Taking on the TOS beast

Hutchison Ports' Next Generation Terminal Management System (nGen) was launched in 2003 with the first implementation at Yantian, and updated and installed at HIT in Hong Kong in 2005, followed by a number of installations elsewhere in the HPH network.
More recently, HPH's operations development and technology team team worked with local teams in several other HPH ports to simplify nGen's configurability to pave the way for a large-scale rollout to HPH ports still using other systems.
“The entire nGen system has been developed in-house. We invited external consultants from both the academic (universities) and commercial sectors (IT vendors) to give input to the architecture, ensuring the solution designs were aligned with our project objectives,” says an HPH spokesman.
As a global port operator, HPH has accumulated a great deal of operational knowledge and management skills over the years, he says: “Building the nGen system entirely in-house ensured HPH's competitive edge.
“The system will continue to grow (adapted by other HPH terminals) and develop (enhanced with different modules) according to our own development schedule and operational needs. For example, we are building an automated version of nGen in Europe according to the schedule and requirements of the company's business plan.”
HPH says nGen is designed to cater for differences in requirements among terminal operators via customisation - so it can be deployed to fit various port characteristics, while minimising overhead and maintenance costs.
The system is in use at ten ports, including three which implemented nGen in 2010. Four more plan to roll out nGen this year - in Spain (TERCAT), China (HICT), Panama (PPC) and Australia (BCT). “Faster and better system communication between ports, standardisation of terms (a single source), and sharing of operational expertise are some of the benefits of using nGen across the HPH network,” says the spokesman.
“There are many new and unique features, including scalability, real-time operator alerts, and configurable business rules. With real-time operator alerts, control tower staff can customise more than a dozen automated alerts to suit different situations. These alerts will prompt staff to appropriate action at the appropriate time, freeing them from constantly staring at a computer screen looking for problem areas.”

Comments

  1. Wonder where that leaves are fantastic in house systems which have cost a fotune over the years and still function poorly to say the least.

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment