Automated Equipment

Ports are under pressure to be more profitable, more productive, and also keep costs down. Meeting these goals is tough in a highly competitive market.

To stay competitive, many ports are turning to automation. By employing technology-based equipment management, companies can significantly improve their productivity and overall profitability by minimizing costs, not raising prices.
Below is a sampling of some of the automated equipment available.

Company: Gottwald Port Technology GmbH (Gottwald)

Product: Automated Guided Vehicle (AGV), Automated Stacking Crane (ASC)

Function: AGVs work as fleets to automatically transport one 20’ container, one 40’ container, or two 20’ containers from quay to stackyard without drivers.

ASCs take over the containers brought to them by transport vehicles and store them in the container stackyard, run housekeeping activities in the stackyard, and load containers onto land-based transport vehicles.

Special Features: AGV: The new Lift AGV — a further development of the conventional AGV � decouples container transport from the storage processes. With a maximum payload of 60 metric tonnes, the lowest road-surface loading, and the most efficient fuel consumption, it is also the lightest active container transport vehicle on the market, says the company.

ASC: Maximum utilization of space and stacking density thanks to twin ASCs on a single pair of rails. Accurate positioning even at winds of up to force 10, which is a result of the fixed-leg concept and the rigid guiding beam, offers considerable benefits in comparison to rope field systems. Innovative technological features include management software, anti-collision system, and innovative braking.

How it Works: AGV: Travel orders for the AGV fleet are generated by the terminal management system and processed by the AGV management system, which is integrated in a central control room. Using the traffic control system, vehicles comply with the specified times and positions.

ASC: Together with Automated Guided Vehicles, ASCs form fully-automated, integrated container transport solutions — storage and retrieval operations from quayside to stackyard to gate. Or they can replace conventional stacking cranes and straddle carriers or work on the quayside in conjunction with existing fleets of straddle carriers.
Customers: Container and intermodal terminal operators, industrial companies moving heavy loads.

Website: www.gottwald.com 

Company: International Terminal Solutions

Product: Computerized systems for optimization of ports, terminals, and depots.

Function: Providing visibility for the logistics, transport, manufacturing, and warehousing industries. ITS is a major technology enabler for tracking goods and assets around the world. ITS has been implementing RFID and GPS solutions in the supply chain since 1988. The ITS systems automatically track and trace freight across a shipping port or distribution centre without the input from a human operator. The systems include G-POS — automated container tracking, V-TRAX — automated equipment navigation systems, D-MON — operator authorization systems, SE Manager — a multi-site asset visualization and management tool, and various other systems.

Special Features: The systems optimize the utilization of labor and equipment to ensure operational productivity. The D-MON system ensures only trained, approved, and insured operators use special equipment, vehicles, and plans, reducing both insurance premiums and worker welfare risks. G-POS ensures all items of freight on-site are tracked and accounted for, providing better storage utilization and client service with rapid and accurate location of goods.

How it Works: The system operates with various tracking technologies, including GPS and RFID, brought together to form a user friendly and transparent automated element to the operation of moving and storing goods.

Customers: Ro-Ro operators, Terminal operators, 3PL and transportation businesses.

Website: www.portautomation.com

Company: Kalmar Industries

Product: Automatic Stacking Crane, Automated Shuttle Carrier

Function: Automatic stack operation and automatic transport between quay cranes and container yard

Special Features: The automatic stacking cranes are controlled by a Traffic Management System (TMS), which communicates with the Terminal Operating System (TOS). The TOS includes all information about container positions and required movements, whereas the TMS calculates yard crane routes and speeds and avoids collisions. Positioning of the yard crane is done with absolute sensors, while laser and camera systems are used for landing and picking up containers in the stack and buffer areas.

How it Works: For vessel side operations, Shuttle Carriers® leave and pick up containers directly from the ground under the ship-to-shore crane, creating a buffer under the crane. Shuttle Carriers® also transport containers between the vessel side and the stacking area.

This unique concept decouples vessel and yard operations, thus maximizing both ship-to-shore and yard crane productivity. This also results in fewer vehicles required (50 percent compared to AGV operation), due to minimal waiting times.

In an automated Shuttle Carrier® operation, a manual area is needed for the handling of semi-automatic twistlocks, hatchcovers, and oversized containers. The manual area is normally located under the ship-to-shore crane portal and the automated operation under the ship-to-shore crane backreach.

For yard and landside operations, automatic stacking cranes are used for block stacking and in-stack transportation. Automatic stacking cranes leave and pick up containers from the buffer area in the front end of the stacks. The automatic stacking crane stacks are located at a 90 degree angle to the quayside, in order to minimize Shuttle Carrier® traveling distances.

Clients: ECT, Rotterdam; HHLA CTB, Hamburg; APMT, Virginia; Patrick, Brisbane

Websites: www.kalmarind.com,
www.kalmarautomation.com

Company: Liebherr

Product: LHM Harbor Mobile Cranes

Function: The LHM crane is a multipurpose cargo handling crane designed for loading or unloading vessels up to a Capesize class. With lifting capacities ranging from 42 to 208 metric tons, the cranes are the ideal solution for container, bulk, break bulk, and heavy lift operations.

Special Features: Liebherr is the first manufacturer to provide an efficient and robust anti-sway system, the Cycoptronic system, which increases productivity and improves safety. With this revolutionary system, Liebherr can also provide fully automated, Teach-in, crane control. Using the teach-in system, the operator may preselect any position for the crane and then give instruction to automatically return to this position. This is especially useful for bulk handling operations where the machine must return to the same hold and hopper repeatedly.

Liebherr is the only manufacturer offering the Vertical line finder system that guarantees the hoisting ropes are centered over the load before it is lifted. Vertical line finder is an excellent safety feature that reduces the potential for damage to personnel and cargo.

How it Works: As Liebherr designs and develops its own Litronic crane control in-house, it’s able to integrate these special features without additional third party systems or controls. Together these innovative features contribute to a safer and more productive work environment with the crane.

Customers: Many large terminal operators and stevedores throughout the world already utilize the innovative LHM harbor mobile crane. The machines are popular at many ports, especially for bulk handling and heavy-lift applications where these technological advances can be fully utilized.

Website: www.LIEBHERR.com

Company: TTS Port Equipment AB

Product: Translifters, cassettes, Automated Guided Vehicles (C-AGVs)

Function: The Translifter functions as a “transporter” and “lifter.” The C-AGVs also incorporate the same functions as the Translifter but are not manned.

Special Features: The Translifter can be fitted with a camera and can be employed in the container terminal. The cassettes — simple steel platforms — can be designed for optimum efficiency. The C-AGVs have been engineered and patented. They can employ the first fully zero-emission transport equipment in a port. The AGVs can turn in any direction — 360 degrees — and have a turning radius under two feet. The energy transfer is unique to the system in that energy is transferred to the vehicles without using batteries or a combustion engine.

How it Works: The cassettes are loaded with containers and swap-bodies, which are then lifted by the Translifter to be transported into a ship. Currently, Translifters are used in container terminals for transporting containers within the terminal. The cassettes act as a “floating buffer” and can have containers double stacked.

The advantage of cassettes is that they can be decoupled from the Translifter or the C-AGV. This provides more productivity as the Translifters and C-AGVs do not have to wait for a container to be loaded or unloaded — they simply decouple from the cassette and work on other jobs.

The C-AGV has super-capacitors installed to receive the energy from an energy coil laid in the pavement. The energy is transferred to the C-AGV, and the C-AGV can be steered conventionally or ‘crab’ diagonally, or it can move completely transversally. New cassette designs enable the C-AGV to enter and exit both transversally and longitudinally, which allows decoupling at the quayside that is the key to the system’s cargo handling efficiency.

Clients: Ro-Ro industry, ports, and shiplines worldwide. APM Terminals is using the modified cassettes and Translifters.

Website: www.tts-marine.com