Big Brother to watch over port operations
State-of-the-art ports operations centre will monitor logistics chain from A to Z in real time
TRANSNET is to run a tighter ship with the establishment of a new high-tech operations centre at the Port of Richards Bay.
Scheduled to open early next year, the facility will have cutting-edge monitoring software, allowing 10 controllers to keep a close eye on the entire logistics chain in real time from Transnet National Port Authority’s (TNPA) Bayvue Centre.
A state-of-the-art computerised system will measure everything in the supply chain, from terminal delays and berth occupancy to truck turnaround times and ships’ departing times.
‘It will also assist in macro planning, execution and monitoring of TNPA operations’ daily plans, reports on safety and security incidents and the management of deviations – both planned and unplanned,’ says TNPA Ports Operations Manager, Julia Ramitshana.
‘The Ports of Richards Bay and Durban and Head Office cluster are planned to be the first to become fully operational in South Africa, with Durban and Head Office going live on 1 February, while Richards Bay will follow on 1 March.’
Once operations centres are launched nationwide, they will all be linked for monitoring by the ports authority.
‘The facility will enable availability of local and national information close to real time, around the clock,’ said Ramitshana.
‘It will become a single point of reference to all port users, drive overall efficiencies and reliability of the transport logistics chain and proactively monitor the productivity of facilities and resources.
‘It will also timeously provide information to our relevant stakeholders to resolve deviations and solve operational problems.’
