On 28 October, the Ports of East London and Mossel Bay became the latest to go live with Transnet National Ports Authority’s new R79 million web-based Integrated Port Management System (IPMS). TNPA began registering East London and Mossel Bay port users onto the system from 23 October 2015.
This brings the number of ports now using TNPA’s new ‘smartPORT’ technology to seven, after Durban, Cape Town, Saldanha, Port Elizabeth and Ngqura went live in recent months. In November the Port of Richards Bay will become the final South African port to roll out the technology.
The IPMS was developed by Navayuga Infotech, a company based in India, in collaboration with their South African partner Nambiti Technologies. It replaces the manual processes and enables key port operations to be managed online and in real time across TNPA’s commercial ports.
Chief Executive Richard Vallihu said: “Global ports are adopting ‘smartPORT’ concepts and the world is increasingly embracing digital technologies and data analytics to make sense of the information that we have around us. Gathering that information in the first place is a challenge. This online system will help transform our ocean gateways into smartPORTs by using advanced information technology that will make them more intelligent and sustainable, while conserving resources, time, space and energy.”
The IPMS is a strategic project that aims to support the broader objectives of the Transnet Market Demand Strategy (MDS) in terms of efficiency and productivity.
Vallihu said the IPMS was benchmarked against Malaysian and Singaporean ports which were among the world’s most efficient. It is a groundbreaking initiative in that for the first time in the world a system such as this is integrated across multiple ports on a single platform.
According to General Manager Mmutle Lentle: “This is the beginning of one of many initiatives that will see Transnet create visibility within the transport value chain and enable connectedness of the transportation eco system ranging from ports, rail and road.”
Mossel Bay Port Manager Tandi Lebakeng added: “The IPMS is one of many crucial improvements taking place within the Port of Mossel Bay, especially as we escalate infrastructure development in support of government’s Operation Phakisa initiative.”
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