Transnet on a mission to integrate regional operating systems

Transnet is on a mission
to speed up regional trade
through the integration of
terminal operating systems
with a single, web-based
hub, says Louis Hutton,
infrastructure manager for
Transnet Port Terminals.
Hutton told FTW last week
that Transnet had pioneered
the implementation of a
single system to manage
containers in the ports, on
rail and road and was already
talking to the authorities in
a number of neighbouring
states.
Navis N4 and Sparcs N4
have been deployed in all
Transnet’s port terminals,
and for the first time all
TPT, Transnet Freight Rail
and Transnet National Ports
Authority information is
shared on a single platform.
The web-based Navis
System is hosted centrally in
Durban.
The system also for the
first time allows clients to
make changes up to the point
that the container passes
through the terminal gate,
and to track the movement of
containers in real time.
“We now have shipping
companies phoning to
ask why we have moved a
particular container in the
port. It is that accurate and
transparent,” he says.
“Transnet is the only
organisation globally to have
deployed Navis the way we
have done,” adds Hutton,
who speaks with a level of
enthusiasm that can best be
described as “missionary
zeal”.
His mission is to have all
the systems of the region
integrated.
The system can be
implemented in the port, and
at any place “where the train
departs.”
TFR is piloting a tracking
system that will give
shippers and cargo owners real time information on
where their containers are
at all times through the
Navis system.
This will help rail
compete against road,
particularly if it is
implemented throughout
the region, he says.
Hutton says the Transnet
Navis system is now a
showcase of what can
be done by integrating
information through the
web.
Problems in Durban
were as a result of
the complexity of the
operation.
The lessons learned
can be applied to
make change-overs
smoother elsewhere
on the continent.
Port authorities from
around the world also
want to come to South
Africa to see the system
in operation, he adds
proudly.