Analysis of the relationship between ICT and availability / productivity of container handling equipment in the port of Colombo

Abstract

In the Port of Colombo 65% of the container business depends on transshipment. As such it is very important to understand the key factors that promote customer satisfaction and productivity, because unsatisfied customers may change their operational base for transshipment to other more attractive ports or terminals in the region following the recent developments in the ports in the Indian subcontinent./ The completion of operations for a container vessel within a planned period is one of the prime requirements that the customer expects from the terminal operators, which otherwise will cost them heavy expenditure. Two main reasons for the failure to achieve the above objective are the non-availability of container handling cranes, which may occur suddenly in the midst of operations, and low productivity resulting from various other causes such as breakdowns or faults, accidents, planning problems, weather conditions and so on. In this scenario, ICT systems used in container- handling equipment play a major role, since ICT systems installed in the crane will help to solve many of the problems mentioned above./ In this research the main objectives are to find out the relationship between the ICT level used in container handling cranes and the availability of such cranes and also how ICT systems are used to improve productivity of the quay cranes. The results of the research will help to take strategic decisions on the future procurement of cargo handling equipment. Further this will also give an indication for the replacement of old cranes with state of the art new equipment./ Most of the developed ports in the world use ICT systems in almost every segment in the cargo export and import processes and they continue to invest on further improvements. But we are still reluctant to use, and less prepared for it, although customers demand more from the seaports and the terminal operators. The results of the research show that the use of ICT systems has a big contribution to make to wards the availability and productivity of quay cranes and henc customer satisfaction.