Blog: How to accelerate productivity and turnaround time

Written by Nemag | Aug 16, 2018 10:00:00 PM

Dry bulk terminal operators are always looking for ways to increase terminal efficiency. It’s also important to optimise profits for shareholders and to increase the competitive edge. Grabs are extremely decisive for terminal efficiency. That’s why Nemag introduces the most productive grab for iron ore: the NemaX^®. This new grab for handling iron ore will increase productivity by more than 10%.

The dry bulk terminal operator environment is changing rapidly. There is extreme pressure on handling rates because of the overcapacity in the dry bulk market. This creates a growing concern among shareholders to increase yields from their investments. At the same time costs for wages, maintenance and energy are rising.

An innovative solution

To create an attractive position in the market, for terminal operators it’s important to achieve the highest productivity and shortest turnaround time for each vessel. In short: the terminal operator wants to commit to the highest productivity requirements combined with the lowest handling cost per tonne of material transferred. This would result in efficiency and the incentive of a return on despatch money. An innovative solution is needed to achieve this.

Existing infrastructure

A typical dry bulk terminal is equipped with a captive infrastructure with capital- intensive assets like quays, unloaders, conveyor lines and stacking/reclaiming equipment. These assets are depreciated over a long period of time. Typical hourly rates for such installations are high and may go up to USD 1,000 per hour.

The assets are generally working at maximum capacity, both technically and operationally. In many cases, there is no possibility of increasing performance. This often leads to a situation where a terminal operator is forced to accept both the situation and its limitations

The cheapest way to increase productivity

The productivity of a grab unloader is the product of the grab’s payload times cycles per hour. The productivity is also determined by the speed of the crane, travel distances and the opening and closing time of the grab. The basic crane configuration cannot be upgraded without very costly modifications. By far the easiest and most cost-effective solution is to exchange the grab for an efficient one.

The lowest deadweight combined with speed of closing and opening are of paramount importance, and that’s exactly what Nemag’s new grab offers. Through exhaustive computer simulations, Nemag has succeeded in developing a new generation of – patented – grabs for handling iron: the NemaX^® grab. Using the NemaX grab will increase the productivity performance of the entire installation by at least 10%.

"We unload a ship in four days instead of five"

Paulo Ribeiro, Spec. Port. Operations Technician at VLI Pecém even experienced a 20% productivity increase. They bought three different grabs to finally unlock this productivity gain. Read the full case study of this Brazilian logistics company.

Want to know what the NemaX would mean for your productivity?
Try the NemaX compare tool to compare your current grab to the NemaX or download the quick guide to learn more about this productivity increasing grab.

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