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APL and PSA Ground-Breaking Relay Cargo Management System
Singapore, April 22, 2004 - APL, the NOL Group's global container transportation arm, and PSA Corporation's wholly-owned subsidiary Portnet.com have together developed an Internet-based cargo management system that maximises space utilisation and allows faster handling of customers' cargo at the port of Singapore - the world's leading transhipment hub. The new technology, which is known as the APL Transhipment Management System or "ATMS", was developed by APL's IT team in partnership with the PSA team in Singapore terminals where millions of twenty-foot equivalent units (TEU) of APL cargo are handled annually. Using ATMS, a cargo-status message is retrieved from various load ports and transmitted to the EZShip® system, which searches for the best vessel fit and automatically updates all necessary loading details. Finally, a report is sent electronically to APL. "Previously, the management of transhipment cargo could be time-consuming as it was done using a combination of our sophisticated e-commerce platform and some manual interventions," said Brian Lutt, APL's President for the Asia-Middle East region. "ATMS allows us to make instant decisions if, for example, cargo needs to be reallocated to another vessel or service, which is particularly important to manage cargo flow in today's tight-space environment." With increasingly global sourcing, ATMS provides significant benefits to APL's customers, who need a quick and reliable route to market for their products. The system enables APL to find space for customers' cargo on an appropriate sailing faster and more efficiently than ever before. In addition, APL offices throughout Asia and the Middle East can now directly monitor their cargo connections at Singapore. ATMS integrates PSA's online automated transhipment system, EZShip®, with the APL mainframe. This means APL has online, 24-hour access to a complete breakdown of its transhipment cargo at the port, and APL cargo controllers have up to three extra days' lead time for managing relay cargo. Recognising its potential at the very start, International Enterprise Singapore (IE Singapore) helped with sponsorship of the ATMS project. Its Assistant Chief Executive Officer, Ted Tan, said, "We have been looking at many worthy projects in the transportation and shipping sectors here in Singapore. ATMS stood out because of its tangible benefits to the port, the shipping line and their customers." About APL About PSA Portnet.com was set up to focus on helping customers increase their productivity and save costs through greater use of Information Technology. It builds on PSA's flagship PORTNET® system, which is the world's first nation-wide e-commerce system for the maritime community. PORTNET® currently has 7000 users and averages 70 million transactions annually. For more information, consult Portnet.com website at www.portnet.com or call (65) 6321 2980. Media Enquiries: |
