August 2008(pdf) - Port Nelson

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Port Nelson Limited report. August 2008. Page 2 editorial Business Intelligence Guest editorial from Park Pittar, our Chief Commercial Officer Port Nelson has come a very long way in terms of ICT in the last four years. The Board made a bold decision to proceed with a complete system upgrade in November 2004. By June 2005 three systems had been replaced. Port Nelson had a new Harbour Management system to manage the maritime movements, a new payroll system and also a new financial application. A huge effort went into implementing the systems. Full credit to all involved. Since 2005 Port Nelson has implemented an asset maintenance solution and virtualised its operating environment. Both projects have occurred in the last 12 months. In addition to the new applications, extensive work has been undertaken in regard to the operational application known as Jade Master Terminal, responsible for managing the container terminal. Initiatives such as the use of ‘ruggedised’ laptops in hoists and pre-noting kiosks for truck drivers to enable direct entry into the port with containers has lifted the game. The last major operational change is the development of Jade Warehousing which will enable Port Nelson to manage the majority of its break bulk (non container) cargo in a single application. What is interesting to note is that the Container, Marine and Warehousing applications are a single integrated application. Port Nelson is the first port in the world to have such a system all supplied by a single development company. “Why all the effort?” one might ask. The answer is relatively simple. The differentiating factor between a successful company and not so successful is a company’s ability to understand its business, the clients’ business and to focus on value added activities. A comprehensive management information system, sometimes referred to as Business Intelligence, is a critical factor in this regard. Customers want to know the status of their cargo at any point in time, shipping movements and be able to pre-note cargo arrivals, for example. It is our goal to increase transparency and access to the Port Nelson informational environment by our customers and key border control agencies. We are well on our way in achieving that goal. Parke Pittar Lessons from Starfish Insiders, clients and even the general public might have noticed a few changes around the port in the last couple of years - and we’re not talking here about new fences or improved wharves. When Martin Byrne came on board as CEO he brought with him some lessons learnt at Flinders Ports in South Australia from a down to earth Aussie called Dr John Hill. John has a string of economics degrees and a work history that started in rural Australia when he was a lad. He’s dismissive of the term ‘management consultant’: “I just give businesses a hand to make what they do a bit easier,” he says. Two years ago John ran a two day course for the NPL leadership team, and since then he’s been back to work with management and with staff groups. He says leadership behaviour sets 70% of the culture of a business, and that culture can add to or subtract from the bottom line by 25%. A great storyteller, John engages his audience with examples that illustrate his points - the outcome of the story about a starfish being thrown back into the sea is that one person can make a difference. John has retired from university teaching, and works with a group of businesses that include BHP, Toll and Qantas - however he rates Port Nelson as one of his top clients. “The management team has really tried hard to make a change and they have had some success,” he says. “They have turned around the culture and the performance of the company - I would say most people here go home happier at the end of the working day than they did five years ago.” Parke Pittar (centre) with Financial Accountant Mason Robinson (left) and Business Analyst Hugh Stark. Management team at Awaroa. Port Nelson Limited • 10 Low Street, Port Nelson • PO Box 844, Nelson, New Zealand Tel +64 3 548 2099 • Fax +64 3 546 9015 • www.portnelson.co.nz RePort Nelson is a triennial publication produced for Port Nelson Limited by: • Nelson Media Agency - www.nelsonmedia.co.nz • SeeReed Visual Communication - www.seereed.co.nz Thanks to Roy Skucek and Troy Dando for their assistance with photos in this issue.
Port Nelson Limited report. August 2008. Page 3 Mount Owen The Pacific Basin owned vessel, Mount Owen, called in Nelson in May for her first cargo of logs from New Zealand. At the same time the other new Pacific Basin ship, Benete Bay, was in Picton, also on her first voyage to New Zealand. Both vessels were chartered to load logs for Nelson Forests Ltd (formerly Weyerhaeuser) and loaded approximately 56,000 JAS between them. port news Nelson Forests has entered into a freight contract with Pacific Basin, and to mark this the shipping company named the Mount Owen after Nelson’s highest peak. Mount Owen is in the Kahurangi National Park, and was one of the local sites used in the filming of Lord of the Rings. Lees Seymour, Nelson Forests’ Managing Director, went to Japan at the end of January for the launching, where his wife Melanie broke the traditional bottle of champagne over the bow of the new vessel. Maersk Fuji The first of the new vessels employed on the Southern Star Express Service, Maersk Fuji, made her maiden trip to Nelson on May 22. The Maersk Fuji was built in 2005 and heralds a new era of Maersk services in New Zealand, following a partnership between Maersk and Hamburg-Sud on American services. Maersk Fuji and her sister Maersk Fukuoka are taking on additional port calls in a re-shuffle of Maersk’s domestic feeder services that connect nine ports in New Zealand with their mainline international services. Kupe to the Rescue The tug Kupe is no stranger to rescue missions, having been involved in the 1981 rescue of the Pacific Charger from rocks at the entrance to Wellington Harbour. Her rescue mission in Nelson was a lot less dramatic. The Huria Matenga lost one side of her propeller guard while on the job, back in May. The guard struck and damaged the starboard propeller, and the tug had to be taken out of service for repairs. We engaged Seatow’s Kokiri at very short notice for a couple of jobs before a longer term arrangement was made with Westgate Taranaki to hire their recently acquired tug Kupe. A real veteran, she is one of the very early Voith propelled tugs, delivered to Wellington in 1971.
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