Initial results have seen port time reduce by an average of almost two hours and an increase in the efficiency with which cargo is transferred to customers.
The four stakeholders formed the Time alongside optimisation project to improve supply chain collaboration and efficiency and reduce the time that ships are berthed at a terminal.
Improving berth efficiency is particularly significant for chemical tankers because they often call at multiple terminals in a given region and delays at one can impact shipping companies, terminals and customers in all other locations.
Stolt Tankers, Dow Inc., SGS and Vopak IIA Freeport saw the mutual benefit in working together and sharing their learnings to allow ships to rotate faster through each berth, so terminals can process more ships and customers receive their products faster.
Throughout the project, the partners jointly reviewed existing processes, procedures and current time alongside data to identify individual strengths, weaknesses and causes for delays and then apply a more robust universal approach.
To date, this has involved setting up standardised processes and communication channels and laying the groundwork for future joint digitalisation efforts.