Mediterranean Shipping Company is using the latest communications technology to meet the challenges of operating a regional hub from Fremantle, one of the most remote ports in the world.
Mediterranean Shipping Company is using the latest communications technology to meet the challenges of operating a regional hub from Fremantle, one of the most remote ports in the world.
The Swiss-based shipping giant moved its Australian and New Zealand operations to Fremantle from Melbourne in 2001.
Apart from a $1 million interest free loan from the state government of the time to help make re-location more appealing, MSC had other sound business reasons for the move.
The port of Melbourne, although having a larger capacity in terms of the number of containers it handles, has dredging issues to contend with to allow it to receive large freight vessels.
In addition, MSC is Fremantle Port Authority’s largest customer.
Another main issue from an operational point of view was the ability to maintain effective lines of communication across a number of different international time zones.
Mediterranean’s manager of information and technology Clive Boxer explained that by relocating to Fremantle the time difference between its Australasian and European operations was reduced by two hours (and three hours in summer).
“This provides some overlap in working hours when staff are at work both in Europe and Fremantle, where as from Melbourne there was no overlap in working hours at all,” he said.
Not withstanding the benefits of common working hours gained by the Fremantle move, there is still only a small window of time each day to do business with the company’s European locations.
To address this issue, over the past two and a half years MSC has introduced the latest in handheld mobile communications technology into the business.
MSC has 120 of its 330 Australian staff based in Fremantle and 40 of them are armed with BlackBerry mobile devices from Vodafone, while another 27 use palm pilot personal digital assistants.
“Mobile data has increased MSC’s productivity, by allowing important information to be transmitted from MSC Australia and New Zealand to the 180 ports around the globe at any time of the day or night,” Mr Boxer said.
“It has resulted in a reduction in telephone costs, and we can do the same work via the BlackBerry as we can in the office.”
The handheld devices operate in real time, and the information is ‘pushed’ to the device rather than having to be downloaded, giving staff immediate access to information where ever they are.
Prior to adopting the technology, MSC employees used laptop computers or went to internet cafés to access email and client related information when out of the office.
MSC operates 270 container ships, eight luxury cruise liners and employs 40,000 staff across the globe and its operations at Fremantle are an important of its business.
Fremantle is a major trans-shipment hub for the company, acting as a gateway to Africa, Asia and Europe.
Shipping is the most cost effective means of moving freight internationally and MSC see one of the other challenges facing its business is to have Fremantle port facilities upgraded so it can receive larger vessels in the future.