HPC supports Port of Switzerland in developing a digitalisation strategy
The digital offensive focuses on effective cooperation with customers and partners and the development of a sustainable digital port infrastructure.
HPC Hamburg Port Consulting, the logistics consultants specialised in strategy and transformation services for ports, sea and inland terminals and intermodal rail transport, have been commissioned by Port of Switzerland to develop a digitalisation strategy.
Like seaports, inland ports are also undergoing a transformation process from a goods handling centre to an interconnected goods and information handling hub within the global logistics chain.
Port of Switzerland is an important traffic hub on the freight corridor between the North Sea and the Mediterranean Sea with an annual turnover of approximately 6 million tons of goods. Situated at the end of the navigable part of the Rhine, Port of Switzerland connects the sea lane with an extensive European road and rail network. Approx. 60 % of goods are transported from here by rail.
The further development of the trimodal transport hub with ship, rail and truck is one of the port’s central tasks. The focus is on close cooperation with the Upper Rhine Ports in France and Germany, which is to be promoted in particular through the expansion of the digital port infrastructure.
HPC has been commissioned to develop a digitalisation strategy for the design of the digital infrastructure with the aim of increasing competitiveness, safety and sustainability of inland navigation and the Port of Switzerland. The cornerstones of digitalisation are the data flows of goods, processes and modes of transport, the automation of port equipment and digital access to products and services. The involvement of all stakeholders is crucial for the successful establishment of digital structures and correspondingly adapted operating procedures.
Martin Nusser, Deputy Director of Port of Switzerland, says:
"By providing digital port infrastructures, we want to shape our role as a service provider for the entire port community in a future-oriented way. In future, central processes with authorities, institutions and the port industry are to be handled via digital infrastructures. Through the intensive use of new technologies with all our customers and partners, we are striving for sustainably efficient, quality- and service-oriented cooperation. With the successful introduction of the RheinPorts Information System (RPIS), the first port community system for inland ports worldwide, in which HPC also played a supporting role, we have already laid a decisive foundation for a digital port infrastructure.”
With the implementation of the digitalisation strategy, the basis for the realisation of project plans within the scope of the digital transformation is set. Based on a comprehensive analysis of the stakeholder environment, the digital strategy recommends principles of action for the handling of planned projects as well as information strategies to ensure change management geared towards sustainability. A digital transformation roadmap ensures effective and successful project management.
Dr. Jennifer Sommer, Head of IT Consulting at HPC, says:
"With digitalisation strategies, companies can design their services in a user-oriented manner and network processes efficiently, thus both increasing effectiveness potential and opening up new business areas. Accompanying the Port of Switzerland’s team on their digital journey, encouraging them in their pioneering role, and helping to make inland navigation fit for the digital future is an exciting challenge.”
HPC was involved in several projects for the development of digital strategies and the establishment of port community systems for inland and seaports. As a central service of the IT consulting division, HPC also accompanies its clients through complex IT and integration projects in ports and logistics, covering all the different phases of an application life cycle.
