Digitizing Operations

Feature

Ports harness data to improve performance and test scenarios using digital twins

By Nick Fortuna

At Fremantle Ports in Australia, the physical and digital worlds mirror each other, providing port administrators and their stakeholders with real-time data so they can optimize operations, plan strategically and reduce expenses.

Fremantle Ports, the government agency managing the Port of Fremantle in Western Australia, has built a state-of-the-art 3D replica of its inner harbor to communicate vital location-based information to internal and external stakeholders.

The port’s “digital twin” uses geographic information system (GIS) technology to integrate 3D static models of ships, cranes, buildings, slightly delayed camera feeds, and live Automatic Identification System (AIS) data. By combining all those data sources into one big picture, port managers can track vessels entering and leaving the port.

Bathymetric data mapping the channel depth allows stakeholders to explore the port’s facilities from above and below the water. Other dynamic data sets such as water movement and shadow analysis give decision-makers a realistic picture of potential scenarios so they can analyze likely outcomes before taking action.

At ports across the world, the digitization of operations has been accelerated by supply chain shocks stemming from the pandemic. Long lines of ships waiting to dock at ports illustrated the importance of leveraging data to enhance supply chain visibility. Now, the digitization movement is gaining momentum as port administrators look to automate manual processes and streamline operations.

To collect the necessary data, ports are “sensorizing” all aspects of their operations, either by retrofitting existing equipment with sensors or replacing it with newer versions, according to Terry C. Bills, global transportation industry director for Esri, the global market leader in GIS software.

The data can be represented by either a digital twin or an “executive dashboard,” an onscreen display of key performance metrics that operations managers can monitor to evaluate performance, he said.

Bills said a digital twin brings together GIS, computer-aided design (CAD) data, and building information modeling (BIM) data to create a virtual replica of the port and its assets. The digital twin is then linked to the port’s business systems, including asset management, security and supervisory control and data acquisition (SCADA), to provide stakeholders with a “common operational picture” or “situational awareness” of everything that’s happening at the port, he said.

“It’s all about optimizing your performance and having the ability to test different scenarios and to understand ahead of time what the likely outcomes or consequences of certain actions would be,” Bills said.

“You can’t control anything that you can’t see, so if you don’t know what’s going on, you’re just in a reactive mode, and that’s difficult,” he added. “But if you have a digital twin linked to sensors and these real-time business systems, you have much greater control over your operations, and you can become much more productive.”

Informing Decision Makers

The use of digital twins in port operations is still in its infancy, and as with many new technologies, the hype over their potential impact has outpaced their actual usage, Bills said. Still, they have the power to help ports improve specific aspects of their operations and to optimize usage of their assets, he said.

While operations managers use executive dashboards to monitor activity in real time, port administrators can view daily or weekly reports in easily digestible formats to track performance over time and recognize potential issues before they arise.

“We do think that the concept of the digital twin holds tremendous potential for ports if they’re really done well and meet the business requirements of the ports,” Bills said. “It’s important to understand what you’re trying to do and what the business requirement is. We recommend that ports start small, with very specific use cases, and build it over time. Don’t try to do everything at once. That’s good practice from an IT perspective.”

Digital twins facilitate decision making by enabling ports to test different scenarios in the digital world without real-world risks, according to a report from the U.N. Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean. Port administrators can experiment with different configurations of their facilities, equipment usage and processes to gauge whether proposed solutions will work before investing capital.

The digital twin provides a safe environment for experimentation without creating new infrastructure or prototypes, shortening development cycles and giving port administrators more confidence in the solution they ultimately select.

Ports can explore how changing access points for drayage trucks would affect their pickup and delivery systems, for instance, without actually impacting a single driver. They also can monitor dwell times for pickups and identify bottlenecks that are slowing operations and leading to increased vehicle emissions.

In 2021, the Port of Valencia in Spain launched iTerminals 4.0, a project funded by the European Commission’s Connecting Europe Facility program aimed at digitizing port operations and adopting new technologies. Other ports announcing significant digital projects include Rotterdam, Antwerp, Hamburg, Los Angeles, Cartagena, and Singapore, according to the ECLAC report.

Using wireless communication technologies, data from the real world can be used to continuously synchronize the digital twin, ensuring that the virtual representation reflects the current state of the physical system. Software applications can then be used in the digital twin to predict system behavior, assess operational scenarios, and improve system performance, according to the ECLAC report.

Optimizing Asset Management

Digitization already is paying dividends for ports by improving their preventative maintenance programs, which maximizes the uptime of equipment and throughput, according to Pawan Joshi, executive vice president of the logistics software supplier e2open.

Sensors on cranes, for example, can monitor the number of containers they handle per hour, and when there’s a downtick, maintenance supervisors can address any problems before equipment breaks down, disrupting operations, for example. Sensors on forklifts, yard trucks, and other equipment can track utilization rates, fuel or electricity consumption, temperature, fluid levels, speed of movement, vibration, and other metrics, signaling to maintenance crews when failure is near.

The continuous collection of data allows ports to service equipment when it really needs it, based on real-world conditions, instead of relying on manufacturers’ recommendations. It also may reduce the need to inspect equipment as often, saving valuable labor, a key consideration given the shortage of qualified maintenance technicians facing ports and other industries.

“Instead of having to inspect a 10-story crane, they can look at a screen to actually see what the usage profile or degradation profile is and use that information to proactively maintain it,” Joshi said. “They no longer have to rely on physical inspection cycles or previous failure rates.”

In many cases, digitization of equipment data can reduce maintenance costs for ports. If ports know for sure that equipment is degrading more slowly than expected, they can continue to operate it beyond its traditional maintenance cycle with a high degree of confidence, Joshi said.

Conversely, if equipment is degrading faster than anticipated, ports can monitor it more closely. Over time, they might see patterns that are causing that degradation, and they can address the root cause rather than just doing preventative maintenance.

An Array of Applications

Digital twins of port assets can be used in a wide variety of applications across the value chain, including container fleet management, shipment monitoring and the design of large-scale logistics systems, according to the ECLAC report. Sensors in individual containers, for instance, display their location, interior temperature, humidity, and data about issues such as damage or contamination.

That data is incorporated into the digital twin of the container network, which can use machine learning to help decision makers improve operational efficiency. Ports can monitor their stack heights, optimize the layout of their yards, reduce congestion, and shorten container-retrieval times.

Sensor-equipped buoys monitor factors such as water depth, salinity, currents, and wind to give ships a window of time when it’s safe for arrival. Sensors on mooring bollards, fenders, and winches monitor line tension, berthing forces, drum rotation, and vessel movements, making vessel berthing safer and reducing the risk of damage to ships and port infrastructure.

Ports can monitor air quality, water quality, noise levels, and weather conditions to help them comply with regulations and achieve their sustainability goals. That data can help ports mitigate risks, improve worker conditions, and become a better neighbor to local residents, according to the ECLAC report.

During the pandemic, many beneficial cargo owners (BCOs) lacked visibility into the status of their cargo as ships lined up to enter ports, hindering their operations, said Joshi of e2open. Ports that digitize their operations and use that data to improve transparency and throughput give BCOs greater confidence to ship through their facilities, he said.

“Ocean has the longest lead time of any transportation mode but is the most efficient one, so the BCOs that actually make and move products want to use ports,” Joshi said. “The more that ports digitize and become proactive, the more customers who are actually moving trade will use ports. When you provide the right level of visibility and throughput, you drive confidence in that mode of transportation, and that’s super important from the BCOs’ standpoint.”