Category Archives: Shipping

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Cost, operational challenges hinder port automation

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.

 

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via Cost, operational challenges hinder port automation

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Posted on December 13, 2018 by in Logistics, Ports, Production Operations, Shipping, Strategy, Supply Chains

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INTTRA urges industry-led standards for containers and logistics

Lee Hong Liang has written an interesting article about the call for standards in maritime documentation.   To my view, it’s no doubt needed badly, and has been for years.  The desires of maritime operators to work as local optimizers has hurt their presence in supply chains, which are the ultimate cooperative enterprise.  That won’t do any more, especially with supply chains themselves changing so fast in the light of trade wars and operating location changes.

Devolution of supply chains is occurring, if I can borrow a word from the port governance literature.  Now they are more focused on insuring end to end performance rather than perpetuating themselves to get ‘volume’. There are too many external factors driving changes.  Trump’s trade wars are just the ultimate hyper-push to this trend.

Apparently INTTRA has been purchased by another firm, so it remains to be seen how much impact this will have.  But the effort is much appreciated.

 

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via INTTRA urges industry-led standards for containers and logistics

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Posted on November 28, 2018 by in Logistics, Production Operations, Shipping, Supply Chains

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CMA CGM and CEVA detail tie-up

Chris Dupin has an interesting article in the most recent American Shipper.  CMA/CGM is trying to buy a majority interest in CEVA, the 3PL firm based in Switzerland.   CEVA has been the target of another buyout effort by DSV, another 3PL.  the time was certainly ripe for a consolidation in both the 3PL and the maritime transport space.  This merger or combination is another attempt to deepen the reach of a maritime company into downstream supply chain management.

Like all of these mergers, we’ll have to see if it works out, and if the combination succeeds in improving results for shippers and receivers of goods.  But for me it is  a step in the right direction for a maritime company.  If you try to tackle the downstream problems, you will start to understand how to improve and deliver more value.  Whether a purchase is the best route is an open question, but it is certainly a good try.

The article also points out that CMA/CGM is innovating in other ways now.  It has an in-house incubator, ZeBox, of small concerns that have ideas for improvements. It’s moving ahead on tracking containers and monitoring some of the risk conditions they face while traveling; and it is making some investment in bill of lading improvements through a blockchain technology project with BuyCo, another startup.  These are certainly ways to get innovators thinking about the maritime supply chain problems.  Who winds up with the rents is yet to be determined.

 

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via CMA CGM and CEVA detail their tie-up

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Posted on November 26, 2018 by in Leadership, Logistics, Shipping, Strategy, Supply Chains

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