Comprehensive digital view on port’s assets helps in port’s maintenance even when the area is covered with snow. Some things must be done outside, so mobile interface of GISGRO is in daily use in Port of Kemi.
Port of Kemi is the Northernmost general port in Finland as well as in EU, and it has served various industries since the late 18th century. The port handles all kinds of cargo, and it is an important logistics centre for forest and mining industries as well as renewable energy projects.
Port of Kemi has taken a great leap for digitalisation; the port personnel utilise digital tools developed by GISGRO for maintenance, invoicing, and emission reporting, for example. In the big picture the port aims at centralising all the information in one platform to improve the efficiency of processes and to save time.
For the article we interviewed Harbour Master Eero-Pekka Svärd, Development Manager Ritva Torikka and CEO Markku Rautio from Port Of Kemi Ltd.
The digital twin enables seeing through the snow and ice
The long winter in the Northern Finland always brings some challenges to maintenance. Wells and drains need to be opened from snow and ice, but how do you locate them when they are covered with snow?
“The mobile interface of our port’s digital twin is used actively by our maintenance team. From that you can find the reported defects or regular maintenance tasks on the map and can navigate straight to the asset easily also during the winter,” Eero-Pekka Svärd explains how the digital twin brings an eternal summer to the port.
Svärd uses the digital twin mostly for maintenance management – his crew can report defects from the field, and he assigns someone to the task. The system also automatically gathers information on the maintenance process for monitoring and reporting, and possible additional documents can be saved in the same platform. GISGRO Maintenance module has been implemented first with the port’s own maintenance team, and later also external subcontractors are planned to have access to their work assignments via GISGRO.
Easy to get all on board
The employees of Port Of Kemi think that it is easy to get a grasp on the system and GISGRO’s customer support is always there to help you with getting even more benefits from the platform.
“I started using GISGRO before I had an introductory training session, and it was very easy to understand the basic functions. The training gave me lots of great tips for more efficient use, and if I have a question the support team reacts quickly,” Svärd tells.
Ritva Torikka has her hands on many different modules from invoicing to digital twin, as her responsibilities vary from quality management to internal development and ICT.
“The most used module depends on the job – the digital twin is the base of everything. It is a handy tool for everyone for example when you have remote meetings and want to introduce or measure the areas you are talking about. Invoicing is used daily by our office crew and the maintenance team has their own most used functionalities”, Torikka explains.
This is one of the best parts in GISGRO – you can choose the modules and functionalities which best serve your port’s needs. It is also easier to go through the digitalisation path as you can take one step at a time.
The port sees lots of opportunities for further use of digital twin
Digital twin of the port is now used in meetings to visualize the infrastructure and assets. With the visual map it is much easier to find out whether a certain area is suitable for the client or the planned use, hence the digital platform saves resources and reduces the need for drive around the port to showcase it to the clients or search for the assets. But is it only a visual counterpart of the port?
The plan is to utilise the platform also for visualizing contracts of leased areas or facilities, to centralize all the information on the same place. Also, the port’s certified management systems for HSEQ bring many different use cases for the system.
“The visuality of GISGRO is a great example of efficient information management. On the map view you can easily see the overall picture of the vast port area, as well as all the assets and their location for the full situational view. In discussions with our clients, it is beneficial to show the quality of documentation in the port via GISGRO”, Markku Rautio says.
Every port has its own specialities
Finland is a country spamming over ten degrees of latitude, so the environmental circumstances vary quite much. In the Northern parts of the country the winter is long, and icebreakers are used a lot; in the Southern Finland winters may nowadays be more like winters in Central Europe. For the port’s point of view, the location and the industry nearby have an affect on the main cargo types.
In Finland, there has been a single window system for ports in use from the early 90s, so digitalisation is not a totally new thing in Finnish ports. Because the ports have different infrastructural aspects and client industries, the digital processes can also be different. Ritva Torikka points out the importance of community:
“In the smaller country it is beneficial for all ports to share insights and knowledge on technical development and digitalisation. Even though the challenges may be different, we can learn from each other’s experiences. And a digital platform like GISGRO can also adapt to each port’s requirements to ease the everyday work.”
Pictures: Port of Kemi Ltd