APM Terminals to Standardize Equipment

APM Terminals, which operates or is building 50 container terminals around the world, plans to standardize the equipment at those terminals and at new ones under construction to reduce costs and improve financial performance, the company said Tuesday.

By doing so, the terminal-operating division of A.P. Moller-Maersk said it will achieve economies of scale in consolidated orders to equipment manufacturers and simplify training for equipment operators and other personnel.

APM Terminals, the world’s third-largest terminal operator as measured by container throughput, is a major purchaser and operator of such expensive and large-scale equipment as ship-to-shore cranes, rubber-tire gantry cranes, reach stackers, terminal tractors, reefer racks, terminal vehicles and other related machinery and vehicles, as well as computer and communications equipment. By standardizing the types, sizes and specification of these various assets, the company said it can realize terminal savings in a number of ways.

APM Terminals’ Senior Vice President and Head of New Terminals in The Hague, Peder Sondergaard said “Customers are looking for simplified, reliable and cost-effective service to compete in the market. Our terminal design, development and procurement must reflect this.”

The streamlining of repairs and reduced investment required in spare part inventories also represent significant opportunities for cost cutting in an increasingly competitive business environment. “We will discuss practical requirements and establish standards with the functional experts such as terminal operations personnel, crane and engineering services, and design engineers” said APM Terminals Head of Procurement Morten Mortensen. “Then we will take this standard commercially to market and source, negotiate and contract with suppliers.”

By standardizing equipment throughout its global terminal network, the company could easily transfer equipment between facilities as circumstances require, and set common standards for benchmarking of optimum yard design, lighting and equipment configurations.

The company also said it would also be able to reduce its environmental footprint through energy-saving equipment, particularly as new terminal development projects proceed.

(Source: www.joc.com)