Transnet Port Terminals (TPT) chief executive Nosipho Sithole wants to transform the terminal operator into one of the “top five logistics service providers in the world” within the next five years.
Speaking at a business stakeholder engagement in Cape Town last week Sithole said TPT had come a long way already, but the work had only just begun.
“There was a time when it took us ten days to give a vessel a berth and there were vessels lining up at outer anchorage. Truck turnaround was averaging around 110 minutes against a target of 45 minutes and ship working hours was 46 against a target of 70. It was extremely dismal,” she said. “We have improved and we now berth vessels within three hours in Durban, ship working hours of 97 have been seen. When it comes to truck turnaround time we are at 63, and while we are not yet at 45, we have made significant improvements.”
Port users testified to these improvements at the recent Transport Forum held in Durban, she said. According to Sithole an ongoing strategy to address equipment challenges, the introduction of a preventative maintenance philosophy, new technology and skills development was paying off at the Port of Durban and these efforts would be replicated at other ports across the country.
“I have weekly performance sessions with the teams and we track exactly what is happening at the ports,” she said. “We have performance targets in place and we are holding management accountable to deliver to those targets.” Planning was also improving she said, and happening across terminals and not in isolation. “We run a system of ports, a system of terminals and we cannot plan individually.”
Ongoing investment in equipment was also delivering results, while the organisation as a whole was addressing maintenance differently. “We are moving towards prevention rather than waiting for equipment to fail before we do something,” said Sithole. “In Durban we have gone from 56% reliability of assets to averaging around 89 to 90%. We have put the structures in place to have the right people in the right place to do the maintenance, but also the technologies that give us data to make sure we have the intervention long before the equipment fails.”
Most importantly, she said, they were holding staff accountable. “It is about managing people. If performance drops the root cause of it is management. Then they are simply not doing what they are supposed to be doing.” She said focusing on management and staff, holding them accountable, and deploying them where they were needed most was all part of improving TPT performance overall.
“The commitment that I am making is that we are improving what happens at our terminals. And when we have improved operations and productivity, I believe I will have earned the right to come here and say we want to be one of the top five logistics service providers in the world in the next five years.”
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In Durban we have gone from 56% reliability of assets to averaging around 89 to 90%. – Nosipho Sithole
