34 | Tees Business
THE GATEWAY
TO GROWTH
WORDS: MICHAEL MCGEARY
Teamwork – change and delivery manager
Mel Hannaway, front and centre, with the
many people from across the business and
external contractors who were involved in
the project.
Latest
development
will help
PD Ports
continue
expansion
A
significant investment in world-
class new technology is helping
ensure that Teesport continues the
already spectacular growth rate in
its container volumes of recent years.
Operator PD Ports recently opened an
impressive new automated gate system,
the latest in a suite of hi-tech developments
that will equip the port for an even brighter
future.
“We have a port that is growing
exponentially at a rate well above the rest
of the industry, and has big ambitions to
continue growing,” said chief operating
officer and vice chairman Jerry Hopkinson.
“We’ve gone from being a small gateway
container port only a decade ago to being
the fifth-largest container port in the UK,
handling about 30 million tonnes of total
cargo a year.
“We’ve grown container volumes by 12
per cent annually for over eight years, even
during the recession, while average growth
in the container industry has been between
two and three per cent. But we recognise
that to continue growing, we need to adopt
the very best processes and systems.”
These included Navis, which employs
artificial intelligence to build up information
about the way containers flow through the
port and uses it to manage processes and
improve efficiencies for port users, as well
as an advanced Vehicle Booking System.
“We’ve had the technology in for several
years and we’re gradually expanding
and adopting it. But as our volumes are
now growing, and the complexity of
our operations is increasing in tandem
with that growth, the opportunities this
very sophisticated system affords us are