Recent Disruptions Have Led to a Rethink on How to Future-Proof Supply Chains

TLME Future-Proof Technologies Conference moderator and industry thought-leader Lars Jensen began Session 2 of the conference by asking panellists how we could use technology to future-proof the supply chain in terms of large-scale disruptions, sustainability and fragmentation?

Dr. Yvo Saanen, Director, Portwise, said that the disruptions of the last five years had led to a rethink in terms of resilience and future proofing of the supply chain. Today, to build in resilience one has to consider a wider range of disruptive events than in the past.

Post pandemic, ships and ports had seen an enormous increase in dwell times in the US and Europe. Nobody has foreseen that the hinterland could not handle more volumes and terminals could not turn around containers fast enough. So, unforeseen eventualities had to be considered when planning terminal operations today, said Dr. Saanen.

Sustainability had been one of the key focus areas for Portwise in recent years, said Dr Saanen. Many facilities want to electrify but finding a reliable source of power around ports was a challenge.

One of Portwise’s customers on the US West Coast wanted to buy 60 electric trucks with fast-charging 1 MW batteries and charge them all together during their daily lunch break.

But such a large and simultaneous demand for power would likely blackout the greater Los Angeles area if all the trucks were charged at the same time. Therefore, one has to come out with “much smarter” solutions for ports and terminals to enable sustainable electrification and lower emissions, Dr Saanen concluded.

Read More: Industry Guru Dr. Yvo Saanen Announced as Key Conference Speaker