Imagine the possibilities if berth times on your terminal were reduced considerably.
Every day vessels are calling at your terminal to deliver and fetch containers. To cope with the increasing scale of operations and address demanding operational needs, you need a system that is easy to use and flexible enough to handle complex stowage scenarios.
To handle as many containers as possible in the shortest possible time span, and at the same time guaranteeing the vessel stability, safety and awkward cargo segregation, optimal vessel planning is of major importance. In fact, all comes down to a fast, flexible and accurate vessel planning process. And that is where we come in.
SHIPS offers you:
- Superior planning accuracy, efficiency & flexibility
- Shorter berthing times
- A minimum of shifters and restows
- Shorter planning times
- Increased crane productivity
- Satisfied customers
Full control
With SHIPS you have full control over every single aspect regarding the planning of discharge and loading operations. You can either set the parameters of automatic planning to meet your requirements, or use the drag-and-drop method for manual planning, or the semi-automatic partial planning functionality. Switching between the different planning methods is simple and straightforward.
- Vessel Side View with Planning Sequence -
Flexibility
You control the selection of containers that will be planned. You have the choice to either work with the whole terminal or select only part of it. Selections can also be made on vessel level, i.e. whether you want to plan the entire vessel as a whole or only a selection of bays and layers.
The sequence in which the units will be picked from the yard can easily be determined by dragging over the units in a specific direction, by using planning patterns or sequencing methods.
Shorter planning
Since the planning occurs fully automatically, precious time is freed up allowing you to concentrate on other, more time-consuming processes. Manual intervention is always possible by dragging and dropping individual containers on the screen.
Accuracy
You nearly eliminate shifters and unproductive moves by an efficient and accurate planning. You determine the optimal container slots on board taking into account stipulations regarding IMDG segregation, stack height and weight limitations and other user-defined parameters.
When limitations are exceeded or dangerous situations occur during the planning, you are alerted, allowing you to intervene appropriately.
- Bayplan Window and Container Detail -
Simulations
Save time and effort while planning by quickly simulating several work scenarios and selecting the optimal planning.
Decrease unproductivity
Reduce unproductive moves such as idle driving or shifting containers by calculating the optimal loading or discharge sequence and minimizing the driving distance between yard and vessel.
Crane management
Good crane management is crucial for a smooth course of the discharge and loading operations. SHIPS assists you in determining the optimal crane work scenario with the best crane sequence.
The graphical representation of crane splits with possible conflicts offers a convenient overview. It allows you to fine-tune and optimize crane operations before the actual handling has started.
- Planned Crane Split -
Flexible data transfer
SHIPS enables flexible data interchange. You have direct access to the vessel structure database where all previously created vessel structures are stored. These graphical vessel structures only need to be defined once and can easily be updated afterwards or even exchanged with other SHIPS users.
SHIPS comes preloaded with basic data such as port codes, UN numbers and IMDG codes.
You can exchange bayplan information and prestow data and exchange messages with other ports and central planning offices by means of SIGNAL for SHIPS, the integrated EDI monitor.
System integration
SHIPS is fully integrated with SPACE, automatically creating real-time work queues for container moves on the yard.
The latest version of SHIPS can operate as a stand-alone application, fully functional on its own. Vessel call information is defined in SHIPS. An upload functionality is provided to transmit the planning information to the host system.
Graphical User Interface
The easy-to-use graphical user interface makes planning a piece of cake. It offers you a clear and convenient overview of the terminal and vessel. You can display the information the way you like it, by using templates, color schemes and filters. The position of conveniently arranged toolbars and legends can be adapted to your needs.
You can instantly access detailed information about specific containers and their actual position by clicking slots on either the vessel or terminal view.
- Yard and Vessel View Window -
Reporting
You can create and print a large selection of customizable bay plans, load and discharge sequence list, stack lists, stow lists and many more.
Apart from creating printed reports, SHIPS also exports these reports to Word, Excel, Access and HTML documents.
Your next step
An accurate and more efficient planning of all discharge and loading operations will speed up the operations and cut down the berthing times considerably. Think what this would do for your terminal's productivity.