ANNOUNCEMENT – FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
The Global Institute of Logistics announces the foundation of the Zeebrugge Committee, which is tasked with developing best practice within the Automotive Terminal industry.
27th July, 2011
The Global Institute of Logistics (GIL) is committed to working closely with world marine ports in its mission to improve the quality of global logistics. GIL announces today that a significant percentage of its research resources over 2011/2013 are to be deployed in the study of Automotive Marine Terminals.
The aim of the research is to identify “Best Practices” in the operation of automotive terminals with a view to developing the “
Automotive Terminal Quality System” (
ATQS) which will allow Port Authorities and Port Processors to implement a globally agreed quality system based upon:
- A common set of definitions and terminology
- Best Practices
- Key Performance Indicators
- Benchmarks
The system will be modeled on the
Container Terminal Quality System (
CTQS), successfully developed for the marine container terminal segment by the Global Institute of Logistics. CTQS has been successfully implemented in a growing number of marine container terminals around the world.
ATQS and CTQS will be siblings in a growing family of quality systems and standards developed by the Institute for deployment amongst stakeholders within global port communities.
THINKING GLOBAL ACTING LOCAL; OUR AFFINITY WITH PORTSIn response to globalization, ports are being increasingly integrated into the global supply chain. This new found challenging but very profitable role brings with it a responsibility to meet increasingly stringent logistics service levels.
The key challenge for port stakeholders in meeting this demand is coming to terms with the reality that no one logistics service provider can meet all of the needs of the end customer, and that satisfying port customers depends on the combined effort of a myriad of different operators within the port community. Measuring Quality is the paramount parameter as the reputation of the port is determined by the quality of all port services.
To that end successful ports will be those that have the capacity to develop a culture supported by a facilitator which encourages stakeholders to act in unison and present port clients with a seamless integrated logistics solution. This role of facilitator is being increasingly played by the
Port Authority, which is recognizing the need to go beyond the traditional role of landlord.
Institute research has shown that, due to having a long-term view and a natural access to all relevant stakeholders, the port authority is best placed to become the orchestrator and champion of the port community across the three levers of knowledge, authority and investment.
“ONE VERSION OF THE TRUTH” Collaboration is the key to logistics service quality. But without an independent system of reciprocal accountability, built upon agreed and transparent service levels, such collaboration will not guarantee quality as the reputation of the port is determined by the quality of all port services. Therefore, the need for systems and standards for measuring quality throughout the port community becomes ever more important.
Port Sector specific quality standards and systems are essential to building a culture based on merit, allowing end users to make choices based on an independent quality ranking system. It is within this context that the Institute is developing the
Automotive Terminal Quality System.
THE ZEEBRUGGE COMMITTEE This announcement coincides with the appointment of Mr Joachim Coens, Chairman of the Port Of Zeebrugge in Belgium, as Chairman of the Institute’s Global Port Study Group. The Port of Zeebrugge is the world’s largest port for import and export of new vehicles.
The research will be conducted through the auspices of a subcommittee of the Institute’s Global Port Study Group, and will be named the Zeebrugge Committee in honour of the Port Of Zeebrugge. The Zeebrugge Committee will be truly global in nature, and will be a representative sample of manufacturers, suppliers, service providers, academics and other stakeholders from within the automotive industry.
With over 1.6 million units handled in 2010, the Port of Zeebrugge will be used as the benchmark upon which the ATQS will be developed. The Zeebrugge Committee will be tasked with identifying the hallmarks of best practice within the automotive terminal industry by sharing, learning and benchmarking from the collective experiences of all participants within the Committee.
While the ATQS will explicitly be a tool for proving quality, it will also implicitly be a tool for continuous improvement of automotive terminal operations.
The first meeting of the committee will take place in Zeebrugge on Wednesday August 17, 2011.
