Author: cdorsey

Jade Master Terminal’s record growth makes headlines

Posted on | by cdorsey

Jade Master Terminal won 19 new terminals in a record quarter. International expansion makes news for the terminal operating system around the world.

From July to September, the Jade Master Terminal team secured 19 new terminals across Europe, the Middle East, and Africa. In terms of winning new customers, that’s easily our best quarter yet.

Competitive pressures are increasing on mixed-cargo ports all around the globe. Efficiently managing a range of cargo requires world-class systems, and that’s where Jade Master Terminal comes in. Master Terminal creates a single view of the entire operation, from the gates, over the yard, and even out to ships yet to arrive. Operations improve, and smart decision-making gets easier.

As more ports choose Master Terminal, we’re getting closer to our goal of having the world’s number one mixed-cargo operating system. We’re investing in international growth, and looking forward to more good news to come.

This week our recent success has been reported in local and international media. Here’s some of the coverage:

Close up photo of a row of steel coils at Alabama Steel Terminals

Maximising terminal efficiency

Posted on | by cdorsey

Small and medium sized terminals are trying to find their niche in the market. To be competitive they need to think outside the box.

Jade Logistics’ Client Relationship Manager for the Americas, Keith McSwain talked to Heavy Lift & Project Forwarding International magazine about how small and medium sized terminals are increasing efficiency by handling more than just containers. Keith talked about the opportunities available to those terminals that can prove they can handle all kinds of cargoes, steel, coil, cars, etc., he goes on to say “terminals are in the business of making money, and in order to do so, you need throughput.”

Read more here

How safe is your port?

Posted on | by cdorsey

Ports are under constant pressure to compete, they need to work faster, turn ships around quicker, load and unload trucks faster, and generally do everything at speed. However while they need to work faster, they also need to work safely. Hazards are everywhere on a port, and accidents can happen at any time. Operators must take every step possible to ensure the health and safety of people on their port, both staff and visitors.

There are many ways a port can ensure the safety of its staff and contractors, such as having sound practices and policies in place, educating staff, and using protective equipment, another is by keeping people and machinery separated as much as possible through the use of technology.

When implementing such a health and safety solution a port should consider its technology, people, and processes and ensure they are aligned and that any technology-backed processes put in place are followed by a safety conscious workforce.

Read about Master Terminal’s yard safety features in our Yard Safety Fact Sheet.

Master-Terminal-Yard-Safety.jpg

A port with no terminals?

Posted on | by cdorsey

While a port with no terminals is hard to envisage, there are opportunities for ports to be innovative by harnessing the power of information technology.

Uber, the world’s largest taxi company, owns no vehicles. Facebook, the world’s most popular media owner, creates no content. Alibaba, the world’s most valuable retailer, has no inventory. And Airbnb, the world’s largest accommodation provider, owns no real estate.

To be competitive, business models are changing across many industries and their supply chains. While a port with no terminals is hard to envisage, there are opportunities for ports to be innovative by harnessing the power of information technology.

An example is the practice of ports creating “virtual” or sub-terminals.

As a port grows and becomes more complex, the ability to manage terminal operations simply by having oversight of the whole operation becomes increasingly difficult.

Using information technology you can create a virtual terminal e.g. in an area of your yard or in a part of a holding warehouse. Implementing these sub-terminals into your port can help you and your systems better categorize, compartmentalize and manage day-to-day operations.

For each sub-terminal, varying pricing models can be applied as well as specific management of each area, while still having complete control and flexibility across the entire terminal. Automated messaging such as EDI can be used to ensure a shipper knows where their cargo is and what services and charges are being applied.

This results in cost savings for your shipping line customers based on what services they are using and the activities required. Rather than having across-the-board pricing for cargo, implementing separate pricing can work as an incentive for businesses.

For example, something stored in the yard might cost more than in the warehouse. This would incentivize importers and exporters against storing long term in the yard as a means of saving themselves money.

The success of the likes of Uber shows how you can use technology to look differently at how to enhance your competitiveness in an industry. Sub-terminals is one small way ports can do it.

Learn more about the Sub-Terminal features of Master Terminal.

Jade-Sub-Terminals.jpg

closeup of the ends of logs stacked in a pile

Can Break-Bulk Terminals Avoid the “Perfect Storm”?

Posted on | by cdorsey

Break-bulk focused ports need to find ways of improving performance in an economic way.

In a recent Wall Street Journal article, maritime economist John Martin said US ports were facing a ‘perfect storm’ of under-investment in infrastructure while facing the need to cope with rising cargo volumes. This storm had “…surging cargo volumes slam ports ill-prepared to handle them.”

Retail strategist Frank Layo forecast in the same article that shipping delay costs to the US economic could reach $7 billion in 2015 and climb as high as $37 billion in 2016.

The struggles of the West Coast ports have been well documented. Investment expert Jonathan Rosenthal, managing partner of Saybrook Capital, expressed this in an article in the September edition of Logistics Management magazine about Los Angeles/Long Beach terminals, “In my business, we follow the money, and we see that the port ecosystem here is a little bit broken.”

Figures quoted in the Wall Street Journal put the world’s most efficient port, Jebel Ali in the United Arab Emirates, as turning container cargo 70% faster than the USA’s best performing terminal – the Port of Los Angeles.

In this perfect storm of rising demand and overcapitalized infrastructure, break-bulk focused ports need to find ways of improving performance in an economic way.

Less traditional terminals like those at the Port of Houston are stepping into the breach, offering services to shippers frustrated by congestion and delays. According to Logistics Management, Houston’s terminals experienced 20% growth in container cargo and 26% in break-bulk like steel in the year to June 2015.

“As a specialty break-bulk port, the types of cargoes we handle vary based on the current economic condition of the U.S.,” said Les Reardanz, CEO of WA-based Port of Everett, a user of Jade Logistics’ Master Terminal product, in a recent press statement. “The best way we can prepare for these market shifts is to have adequate infrastructure and a national freight strategy.”

Mr Reardanz was joining other ports in a call to the US government to put more focus on port infrastructure, particularly the landside connections.

Where break-bulk terminals can make their own quick gains in performance is upgrading their terminal operating system, to ensure every possible piece of capacity is extracted from existing infrastructure, delaying the need for costly investment.

Download our white paper Message in a Bottle: The challenges (and hidden opportunities) of managing mixed cargo.

Abu Dhabi Ports announce first Master Terminal implementation

Posted on | by cdorsey

Abu Dhabi Ports, the master developer, operator and manager of ports and industrial zones in the Emirate, selected Jade Master Terminal for seven ports earlier this year. This week marks the first implementation, successfully completed at Zayed Port.

Gary Lemke, Executive Vice President of Ports at Abu Dhabi Ports, calls this “a significant milestone”, and says that Master Terminal is “driving greater efficiencies in cargo handling, and shaping and driving our investment plans, helping Abu Dhabi Ports to achieve its goal of becoming the leading general cargo port operator in the region.” Jade Logistics is set to bring added value to all of Abu Dhabi Ports’ customers and their business – with productivity gains of 15-20 per cent – as the company transitions into the next-generation of trade, making its ports the ports of choice across the Middle East.

With six implementations to go – Khalifa Port will be next – we’re looking forward to continuing the transformation at Abu Dhabi Ports.

abu-dhabi-ports.jpg

“Colossal or clever? The choice ambitious ports face”: World Port Development

Posted on | by cdorsey

Keith-McSwain.jpgKeith McSwain, VP Client Relations  recently spoke to World Port Development about some of the current trends in the shipping industry and how ports can best compete:

American author Mark Twain once said: “To stand still is to fall behind.” Even today his wise words ring true and are pertinent to ports around the globe. In an ever-changing arena, ports and terminals must ask themselves key strategic questions in order to remain relevant. Chiefly – is bigger better? In an effort to stay competitive should terminals cater to mega container ships or offer more diverse services, like managing mixed cargo?

Read the full article, including Keith’s answers here.

‘Easter Sunday syndrome’ a warehousing opportunity for ports

Posted on | by cdorsey

Developing capacity for peak demand, are putting pressure on existing warehousing port facilities.

According to a recent Jones Lang LaSalle report on warehousing development in the ports and logistics sector, developers wary of “building the church for Easter Sunday” i.e. developing capacity for peak demand, are putting pressure on existing warehousing facilities.

Growing and ambitious ports are seeing an opportunity in this shortage of warehousing and logistics space in key logistics markets like the US. For the agile port, it’s an opportunity to leverage your own warehousing facilities more effectively for your user base and to attract new shippers.

Globally, many ports are adding or beginning to utilize huge warehousing zones, allowing greater flexibility. However, as your warehouse begins to expand, it can be harder to manage the complexities that this brings such as greater physical space, more staff and larger cargo to manage and store.

Whether it’s large or small scale cargo storage that you are establishing at your port, the opportunities and risks are the same. Congestion and inefficiencies are huge risks of warehousing; the need to streamline operations for efficiency becomes essential.

By ensuring that you have highly secure, responsive, and flexible systems in place, you are working to mitigate the associated risks with a warehousing addition to your port. Being able to have complete oversight of your warehouse, down to a shelving level can be a great asset to your business and even increase your bottom line through increased productivity.

Read more about how your terminal can improve the management of its warehousing facilities in our Warehousing fact sheet.

Master-Terminal-Warehousing.jpg

New offices in Rotterdam and Jakarta continue our global expansion

Posted on | by cdorsey

Today Jade announced the establishment of new offices in the Netherlands (Rotterdam) and Indonesia (Jakarta) to support the continued growth of their flagship terminal operating system, Master Terminal.

Master Terminal is a sophisticated terminal operating system (TOS) designed to manage a variety of cargo types, streamline operations, and improve efficiency and productivity at ports around the world.

Having experienced record sales in 2014, Jade is now building local capability to support its expanding network and help drive increased growth in these strategic markets.

“We place a high value on having a local presence in all of our key markets. It is instrumental to providing excellent support services and building long term customer relationships and accelerating further growth,” says David Lindsay, Managing Director of Jade Software.

Lindsay adds that Rotterdam (pictured) is home to one of the largest concentrations of marine terminals in the world, making it a significant growth area for Jade’s mixed cargo TOS.

Indonesia is a new market for Jade, and a local presence will provide an opportunity to take advantage of the region’s enormous development potential.

“Indonesia presents exciting future prospects for Master Terminal. The Indonesian Government is investing heavily in infrastructure and port development in line with its Master Plan for Acceleration and Expansion of Indonesia’s Economic Development and is committed to expanding sea port capacity across the region. Jade’s software is perfectly aligned to what the Indonesian Government and the port sector are trying to achieve in this market,” says Lindsay.

Both offices will be staffed by a combination of local technical and business management experts and expat staff, and backed by the team from Jade’s Logistics Development Centre in New Zealand.

The expansion of offices, infrastructure and capability bring the number of countries in which Jade operates to seven and supports Jade’s aspiration to be the number one supplier of terminal operating systems to the world’s mixed cargo ports.

These latest developments build on the announcement in February of Jade’s seven terminal sale to Abu Dhabi Ports Company, combined with substantial multi-terminal deals in 2014 across the Americas, Europe, Africa and the Middle East. Master Terminal has now been licensed to more than 70 ports worldwide.

Port-Of-Rotterdam.jpg