No gain without pain …

It has not been smooth sailing for
the new port computer system,
Navis.
In mid-April the entire system
crashed resulting in traffic queues
of some three to five kilometres
outside the Port of Durban as all
container movement came to a
halt.
“No-one can deny that
congestion in the port with the
implementation of the new Navis
system has been a major challenge
in recent weeks,” says Sayed
Mohamad, operations manager
of CHC Resources, who is based
in Durban. “The turnaround time
has been unbelievably slow. The
waiting time for a container can be
anything from 24 to 48 hours.”
But, says Mohamad, despite
this he is optimistic about the new
system as TPT has remained in
close contact and been completely
transparent about the challenges
and problems they are facing,
regularly communicating with
industry.
“I have attended several meetings
and TPT is working hard to sort
out the problems. They are of the
opinion that once this system is up
and running it will take no more
than an hour to pick up a container
at the Durban port.”
Aadil Hoosen of Cargocare says
the challenge of dealing with a new
system was compounded by the
crash that saw cargo movement
in and out of the port come to a
near stand still. “The direct cost
of this ran into the millions, while
it is more difficult to ascertain the
indirect costs to the economy.”
But like Mohamad he agrees
that once the teething problems
are sorted out the benefits of the
new system will far outweigh the
negative.
“The Navis system will see
efficiencies increase and the cost
of doing business with Transnet
as a result of this will decrease.
Furthermore the system promises to
increase stacking yard capacity and
lower operating costs by swiftly
and intelligently being able to
respond to sudden changes in the
flow of cargo.”
Craig Maulson, Maersk national
operations manager, agrees.
He says a major benefit will be
the increased productivity from
TPT. “Once stable, Navis will
outperform peak performances
experienced with Cosmos.”
According to Maulson the EDI
functionality and the operational
visibility that they will be able to
get online with Navis will play a
major role. “The online tool will
assist in closely monitoring what is
happening operationally with each
container at the port.”
Mohamed says while none of this
is being experienced as yet the fact
that the port and its customers are
all working together is already a
positive sign of things to come.
With Navis, a computerised,
web-based system that governs the
movement of all container logistics
and operations in the terminal, from
gate to yard to vessel, customers are
able to book their containers online,
input the correct data and track the
cargo. The system also improves
security.