AUTEPRA completes BCT Gdynia automation project with IDENTEC SOLUTIONS technology

LUSTENAU, AUSTRIA – 09.06.2016 – IT systems engineering company AUTEPRA has recently completed its first installation of IDENTEC SOLUTIONS’ CTAS real-time asset management and process automation technology for Polish container terminal operator BCT Gdynia.

Under the EU co-financed project, AUTEPRA delivered, installed and commissioned IDENTEC SOLUTIONS’ CTAS system, including software and hardware, to automate the location and identification of containers and container handling equipment (CHE) in BCT Gdynia’s terminal yard. As part of the same project, the company also supplied new servers and CISCO Mesh wireless network.

Based in Lithuania, AUTEPRA specialises in IT and automation systems for ports, container terminals, intermodal and logistics facilities. Separately, it installed an automated gate system at BCT Gdynia last year as part of an ongoing investment programme that has also seen the Polish operator acquire new ship-to-shore and yard cranes and renovate its terminal paving. BCT Gdynia has been handling containers since 1979 and is one of the largest operators in the Baltic region. Since 2003, it has been part of ICTSI, the international container port and terminal group based in the Philippines.

The project involved installation of CTAS DGPS position detection technology – comprising base stations, receivers and PLC units – on various types and makes of CHE serving the container yard, including 18 rubber-tyred gantry (RTG) and two rail-mounted gantry (RMG) stacking cranes, two straddle carriers and three reach stackers. An RFID system was also installed to identify terminal trucks as they pull up under the stacking cranes.

The CTAS system, which went fully live in April, allows BCT Gdynia to automatically locate and identify all containers and CHE in the yard area. This improves performance by eliminating ‘missing’ or wrongly identified containers in the stack, reducing the need for manual inventory checks and avoiding data entry errors. It also optimises the hand-off process between cranes and mobile equipment serving the yard, automatically identifying terminal tractors as they arrive at the stack and ‘promoting’ the correct job to the top of the list on the yard crane driver’s in-cab screen. Finally, the technology gives BCT Gdynia live data on the performance of its handling equipment and vehicles plus driver, routing and utilisation data.

“Container terminals are paying increasing attention to automation as the only way to increase handling efficiency, speed and safety,” said Tomas Girdzevičius, CEO of AUTEPRA. “Systems such as terminal operating system (TOS) and gate operating system (GOS) have become a ‘must-have’ in most facilities. We believe that automated terminal asset management systems, such as CTAS, represent the next must-have technology which will deliver great benefits by providing terminals with complete visibility and tracking of each individual asset – crane, stacker, truck, employee. Features such as CHE monitoring will help prevent unexpected failures, while driver access control will make operations safer.”

Mr. Girdzevičius will present a case study on the BCT Gdynia project, plus other recent automation initiatives, during the free TECH TOC seminars at the upcoming 40^th TOC Europe conference and exhibition in Hamburg, 14-16 June, where IDENTEC SOLUTIONS is also exhibiting at Stand D106.

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