Productivity at CT container terminals increases

The Cape Town Container Terminal was nominated to compete in the Western Cape Regional Productivity Awards and was awarded the regional award in the public sector category in August 2011. This was due recognition for rising against all odds to produce high levels of productivity whilst continuing to meet and exceed customer expectations. The terminal is currently undergoing a R5,4 billion five-year expansion programme, which entails the introduction of new equipment and reconfiguration of stacks.

As the terminal gears up for the award ceremony that takes place on 28 October in Johannesburg, it boasts exceptional performance in Q2 ending September 2011. This is evident in its achievement of gross crane moves per hour (GCH) of 28,7 against a target of 26, ship working hours (SWH) of 58,2 moves against a target of 44 and truck turnaround time (TTT) of 32,2 minutes against a target of 35.

GCH is the common measure of productivity in the container handling business. It is a crucial factor in container shipping, which requires fast and efficient movement of containers by crane operators to reduce the overall cost of doing business. SWH is the number of containers that have been moved by the number of cranes working on the vessel in one hour. It is a key performance indicator for customers. TTT measures truck service through the amount of time a truck spends in the terminal from A-Check to P-Check.

Operational initiatives paid off

"This achievement is an indication of the entire team's determination to continuously exceed shareholder and customer expectations," says Velile Dube, TPT's acting chief operations officer for the container sector.

According to Dube, certain operational improvement initiatives were implemented during Q2. These include a more efficient manner of handling C Class vessels that led to a realisation of 30 GCH particularly on these vessels. C Class vessels have a trend of working at 18 GCH. Another contributor to GCH was a training milestone that saw 73% of the annual target met, with all berth Operators completing the rubber-tyred gantry (RTG) training. Operators have gained confidence and are currently in the mentorship phase. In addition, the vessel change over (VCO) had improved drastically in Q2 meeting the target of four hours. This is a result of a collaborated effort by Transnet National Ports Authority, shipping lines and TPT.

The launch of the new Truck Entrance in September 2011, boasting five lanes and the combination of A and P-Check, has added great value in providing a quicker service to trucks. In September alone, the TTT improved to 31 minutes from 33 minutes in August.

The terminal encountered wind delays, however a more focused approach to its windy recovery plan paid off. Cape Town's windy season is experienced in November to May and runs concurrent to its peak season. This year, the terminal has reviewed its windy season strategy and has already begun with implementation of some initiatives. These include a review of a standard operating procedure (SOP), which now entails the monitoring of wind speeds in intervals of 20 minutes instead of 60 minutes.