The ceremony of the China's first full intelligent transformation project begins operating at Xiamen Port. [Photo/Xiamen Daily]
The first fully-intelligent transformation project for a traditional container terminal in China was completed and began trial operations on Jan 20 in the Xiamen Port.
At the trial operation site, the intelligent bridge crane automatically picked up a container from a giant ship and placed it on an intelligent guided vehicle (IGV) for transport to the yard. Then, an intelligent gantry crane picked up the container and stacked it at the designated location.
At the remote control center a few hundred meters away, drivers sat in front of their computer screens, occasionally making minor adjustments to the handle. They were able to control multiple devices at once, eliminating the need for high-altitude, intense work, and providing higher safety and reliability.
In July 2020, the Hairun Terminal, located in the Haicang port area of the Xiamen Free Trade Zone, took the lead in launching the first domestic innovation project for the intelligent transformation of traditional container terminals, covering the entire port and operation chain.
Innovations made by the project included: maintaining production and advancing transformation without changing the yard layout or operational process; independently developing a production management system for the terminal; establishing China's first physically-isolated, industrial control-level 5G private network; and upgrading all crane and rubber tired gantry cranes with intelligent technology.
All of these advances are inseparable from the progression of Xiamen FTZ in constructing a digital FTZ, which is fueling the digital transformation of Xiamen Port.