Inadequate visibility and tracking of data and assets at terminals creates opportunities for improvements in areas such as reducing maintenance for equipment, container damage tracking, and vessel efficiency improvements. Waiting times at terminals is a huge pain point as well – these include trucks having to wait at the gate due to appointment delays, unproductive movements to uncover target containers causing delays, or vessels having to wait for pilots or for an available berth to mention a few. Solutions available today help alleviate these and collectively underscore the importance of digitalisation within the ecosystem.
Many terminals look to leverage the data they are producing at their terminals to optimize their operations. By building applications that consume streams of data, they can subscribe to event updates, and reduce the need to rebuild infrastructure for downstream applications which may consume the same data. With the integration of other data streams, such as IoT devices, financial systems, equipment maintenance, and labour management, terminals can better visualize their current state and determine where it makes sense to invest, such as when evaluating modernisation, expansion, and automation projects.