Another Major Container Shipping Line Chooses Logistics Optimisation Software

UK – WORLDWIDE – As with many of the global port groups Hutchison Ports, operator of the Port of Felixstowe, has been branching out into other areas of logistics, and one venture, PARIS Optimal Transport Planning, which offers an enterprise and API solution for optimising full load transport via truck, rail and barge freight by using algorithms to reduce the number of empty miles, has apparently now been adopted by four of the six largest ocean container lines, all now using the PARIS Enterprise system.

The latest recruit is container line Ocean Network Express (ONE) which will adopt the company’s optimisation software for reasons explained by Robert Jan Brussaard, Head of Inland Operations & Procurement at ONE, who commented:

“PARIS was the only solution in the market that could fulfil all our optimisation requirements for the coming years across the Europe Africa region. We are really excited about introducing PARIS and the benefits it will bring to our organisation. The software will enable us to reduce our carbon footprint and deliver sustainable solutions for our customers as well as offering efficiency savings through reduced empty mileage.”

Hutchison Ports claims to be the world's leading port investor, developer and operator with a network of port operations in 52 ports spanning 27 countries and of late it has expanded its range of logistics services to include cruise ship terminals, airport operations, distribution centres, rail services and ship repair facilities. Clemence Cheng, Executive Director, said:

“We are delighted that Ocean Network Express (ONE) has chosen to use PARIS Enterprise. Identifying and executing the optimal transport strategy is an increasingly complex challenge and we look forward to working with ONE to save costs and deliver greater efficiency for their customers.”

His view was supported by Andy Barker, General Manager at PARIS Optimal Transport Planning and who claims that the extensive range of major companies adopting the technology make it the leader in its field, continuing:

“The PARIS software has been developed and refined to provide shipping lines and logistics providers with an integrated system that can compare millions of possibilities by road, rail or water in seconds to identify the most-efficient, least-cost option for planning an entire region. And as circumstances change, the plan changes.

”PARIS constantly updates and refines the transport plan in real-time to ensure it retains the best transport plan if, for example, delivery and collection times change or if there are variations in equipment availability at inland depots. We are also making the PARIS optimiser available to a greater number of users through our recent launch of the PARIS API in the cloud, meaning the intelligent planning optimisation of PARIS can be connected to any Transport Management System (TMS) for planning an entire region.”

Hutchison Ports of course has actually had its share of its own software problems with vessels having to divert to other ports with the failure of the inGen terminal operating system which, having been adopted by the group’s port terminals worldwide, caused delays to hauliers and forwarders spread over the ensuing months.