Georgia Ports Authority Lifts New Crane Performance with IDENTEC SOLUTIONS

Georgia Ports Authority (GPA), the fourth largest and fastest-growing container port operator in the USA, is to extend its use of process automation technology from IDENTEC SOLUTIONS to support the operation of new ship-to-shore and rubber-tired gantry cranes at the Port of Savannah.
 
GPA has been using IDENTEC SOLUTIONS’ CTAS process automation technology since 2008, including RFID-based street truck identification, plus DGPS position detection for RTG yard cranes and terminal vehicles, as part of the port authority’s pioneering Automated Terminal Asset Management System (ATAMS).
 
Under ATAMS, street trucks calling at GPA’s Garden City Terminal (GCT) in Savannah are fitted with IDENTEC SOLUTIONS’ active RFID tags, enabling trucks to be tracked in real-time as they enter, move around and exit the terminal. The system also optimizes the container hand-off process between street trucks and yard cranes, automatically identifying and locating trucks as they pull up alongside cranes and ‘promoting’ the correct job to the top of the list on the RTG driver’s in-cab screen. GPA supplies RFID tags to the trucking community, with over 11,000 now fitted, linked to a web access portal to pre-advise container deliveries and collections.    
 
GPA will now install IDENTEC SOLUTIONS’ automated container hand-off and job promotion system on 30 new RTGs and, for the first time, on 4 new super-post-panamax quay cranes. Key benefits of the system are increased crane productivity, quicker turn times for street trucks and internal terminal vehicles and improved worker safety, removing staff from the ground.  The project is due to be completed by late summer 2016. 
 
The new cranes, supplied by Konecranes, will be delivered in 2015-2016 as part of a multi-million dollar investment in equipment, technology and infrastructure to handle expanding cargo volumes and prepare for the opening of the expanded Panama Canal. The US East Coast port has seen almost uninterrupted growth since the late 1990s, hitting 3.34 million TEU in 2014 – up 10.2 percent over 2013 – and enjoying double-digit growth in the first part of 2015 thanks in part to the labor dispute on the West Coast.
 
“Without using technology to gather and action data in a more automated way, we couldn’t grow efficiently. RFID and GPS are key enabling components that dovetail very well to our strategic development plan,” said Curtis Foltz, GPA Executive Director.   
 
“This latest order endorses our long-term partnership with Georgia Ports Authority and the value that our technology is delivering as an integral, proven part of GPA’s daily operations,” said Doug Moyer, Sales Director, Americas, for IDENTEC SOLUTIONS’ Ports & Terminals division. “GPA was one of the first major container port operators worldwide to take a systematic approach to process automation and remains at the forefront of technology innovation today. IDENTEC SOLUTIONS is delighted to continue supporting GPA as it moves into its next phase of growth and development.”