led to an increase in demand for TOS vendors to include these technologies into their TOS,” says Harry Nguyen, CEO of RBS. “Automation has allowed terminals to improve their operational efficiencies and ability to manage larger vessels. This allows terminals to keep up with the rest of the world with minimum dependency on human resources. This has made such a big breakthrough in our industry because terminals can now enable CHEs such as ASC, ARMG, ARTG, AVG, and STS, to automatically adapt to dynamic situations which optimise performance and output.” RBS has implemented a Cloud TOS to keep up with the changing demands of today's terminals. “There is no surprise that the Cloud has weaved into the container handling industry and yielded quite a presence,” says Lilian Huynh, Marketing Assistant, RBS Marketing Team. “This is because the Cloud's pervasive nature grows proportionately with the masses of the world continually shifting to the digital landscape due to consumerism and globalisation. As this innovation foresees a promising future the reinforcement and integration of the Cloud into a TOS is inescapable.”
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Ms Huynh says that creating a TOS entirely in the Cloud allows terminals of any size the opportunity to leverage autonomous and real-time functionalities which achieve maximum return on investment. RBS' TOPX Expert has been developed in a unique architecture that can support any automated CHE without additional third-party interface software - a TOS that offers automation modules entirely in the Cloud. While AI is a well-known word, it is still an unfamiliar concept for most. “In this bullet-proof industry, many fear the unknown and avoid change,” says Lilian Huynh. “However, the relentless rise in consumer demand resulting from globalisation incites the development of larger vessels with greater capacity. Therefore, it will soon become almost impossible for the human mind to manually plan and solve for all factors without omitting one or the other. Currently, the concept is still in the early stages. However, machine learning in tandem with realtime processing, automation, and the Cloud has rendered machine learning functionalities in TOPX Expert which assists in berth planning to achieve optimum decision-making and resource optimization. AI will gain more remarkable traction in the future when it expands and advances its capabilities, and therefore, should not be overlooked.” Dan Pershin, Head of Marketing, SOLVO, specifies several significant approaches towards TOS development and innovation that could change the market of IT solutions for ports and terminals and general trends in supply chain execution segment.
NOVEMBER 2019 | 41