Intermec provide the UK's second largest container terminal with the cutting edge of radio data terminal technology.

In a market where competition can be susceptible to tides, location proximity and weather, creating any kind of competitive edge can be advantageous. Southampton Container Terminals, aware ofthe issue, has created a competitive advantage with a reduction in costs, improved operations and better customer service by upgrading its radio data terminal technology. The accelerated need in early 2000, Southampton Container Terminals contacted its supplier of radio data terminal units only to discover that the existing units were no longer in production and that running a special manufacture ofthe units was a very expensive prospect for acquiring outdated technology. The issue therefore was to find a replacement radio data terminal for the terminal's 1million unit annual operation. An added factor was that with the purchase of new straddle carriers, the new terminals were needed rapidly.

Brian Thomson, Systems Manager at Southampton Container Terminals explains:
-Our initial need suddenly became urgent, we needed to have our new straddle carriers operational within a few months. Our competitive advantage relies on the fact that we provide good customer service. Technology is an intrinsic part of providing that service".

Matching the requirements

Over a period of 2months Intermec, Teklogix and Densitron solutions were investigated. The requirement was a radio data terminal system which could be vehicle mounted in the straddle carriers, was easy to operate, fast, and give the drivers full instruction of where to move containers unloaded from ships, rail, and lorries within the terminal yard. The units had to be high specification, and be able to withstand cold weather, vigorous vibrations and heavy use. The Intermec solution, proposed through one of their premier solutions partners, Sandpiper Corporation Limited, was eventually selected as the best fit to the project. Having already used Intermec equipment, Southampton Container Terminals asked Sandpiper to supply the vehicle mounted rugged computers as a replacement for its custom built text based devices. These were to be used in straddle carriers and empty container handling fork lift trucks.

The cost saving solution

The Intermec 5055 vehicle mount computer was selected, with an initial 16 units being ordered. In the next 18 months a total of 70 units will be in operation as a retrofit of the existing straddle carriers takes place.
Simon Hagenbuch of Sandpiper Corporation explains;
-The Intermec 5055 is engineered to make data collection a seamless part of the enterprise operating either in Windows95/NT or MS-DOS operating systems. The 5055 was also chosen for its ease of maintenance, radios and hard drives can be swapped out easily for upgrade and for its robust operational effectiveness. Matching up to Southampton Container Terminals requirements the hardened, light weight magnesium housing is resistant to shock, vibration and unstable working environments. The Intermec solution did not have the costs associated with the old proprietary units and gave a saving of £1,000 per straddle carrier over remanufacturing the old equipment".
Ease of use for the operators was also a concern, but Southampton Container Terminals IT team involved themselves with the solution development to produce the answer.
Brian Thomson explains;
-Within our tight time scales we did not have the time to enter into a training programme for the immediate 200 operators of the new units. Due to its flexibility and it being PC architecture rather thana proprietary unit, we developed our own software in house so that the graphic screen images of the new units are identical to the old units, removing the need to retrain operators. This was a valuable time saving to us, and we will in time bring all 200 operators up to speed with the new capabilities of the Intermec 5055's".

Immediate benefits

The Intermec 5055i nstallation allows Southampton Container Terminals to deliver a touch screen, colour graphical user inter face to the drivers, which is useful to more accurately identify stacks of containers. The new units are faster than their predecessors and have increased marginal productivity, the old system would take 6 seconds to process where as the Intermec unit achieves the same task in less than 1 second.
A separate project also became a considerable benefit to Southampton Container Terminals; it was trying to find a better system of stacking empty containers within the yard to maximise space. New mechanical handling technology allowed them to stack containers 6 high, and they only needed to purchase fork lift truck swith the 5055's installed, this returned ac ostsaving of £15,000 and an enormous saving of valuable space.
Brian Thomson concludes;

-We are delighted that we can relyon the Intermec equipment and the excellent service that was provided by Sandpiper for our business. Increases in productivity, cost savings and speed of operations ensure that we can offer our customers a better service. We have always considered ourselves a company that embraces new advancements and our business is profiting from looking to leading edge technology to provide a vital element to our operations".