Lee Kok Leong, our special correspondent, attends the TOC Asia 2019 conference during the Singapore Maritime Week.
Technology is both an enabler as well as a disruptor. For container terminals, the key is to navigate and embrace technology to buffer against market challenges such as increasing pressure to cut cost, raise efficiency, and improve operational processes.
In this era of the empowered customers, there is an urgent need to harness the power of technology to optimize port operations to meet dynamic customer expectations while maintaining profitability.
In Singapore, when the Tuas mega port is completed fully by 2040, one of the highlights will be the use automated quay cranes that can be controlled remotely. The Tuas mega port is set to be a showcase for the latest smart port technologies and systems.
The mega port will consolidate all of Singapore’s port operations in Tuas. This, in turn, will provide added values to customers. On top of increasing capacity to meet longer-term demands, having all container activities in a single location will drastically cut down the distance and complexity of transporting containers between terminals. It will boost operational efficiency, which will benefit customers.
The Singapore Maritime Week (SMW), driven by Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore, gathers the international maritime community for a week of flagship conferences, dialogues, exhibitions and social events in celebration of all things maritime.
TOC Asia, a part of the flagship event, is the region’s leading port technology and terminal operations show.
Since its inauguration in 2006, SMW has grown significantly and now attracts over 40,000 local and international participants yearly.