In opening or expanding container terminals, operators hope to see their terminals register a high level of efficiency and productivity. Creators of such terminals start their planning by examining various factors needed for their operation such as estimated demand, operating procedure, size and quantity of equipment. Terminal operating system (TOS), par exemple, takes up a small portion of the total investment in a terminal, when compared to the cost for procuring terminal equipment or infrastructure. However, terminal operation largely depends on what kind of TOS is selected and applied. For even a terminal that has pricey equipment and high-caliber manpower should make them worthless if it comes without a system for their efficient operation. In this essay, we are going to take a look at those terminals that have chosen as their TOS CyberLogitec’s OPUS Terminal, and see how they have successfully carried out their project of building their TOS.

TOS implementation project at KAP

1. Tell us the size of the project and the meaning that the container terminal has for the specific operator or Saudi Arabia.

– It is the first container terminal that is built and operated in Saudi Arabia’s first free economic zone (King Abdullah Economic City; KAEC). It began to use OPUS for operating the container terminal in late September 2014, and currently running three berths.

The seaport of KAEC will expand for the forthcoming years to handle 10 million TEUs.

– King Abdullah Economic City (KAEC)

With a total development area of 173 km² (66.8 sq mi), the city is located along the coast of the Red Sea, around 100 km north of Jeddah, the commercial hub of the kingdom, the city will also be approximately an hour and 20 minutes away from the holy Islamic city of Mecca and 3 hours from Medina by car and an hour away of all Middle Eastern capital cities by plane.

– Seaport plan for KAEC
The seaport is estimated to cover 13.8 square kilometers, it will be the largest in the region with a capacity of over 10 million twenty-foot equivalent units (TEU) of containers per year. The port will have facilities to handle cargo and dry bulk, and will be equipped to receive the world’s largest vessels. Another key component of the Port will be a custom-built Hajj Terminal with a capacity to handle up to 300,000 pilgrims on their way to Mecca and Medina, the holy Muslim cities.

2. How is it that CyberLogitec’s TOS was chosen for the terminal?

As the first container terminal in KAEC of Saudi Arabia, KAP terminal needed the standard terminal operating procedure of KAEC. Furthermore, it needed a guarantee for the short project schedule from the creation of the terminal operation system to its opening and local support for the project from Saudi Arabia and Lebanon.

Based on its experience in successfully implementing various projects and operating container terminals, CyberLogitec could accommodate the customer’s needs in creating a standard process, offer a competitive price, and still accept a tight project schedule, which seemed to solidify customer trust.

3. Tell us about your experiences (difficulties and how you overcame them) involved in performing the project.

Most of our terminal operating staff had no prior experience and the yard workers were incommunicado in English with the staff even about numeric data. And since employees frequently left their jobs due to severe working conditions, we had to repeat the training.

By continuously checking customer requirements and assigning full responsibility for workforce training through reinforced training for managers, we aptly addressed the problem of frequently replaced workers and strengthened our relationship with the field operators with a view to more speedily and accurately figuring out possible problems with the operating method.

4. Now the project is completed, how is the container terminal coming on?

After its opening, operational issues kept QC productivity as around 10, but through CyberLogitec Workshop that has identified the problems and provided relevant training, currently the terminal registers pretty stable operation at a QC productivity of minimum 30.

The terminal is now run by yard operators recruited from India and Pakistan and a manager from the Middle East. As it is set in Saudi Arabia, the terminal will have new operating staff every couple of years, which is expected to pose a permanent problem. However, the Global Help Desk of CyberLogitec ensures 24-hour support for a stable system operation.