DOMINION has deployed a Wi-Fi-based industrial solution to provide wireless coverage and achieve efficiency in the management of container traffic by the company APM Terminals in the Port of Barcelona.
The new infrastructure is essential for the company to improve its logistics in loading and unloading operations. The solution developed by DOMINION guarantees connectivity in an infrastructure that is considered critical, the Muelle Sur (South Quay) terminal in the Port of Barcelona, enabling APM Terminals operatives to transmit all the data on the containers to the interface of its operating system in real time. The terminal covers 81 hectares and has a storage capacity of over 2.3 million TEUs.
Data management in real time
The new solution gives the operatives total mobility around the terminal, the quay and the Reefer Rack area, and allows them to send data on the containers to the operating system through hand-held devices and terminals installed in container transfer vehicles (Straddle Carriers and Reach Stackers). Thanks to the wireless network, these data are processed in a secure and immediate way so the company can optimize the loading and unloading operations and, therefore, improve its logistics.
“One of the key performance indicators in the terminal is the time containers spend there. Thanks to the new wireless solution, APM Terminals can get real-time data on all the details of a container’s itinerary, from the moment it is unloaded off a ship to being despatched from the port (or vice versa), to make the procedure as quick as possible”
Francesc Voltà
| Project manager
Together with the deployment of the network in the port area, DOMINION will undertake the maintenance of the infrastructure. This task, which will be done from a centralized control station, is critical to identify and correct any possible incidents immediately, and thus minimize the major economic impact that these could have on general loading and unloading operations in an installation of this kind.
Specialization in critical environments
DOMINION has considerable experience in the deployment of wireless networks in critical environments. In recent years it has developed connectivity solutions for the Port of Barcelona, and -among others- has done the same in the new Hospital del Mar in the same city. “This experience in ‘radio’ solutions ties in with a competitive range of products/services and the trust shown by our clients towards our engineers, particularly in highly complex projects that require customized solutions”, Mr. Voltà adds.
