Page 1: Out of the Box TOS
Page 2: Cost Efficiency
Improving productivity in general cargo terminals by real-time automation of operations is realized by Octopi by Navis terminal operating systems (TOS). Octopi is automating challenges faced by thousands of small to medium general and mixed cargo seaports worldwide. Vessel discharge, item tallies and yard management are easily managed by the web-based platform.
Navis, a part of Cargotec Corporation and known for their N4 TOS, acquired Miami, Florida based Octopi in March of this year. Luc Castera, founder and director of product, Octopi explained in a November 12th webinar, “Understanding General Cargo: Challenges and Opportunities” that over the past five years they visited many general cargo terminals to better understand their difficulties. Customer challenges in the small to medium mixed and general cargo terminals are numerous and technology providers have ignored them for many years. His webinar presentation explained intense intra-regional competition, high labor costs, extreme weather events, complex mechanization and standardization of operations, uncertain trade issues and their non-specialized facilities.
Out of the Box TOS
Director Castera also provided information to a recent interview with the American Journal of Transportation that “smaller general cargo terminals are left with pen and paper, Excel spreadsheets, or limited software solutions built in house.” As a result, they track their inventory loosely and management has poor visibility of cargo at the port. This can cause cargo loss and slow operations to take the time to locate cargo. “All of this has direct impact on the operating cost of the terminal.”
These general cargo terminals will not take business away from box terminals, as containerization has limits. In fact, Octopi estimates 3.2% average annual growth of general cargo from 2016-2021 period. However, container terminals lack the special needs of smaller terminals and general cargo terminals and can be made “more efficient and cost-effective so that they can better compete in the marketplace,” he said.
Octopi by Navis is a web-based TOS with their numerous functionalities accessible on a desktop or a tablet. This is a software as a service (SaaS) platform hosted on the cloud so there is no need to buy and manage servers. Some of the features are Over, Short and Damaged (OS&D) reports for accurate inventory automation, especially useful for general cargo pallets containing a diversity of cargo: packages, drums, boxes, cans; as well as, dynamic yard by satellite view and graphic representation; real time tracking and visibility; barcodes, since pallets look the same, but the software reads different barcodes after discharge; invoicing, stock transfers, equipment management, key performance indicators (KPIs) and a business intelligence (BI) dashboard that appears when users log in to the Octopi TOS.
