Easing the inland services business with IT

Operations and businesses, big or small, at APM Terminals Inland Services, infusion of technology is at its best and the integration is seamless. Benchmarking its IT systems and processes to the best of global industries, the company has a remarkable track record of offering operational and cost efficiencies thus bringing profitability to its customers.

In this digital age, there is a multitude of information technologies available at the industry player’s disposal. What separates the leaders from the lot is their ability to make an intelligent use of the technologies available at hand to create a safer and more efficient business environment. When we look at the Inland Services industry, the one company that stands out in its thoughtful and innovative use of information technology is APM Terminals Inland Services, South Asia. The organisation has been a pioneer in introducing customized IT solutions for its customers and stakeholders in line with its philosophy of customer centricity. They have always made extensive use of information technology in the way they conduct their business. For example, in an industry constantly suffering from limited availability of investments, APM Terminals Inland Services, right in its nascent years, invested in customised Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) software. Today, these are completely functional and form the backbone on which all its Container Freight Stations as well as Container Maintenance and Repair facilities across India thrive. This ERP system covers all aspects including gate operations, yard operations, counter activities, equipment handling, maintenance and repair, examination and de-stuffing, import and export, LCL, auction, transportation, warehousing, value-based services, repair update, billing and status update Electronic Data Interchange (EDI) integration and so on. Being one of the firsts to introduce a successful implementation of RFID (Radio frequency identification) for tracking the location of containers in the yard, it is known as the harbinger of relief for majority of stakeholders; especially Customs House Agents who had to literally walk across endless square meters of space in the sun to physically look for their containers. With a never ending process of improvement as the mantra, the organisation has gone a step ahead now to introduce an enhancement to the feature – providing a 3 dimensional database (including the exact location of container in a stack vertically) with unbelievable accuracy removing the need for searching for container on foot, improving both safety and efficiency. Unlike many other places, what’s noteworthy is how safety is the foundation for every decision made and activity undertaken at APM Terminals Inland Services. Safety is integrated into each aspect of the business to pursue man-machine separation. Their pursuit of safety has translated into the most ambitious project in the inland services industry today. This project is the Y PLAN – aimed at complete Yard Automation. The Y plan is a system that enables execution of operations in the yard – right from Gate-in of the truck/container to its Gate-out – all of this sans human intervention. With the Reach Stacker Operator being fed information of gated-in containers, designated space of storage, intelligent flow logic to follow wrt the placement of multiple containers, the operations are far more efficient, with reduced moves & time spent, and better coordination. Now that’s what’s called being truly technology led. It’s wonderful to see how, when it comes to APM Terminals Inland Services, safety simply rules. They believe the motto of safety by itself leads to initiatives that deliver enhanced services, increase operational efficiencies and ease of business for customers. How true! APM Terminals Inland Services infuses technology across its business in multiple ways – big as well as small. For instance, the use of biometric devices to keep track of truck drivers who have already undergone safety induction (i.e the training given before they enter the facility for the safety do’s and don’ts) at their Container Maintenance and Repair facilities. So, a truck driver, who has undergone the training once, doesn’t have to go for it again. SAGE – the globally approved ERP platform used for accounting and inventory management has been integrated with their internal operating system – ConTrack. In-time systems are used for employee leave and attendance management. The key to these successes and a pipeline of new IT initiatives, is their IT Team’s approach to the entire business. Being a proactive department, they constantly look at avenues of enabling the business to achieve more through integration of IT into the work flow. Continued interaction with multiple stakeholders internally helps generate new and innovative solutions and ideas. While this is really great, that’s not sufficient for success and that’s not where it all ends. As Scott Robson, CFO, APM Terminals India Pvt. Ltd. puts it: Success of any IT initiative depends on planning and execution of change management. It is human tendency to resist change and adapt to any new technology. Fortunately for APM Terminals Inland Services, due thanks to the employees’ commitment and the Operations Team’s positive approach, it‘s easier to launch new, effective and successful solutions. It helps because this is generally a painstaking process. We ensure that we take our customers’, internal users’ and the stakeholders’ buy-in when we introduce any new initiatives. Customer centricity probably drives the most extensive use of technology at APM Terminals Inland Services. And the list of IT initiatives in the area seems endless. Introduction of online container tracking system is a boon for the customers. There are currently three ways in which the customer can check the status of their containers at the Container Freight Station on a 24X7 basis: by logging on to the company website or on mobile through SMS or even calling up the dedicated toll free number. Their website has additional options for the customer in the form of generating and downloading e-invoices as well as making payments online. This is a boon to the CHAs and freight forwarders as this saves them the effort of getting demand drafts made, and facing challenges in case there is a mismatch in the amount to be paid. All these - at no additional cost to the customer. “APM Terminals Inland Services has been in a never ending pursuit of infusing increasing levels of transparency, safety, convenience and operating efficiencies. That’s not possible to achieve without our Information Technology systems. We benchmark our processes and systems not just with this industry but the best across industries globally. That helps us bring new initiatives and capabilities to serve our customers better,” says Ajit Venkataraman, MD, APM Terminals India Pvt. Ltd. Rightly said, some bright minds in the company looked at an ATM machine in a bank and the simplicity it offers and wondered - why can’t we have a one stop automated kiosk for our customers’ requirements? That gave birth to a multi-functional kiosk at the customer counters in the Container Freight Station (CFS). This kiosk enables queue management as the customer can directly receive a waiting token with a serial number on it and specification of the purpose of visit - just the way it is in the banks. Secondly, the customers can find the status of their containers and their exact location in the CFS through the machine. All this information which earlier entailed long hours of standing in the sun, searching for containers in an expansive yard and waiting in long queues for one’s turn, is now available in less than a minute! As S. Ramkumar, Managing Director, Glottis, says “APM Terminals Inland Services, tirelessly churns new solutions and initiatives driven by a smart and thoughtful use of information technology. I remember, when they first introduced the Customer Kiosk and Token Management System, APM Terminals Inland Services transformed the way on-ground work was done. Earlier, so many hours were wasted when our people carried out the excruciating task of frantically moving across the yard searching for the containers, standing in the queues for over 30 minutes for a two-minute work. With the introduction of the kiosk, it was very relieving for all of us, as efficiencies increased manifolds, the task was not tiring anymore, and most importantly, was very simple to work with.” Another shining example of the organization’s commitment is the inclusion of select customs documentation processes in the kiosk facility. The APM Terminals Inland Services team came up with a solution, modeled it, presented and proposed to the Customs Department; and voila, due to its simplicity and benefit to stakeholders, it was approved almost instantly! While, thanks to the global nature of the organisation, APM Terminals Inland Services is able to draw on the Group’s global expertise in this field, the equation flows the other way round too; especially with India being a powerhouse of IT systems. A case in point here is the Vendor Management System developed and installed at APM Terminals Inland Services which has been now initiated across other Group companies spread over multiple locations. The Vendor Management System enables new vendors to log on to an e-platform and submit their details wrt the qualification requirements as laid down by the company; thus capturing all required vendor details in one go at a specific place. Customer centric, as the organisation is, it also enables the vendor to fill in a survey/feedback form wrt the vendor management process. This system is a pre procurement activity and infuses transparency in the entire vendor selection process. A strictly value-led company, compliance is non-negotiable at APM Terminal Inland Services. No wonder, this value is also well supported through a centralised Compliance Management System for its facilities across India. It is an exhaustive platform recording and monitoring all compliance activities like TDS submissions, approvals, e-waste management, labour regulations, amongst many others. It ensures checks are in place internally to handle various legal/procedural requirements. What cannot be denied is that any new information technology once created is generally easily replicable and scalable. While some of these technologies are now available in different businesses, the one thing that still makes the difference in experience of the same is the human factor and thoughtfulness. The commitment to constantly improve ensures that APM Terminals is busy introducing new technologies and services to make its customers’ and stakeholders’ lives easier. Sanjay Singh, General Manager – Operations & Systems, hubergroup India Pvt. Ltd. shares: “I believe APM Terminals Inland Services has many firsts to its credit. Kiosks, Token Management System, IVRS, RFID for container tracking in the yard, E invoicing, e payments, Status finder on sms, website and call, online surveys. The list seems to just go on. For sure, this team works with a proactive approach – pre-empting customers’ requirements, finding solutions for ways to make it easier to do business, or even enhancing time and operational efficiencies. We always look forward to what’s next. Whatever they do is bound to deliver a positive impact on our business.”