As part of a concerted drive to improve port efficiency, Brazil is set to implement a multi-port community system (PCS) in the ports of Santos, Suape, Rio de Janeiro and Itajai.
It’s part of a smart port concept, says HPC Hamburg Port Consulting, the logistics consultant specialised in strategy and transformation services for ports, which will play a key role in the initiative.
The project is part of the Brazil Trade Facilitation Programme financed by the Foreign Commonwealth Office (FCO) of the United Kingdom.
It is a component of FCO’s Brazil Prosperity Fund Programme to help the country increase trade flows.
What’s crucial is that every stakeholder, regardless of organisational size, be equally represented and actively involved in the decision making process so that there’s an advantage for everyone.
Just as crucial to the success of the project is that the data must be made available to all the members of a port community, sharing what was previously strictly guarded.
“This is a huge paradigm shift,” says HPC’s Pablo Bowen. “It happens successfully only when each participant can generate an advantage for himself.
“The success of an inter-organisational information hub system such as PCS depends on the willingness to exchange company information with other partners in the supply chain that pass through the port. A PCS must therefore have the broad support of all parties. This high level of acceptance can only be achieved if all parties are involved as early as the project initiation phase.”
