Transnet Port Terminals (TPT) says the digital conversion of more than 60% of the Durban Car Terminal’s (DCT’s) parking bays has been concluded.
This should improve the movement of both import and export cars in a yard that parks more than 12 500 vehicles at a time.
The initial digital conversion is the first of two implementation phases.
A total of 7 561 parking bays have been fitted with bar-coded labels that can be scanned using handheld devices.
The scanning of the unique numbers on each of the labels is uploaded onto the company’s operating system, which is then able to locate any car at the terminal yard in real-time.
“We are now adopting a system that will do away with delays and reduce short shipments which result from the extended time taken to locate the units in the stack,” says terminal manager Prince Manganyi.
“This has been a manual process until now.”
Manganyi adds that DCT has invested about half-a-million rand over the last ten months to see the project through.
“We relied on the skills and talents of internal resources for system development, configuration, testing, resource training and it saved us a lot of money.”
The terminal will conclude the second phase before the end of the 2023/24 financial year.
The improvement is anticipated to increase the number of units handled per hour, which is a key performance indicator for measuring efficiency at the terminal.
The DCT forms part of a network of 19 Transnet port terminals.
TPT has a staff complement of more than 9 000 people across 16 sea-cargo terminals and three inland terminals.
TPT’s operations target four major market sectors including automotive, containers, bulk and break bulk.
Current projects are focused on geographic expansion, service innovation and diversification.