Ben Meyer in American Shipper has summarized a McKinsey report on port automation and port modernization. One interesting point in the discussion is that port operators are actually not seeing productivity gains in automated ports. Throughputs are actually slower. They have some explanations for this, but it is a real problem.
It struck me that automation is often seen as going hand in hand with better visibility of cargoes in the port and readiness for delivery. to the extent that the software requires automation, there may be a correlation here that does not bode well in the medium term.
In the long term it may well turn out better, but meanwhile, the customer may suffer.
Supply Chain and Logistics 
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