Ports & Pilotage Authorities

Halifax Port Authority

Vessel Traffic Management System
Planning & Managing Software Procurement
Container Tracking System
Development & Implementation of Software

Customer Profile

The Port of Halifax is one of the world's leading ports known for its location, facilities, services, and efficient connections to locations around the world. The port is administered by the Halifax Port Authority (HPA), a successful Canadian federal organization with an international reputation for providing cost efficient and effective services using latest technologies. With seamless inter-modal connections to and from the heartland of North America, the Port of Halifax is Canada's Atlantic Gateway to the world. Halifax's strategic location, efficient infrastructure and unparalleled service have made it the preferred connection to Europe, the Mediterranean, the Middle East and Southeast Asia via the Suez Canal for more than 20 direct services, providing comprehensive global coverage for exporters and importers.

Business Situation

Key activities at the Halifax Port Authority include administering the Halifax Harbour as well as nearby Bedford Basin and Northwest Arm. The HPA is responsible for building and maintaining its own port facilities as well as promoting the facilities and the harbour in general. Furthermore, they work closely with the Navy and Coast Guard in planning for harbour emergencies. The HPA has two state-of-the-art advanced container terminals that offer round-the-clock vessel service and they process approximately 100,000 import containers annually. These containers are discharged and shipped to points across the continent; some by road and some by rail. With several parties involved and such frequent traffic, the HPA needed to work towards a way of getting inbound containers out to the customers quicker. They put much effort and pride in being the most efficient and economical choice for exporters and importers.

Investment in the port's terminals and equipment makes Halifax one of the few ports in North America that is capable of handling fully loaded post-Panamax vessels. The Port of Halifax prides itself on excellent customer service as their customers need dependable service and people they can count on. In 2002, the HPA introduced "Smart Port" as an initiative for stakeholders to identify issues and focus on solutions that will increase growth, reduce costs, and maintain the Port's competitive position in global markets. They saw areas for improvement in working towards efficient dwell times for vessels and getting inbound containers out to the customers quicker. Because of this, the HPA needed better systems for tracking incoming/outgoing containers and vessels.

Solution

Nicom managed the software selection process for the Halifax Port Authority in its search for a new Vessel Traffic Management System. This involved developing request for information and request for proposal documents; developing the short-listing process; acting as facilitator towards selecting the most appropriate product; and negotiating the purchase and on-going support contracts with the successful vendor. A follow-up project involved managing the development and implementation of the new Vessel Traffic Management System for the HPA. This project included planning and managing the activities of the software developers and the activities of the HPA staff.

In an effort to further improve both customer service and operations efficiency, Nicom was asked to design and develop a Container Tracking System (CTS). Nicom did the entire development of this application, including Systems Analysis, Custom Software Design, Software Development, Implementation, and Quality Assurance. Initially Nicom coordinated, with the HPA's help, data retrieval from the Halterm, Ceres and CN Rail container terminals. It was very important for Nicom to understand the nuances between data formats and how everything fit together before the software was designed. The custom software design included database design, data flow designs and process documentation which ensured we were building the proper tool for the tasks at hand. Nicom took pride in developing the software to be as flexible as possible to allow for future enhancements. Since implementation, several enhancements to the CTS have already been made and others are in the planning stages. The CTS was developed using Microsoft .NET technology and MS SQL Server. The system is comprised of several components including an import file processing service and a file downloader service, both running on the Windows Server platform. A client desktop application for querying the container data and running reports was also integrated.

Benefits

The HPA is now able to address any gaps in service and work to prevent issues through daily tracking. Through the Vessel Traffic Management System they have improved efficiencies and are able to quickly address operational conflicts. The Container Tracking System has also improved efficiencies by providing an excellent means of analyzing the steps involved in inbound container processing, with focus on dwell times. Discharge lists are now submitted to the Halifax Port Authority in the form of EDI (Electronic Data Interchange) format via FTP and/or e-mail. Once event files are received the CTS performs data analysis, transforming and merging the import files to create a clear and distinct view of containers arriving in the Port of Halifax. This information includes the discharge, ramp, depart, arrive, and re-ramp date and times. The CTS desktop application currently contains several statistical reports analyzing (empirically and graphically) the various container dwell times. The application also allows users to look up specific voyages/containers by specifying certain details such as container number.

Subsequently, the HPA is able to come through on their commitment to facilitate fast and efficient ship turnarounds which has strengthened their competitive position. The HPA's constant attention to improving efficiency has gained them the trust of more than 20 direct liner services. The Port of Halifax continues to serve more container lines with more direct calls to Europe, the Mediterranean, Middle East, Asia, South America, Central America and the Caribbean than any other Canadian port. With Nicom's help!

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