Despite commercially available terminal operating systems having been around for many years, there are still a large number of terminals that rely on in-house and legacy systems. Cargo Systems canvassed several leading IT systems suppliers to find out what advice they would give any such terminals considering an upgrade.
"Consider all the options in the marketplace and don’t assume that the biggest is the best or least risky. Don’t try and replicate the functionality of your in-house TOS - most likely not best practice - and instead use IT to gain a stronger competitive advantage over rivals." - Dave Quennell, Logistics programme manager, Jade Software
"While selecting a new system, it should be required to formulate for yourselves the aims your company pursues in the terminal automation project. Thus you should select the system which enables you to achieve targeted goals whereas taking into account the cost of the project - return on investment - and analysing the project risks." - Maxim Maximov, head of analytics department, Solvo
"This is a clear business process question. The first place to look for the answer is to the market place and your customers. Once you have a full understanding of your customers’ needs then you can start to create business goals for the terminal. There must be benefits for the terminal and customers alike. There must be a clear ROI to justify the investment. An IT system such as a gate operating system or TOS must have the flexibility to match current needs and adapt to changes in business process. There must be a medium to long term approach with IT systems." - Peter Westerholm, VP for marketing and sales, Visy
"We would advise they purchase package software for the following reasons: Proven and technically sound software, evaluate before purchase; Generally shorter implementation time; Minimal development of new forms and procedures; Lower cost than local development; Implementation experience usually available; Specific performance contract easier to define; Warranty and long term support generally available." - Harry Nguyen, MD, Realtime Business Solutions
"Each terminal may have its unique reasons to consider changing from a legacy system - generally these will surround either: (A) the ROI that can be gained from optimisation products available within commercially available IT systems; (B) reducing the total cost of ownership (due to the underlying architecture and scalability) of the current system, including the opportunity to replace redundant platforms and hardware; (C) reducing the time to value - in general if the system is available ’off the shelf’ - implementation will be faster; (D) reducing risk - in general commercial software is less risky than a development project. One factor that may not get as much attention as it ought are the great opportunities to review the business processes and flow’s - Merely replicating the current system in terms of business process flow would not necessarily yield a different result in terms of operational improvements and metrics - choosing a system that is proven with many configuration options and a significant install base will yield the ability to change and modify business process flows and working practices. It also means that the terminal can change these processes very quickly rather than waiting for hard coded changes." - Richard Harrison, senior VP, Zebra Enterprise Solutions
"Look at your requirements carefully and with an open mind. Don’t assume that just because your legacy system does something a certain way that your new system should do it the same way. Often legacy systems have unnecessary features built into them to work around flawed procedures or problems in the system itself. A new system may have a different approach that will save your terminal time and money, even though it is different than what you are accustomed to using. Before you implement a new system, you have the opportunity to review your procedures and find more efficient ways to do things. When you work with an experienced TOS vendor, they can also bring new ideas to the table. It is vital that all key stakeholders at the terminal agree on the project goals and high level requirements before beginning the project." - Michael Schwank, president, Tideworks Technology
"Cost savings: as you only pay for time used, outsourcing results in significant savings. Also, setting fixed costs for project allows better budget control. Best practice: products and services from professional vendors are continuously improved by application of global trends for best operation efficiency. Better service quality: as IT is now handled on a client/service provider basis, service tends to be better than that provided by in-house staff. Keeping up to date: technology changes rapidly, and outsourcing providers will have greater appreciation of developments in other industries and be able to determine which emerging technologies can be beneficial to your firm. Better risk management: risks are reduced as the IT partner will have prior knowledge and experience on project and only offer proven working solutions. Not only will they have far more real-world experience in many industries they will also be better at mitigating the risks involved in handling delicate tasks like upgrades and security management. Hiring and training services: for projects that must be handled inhouse, top professional IT outsourcing companies can assist in hiring and training staff to ensure they have the appropriate skills. System quality: IT personnel employment will be limited in number and it’s hard to keep the same resource. Due to relatively frequent changes in personnel, the system may become lack of consistency. This will eventually affect system quality." - Eui-Sik Kwon, COO of Total Soft Bank
