Tanjung Priok super port - WorldCargo News Online

ICT FOCUS
Reefer monitoring set to roll
Cranes cables.
URSUS®
IDENTEC Solutions has launched
three new pilot projects for its Reefer
Asset Management System (RAMS)
over the last six months. All are at container
terminals that are looking for a
system to automate the reefer monitoring
process as far as possible.
The heart of IDENTEC’s Reefer
Asset Management System is its UHF
868-920 MHz active RFID technology
and the Wireless Asset Management
System (WAMS) platform developed
by IDENTEC’s partner Mark-It Services,
a US-based supplier of cold chain
services. IDENTEC’s iQ350 RFID tags
support two-way communication with
its iPORT 350 readers to send and receive
information to reefer boxes from
the iSHARE server that supports the
RAMS application.
Rather than relying on the reefer
having a power line modem, IDEN-
TEC connects to the serial port directly
to access the reefer’s micro controller.
The RFID tags communicate with
a local network of readers and have
a 500m range for sending information
and a 250m range for receiving.
The RFID network is set up like a localised
wireless system, with minimal
fixed infrastructure, enabling it to be deployed
very quickly virtually anywhere
reefers are stored, including wheeled
yards and temporary storage areas
A complete product range.
where reefers are powered by gensets.
RAMS is independent of the reefer
unit and carrier. Some reefer manufactures
use proprietary data protocols
for communication with the micro
controller, in particular Thermo
King with its i-box system. Michael
Dempsey, IDENTEC’S general manager
for ports and terminals, said it has
come to arrangements with the reefer
manufacturers and can connect to any
container that has a serial port, including
the four major suppliers, Carrier,
Daiken, MCI/Star Cool and Thermo
King. There are still some reefers that
have no serial port at all in service,
but IDENTEC is confident is can support
97-99% of the active reefer fleet.
In the past, the reefer monitoring
market has suffered from getting caught
up in the uncertainty over e-seals and
container tracking. Container terminals
have been reluctant to invest, not knowing
whether truly ubiquitous container
tracking and monitoring would emerge
as a supply chain norm driven by shippers
and shipping lines.
Maersk is rumoured to be announcing
a new global monitoring system
this year, but Dempsey does not see this
dampening terminals’ demand for their
own system. Over the last 12 months
there has been a “huge awakening” to
the potential of reefer monitoring, he
added, driven mainly by the value proposition
to container terminals.
Reefer traffic is growing much faster
than containerisation as a whole, and
while a lot of terminals contract out
reefer management services, the cost
savings from automating the process are
significant. Comprehensive monitoring
also delivers a better service to shippers
by enabling accurate information to be
made available through the terminal’s
customer web portal.
Yard automation and safety are also
driving factors. The need to keep automated
cranes out of reefer zones
while technicians are working creates
an operational imperative to minimise
the time technicians are on reefer racks
servicing boxes.
The location of the three pilot
projects is confidential at this stage
but they are all for different operators
and include integration with Navis
SPARCS and Tideworks TOS applications.
Berg bullish
on tracking
PearTrack’s GPS tracking system and
Sweloxx’s reusable container lock are combined
in a new range of e-seals
REELING
URSUS® MT PLUS URSUS® MT FO URSUS® VS SL URSUS® PUR HF
BASKET
The container tracking market is
poised for spectacular growth, according
to a new report from Swedenbased
business intelligence analyst Berg
Insight. Berg’s latest report found that
the installed base of container tracking
systems grew 54% in 2012. The
number of active remote container
tracking units deployed on intermodal
shipping containers was 137,000 in
Q4 2012, up from 89,000 a year earlier.
Growing at a compound annual
growth rate (CAGR) of 49.1%, this
number is expected to reach 1M by
2017. The penetration rate of remote
tracking systems in the total population
of containers is forecast to increase
from 0.7% in 2012 to 4.1% in 2017.
Berg’s 2013 forecast is actually less
optimistic than its 2012 prediction.
Then it calculated that the CAGR
for container tracking was 66.9% and
1M installed units would be reached
by 2016.
Berg noted that after acquiring
StarTrak, PAR LMS and GlobalTrak,
Orbcomm has emerged as the largest
vendor of tracking devices. It recently
announced its first “self-powered
M2M tracking and monitoring
device” for container tracking, the
Orbcomm GT 1100. Orbcomm is
also focusing on the trucking market
where it just announced seven new
transport companies have signed up
for its ReeferTrak solution for refrigerated
transport assets.
FESTOONING
www.aristoncavi.com
URSUS® BASKET
URSUS® FESTOON
Aristoncavi at TOC Europe from 25 to 27 June 2013 / Stand A20
RFID deals
The UK’s Avonwood Developments Ltd
has won further orders for its RFIDbased
safety system, ZoneSafe. The system
uses Eureka dual frequency active RFID
transponders worn by ground staff, together
with RFID readers on equipment,
to warn drivers when people enter a safety
zone around a vehicle.
The new orders come from undisclosed
ports in Chile and Australia. “The system
will be fitted to reach stackers, heavy-duty
forklift trucks and small forklift trucks
operating within the ports to improve
safety between pedestrians and industrial
vehicles,” Avonwood said in a statement.
The firm is marketing ZoneSafe as a
“safety aid” that is especially useful in reducing
some of the issues and safety risks
associated with industrial vehicles such as
limited visibility and blind spots. It comes
in two options: Compact and Standard.
The Compact version is designed for
small forklifts and machinery, while the
Standard system is suitable for large industrial
vehicles like reach stackers, but
versions are compatible.
36
May 2013