News / The paradoxes of port productivity

Photo: DP World

This year, the port of Tianjin revealed that automation had provided a boost to the efficiency of its rubber-tyred gantry (RTG) cranes. From the 15 moves per hour controlled by human workers, the terminal achieved 20 using automated cranes connected to the Sany Marine’s H-Move2.0 system.

A 33% productivity increase is certainly impressive. One human operator can control six RTGs simultaneously, with what is termed an ‘intervention rate’ – the number of times a human is needed to become involved in ...