May 19 | 2022
Industry on Verge of Major Changes, Panelists Agree
By Mark Dohmen
BREAKBULK EUROPE COVERAGE: Breakbulk Europe 2022 marked the introduction of the Discovery & Innovation Hub, with the goal to intrigue, inform and inspire professionals from the breakbulk and project cargo sector with sessions to discuss innovations that offer benefits to the entire supply chain.
The well-attended first session, Assessing the Current Breakbulk Technology Landscape, was an eye-catcher from the start, Led by moderator Sven Daniels, partner at Hamburg Port Consulting, Nuri Morava, Program Leader Global R&D at DB Schenker and Valentin Gherciu, Global Head of Operations at AAL Shipping.
A relatively unvanquished landscape Compared to other industries, the breakbulk and project industry is lagging far behind, Daniels said. But that backlog also has a flip side according to him: there is enormous growth potential.
Morava’s presentation implied the industry may be on the verge of some major changes, as demonstrated by Schenker's developments in the field of heavy-lift drones.
“Drones promise fast, cost-efficient and sustainable deliveries with a wide field of applications,” Morava said. “So, we are collaborating with Volocopter, one of the most advanced electric vertical take-off and landing (eVTOL) developers in the industry, to showcase and develop this technology.” The electric heavy-lift drone conducted its first public flight in October 2021.
The fully electric drone can carry loads of up to 200 kilograms and has a range of 40 kilometers. With one battery charge, a VoloDrone can fly for 30 minutes and can be either operated remotely or automatically on a pre-programmed route.
“In short, this drone is multipurpose, adaptable to any terrain, and ready to transport heavy loads cheaper than before and 100 percent electrically,” he said. He sees potential for application in shore-to-ship deliveries and project logistics, for example. “There, drones are definitely a faster and more efficient logistics solution.”
DB Schenker is also focusing on digitalization. “Not only do we want to make processes more efficient and transparent. Digitising also fits in perfectly with our pursuit of a sustainable future. It is definitely a main driver for the future,” Morava said.
Schenker has defined six different areas in its course towards digital leadership: future of work, hyper automation and no touch processes, data and artificial intelligence, digital foundation, digital business operations and digital business models/SaaS.
The course towards digitalisation is irreversible and, above all, indispensable, according to AAL Shipping’s Valentin Gherciu. AAL was one of the first shipping lines to monitor its own fleet, using ao smart cameras. “We want to offer solutions to provide better insight into operations and enable further optimisations based on data analysis. Communication is key,” he said.
Communication is not the issue, according to Daniels: “Everyone is talking to everyone. What is lacking is standardisation and solutions to channel that communication. The industry is still in an early stage of digitalization. Share to win – that should be the new path. Find the right starting point for your community. Build a good foundation and add value through quick wins.”
Morava said “the biggest stumbling blocks at the moment are capacity shortages, both in the labour market as well as in ports and warehouses.”
Gherciu also sees bottlenecks on several levels: “For us, the biggest challenge lies in regaining reliability. Today we too often do not know when ships will be loaded or arrive.”
The pandemic accelerated technological developments in the public sector. Breakbulk and project cargo can benefit from that as well. “Without the right technology, we will not be able to achieve all those great sustainability goals. Now is the time to think out of the box”, Gherciu said.
Morava added: “And the beauty of it is that those developments also make our industry sexier. Given the current shortage on the labour market, that is no luxury either.”
