Kalmar hosts Automation Technology Days in Tampere, Finland, to share insight on port automation.

Kalmar, part of Cargotec, hosts key industry stakeholders at Explore Automation! Kalmar Automation Technology Days in its Technology and Competence Centre in Tampere, Finland, on 13-14 September 2019. The event gathers key industry stakeholders to share knowledge, learn about the latest technologies and discuss experiences and recent developments in terminal automation.

“We call for industry-wide collaboration around terminal automation. The megatrends such as bigger vessel sizes, sustainability demands, industry consolidation and digitalisation are driving port terminals towards automated operations. However, the discussion around automation tends to focus on the technical aspects of the change. We want the industry to explore automation from different angles and make it more accessible to port terminals by sharing knowledge and best practices, demonstrating automation technology solutions and discussing experiences from the past deployment projects,” says Tero Kokko, Senior Vice President, Automation and Projects, Kalmar.

The agenda comprises keynote speeches about autonomous shipping, automation deployment projects and shipping industry transformation, as well as interactive sessions with Kalmar experts, live demonstrations and showcases on leading automation solutions.

Kalmar’s Technology and Competence centre includes the industry’s largest port automation test field, new visitor centre “The Edge” and world-class facilities and laboratories for software development, prototyping, simulation, testing, monitoring and optimisation. Kalmar’s unique setup makes it possible to test and demonstrate fully automated end-to-end container handling operations at the test field, which speeds up product development and automation deployment in customer projects significantly. Additionally, automated solutions can be tested 24/7 with live equipment in Tampere and via remote connection, even when the customer is located on the other side of the world.

Since 2016, Kalmar has been hosting Terminal Automation Summits in Asia-Pacific, Europe and Americas region. The summits have been focusing on critical success factors in terminal automation projects and themes such as change management. Kalmar Terminal Automation Summits will continue in the coming years.