A Human-Centered Transformation
Digital transformation is an ever-present term in the technological areas of port terminals and many other companies, but is it something new? What’s behind everything that’s going on in the world?
Change is the only constant thing in life. Organizations are not an exception to this law, and, nowadays, change is digital. It’s about getting rid of the pieces of paper and stop entering the same information in each step of a process. It’s also about opening up the organization to the outside world and allowing different members of the community to interact with the terminal through applications or digital channels. It’s thinking about new use scenarios and alternatives enabled almost exclusively through technology.
New Transformation, Old Transformation
Digital transformation is a new name for an old acquaintance: change. Ever since the hard risk replaced the diskette, and satellite or fiber connectivity replaced dial-up, we’ve undergone a transformation process. We had to render our systems and processes obsolete and face the truth: We’ll most probably have to rethink something we considered everlasting.
This transformation may be different or special due to the approach that digital platforms are adopting. Let’s reflect upon our daily lives: What arrangements, procedures or operations are we performing in an “analog” or on-site way? It’s weird to think that something cannot be done digitally, especially after the now unforgettable pandemic.
Transformation is shifting towards our collaborators’ needs. This results in what could be called an “empathetic transformation”. Reaching any company’s goal is no longer enough: now, to accomplish our mission we have to think about someone else: our users, buyers, or clients. If we focus on the needs of these groups of people or companies, we’ll come across a surprise: reality is more complex now than it was when the business process envisioned it a few years ago.
Did our clients’ needs change?
Instead of changing, everyone’s needs have heightened. Nowadays, it’s simpler than ever before to get in touch with any part of the world at low costs or even for free. That simplicity makes it “necessary” to communicate more and thus, people need to keep up with their assigned duties. Being more connected boosts demand for new services in which there’s available information immediately, no need to interact with people, and a convenient time to carry out the users’ tasks (because there’s full-time technical support).
Have you ever wondered whether your favorite digital product takes these aspects into account? Have you ever felt taken into account when you used a TOS or any other application at your terminal?
Moreover, these heightened needs involve issues such as “I need more information about my operations”. Our users or clients ask for access to our data. Our data? Or their data on our servers?
Why should we make the terminals’ information available to the community?
Having an open data philosophy tends to be a delicate matter. The first thing we think of is that all that information will be vulnerable to malicious acts.
To move forward at this stage, first, we must determine what information we’ll disclose. If our strategy is focused on our clients, we usually have to open their data. They’ll most probably want to know how much an operation will cost, but is it truly relevant for them to know about the terminal’s TEU capacity or how the performance indicators of a terminal affect an agent’s operations?
It’s key, thus, to make information available to the terminal’s users. How can our clients take advantage of that information? There are many ways, but these are my two favorite ones:
- The information available at the right moment and in the right place can give the terminal a competitive advantage since its clients use it as part of their business processes without the terminal knowing it. For example, the terminal implements a functionality to estimate costs, and agents use it to quote their clients the total amount of the service in advance.
- The terminal provides access to services or APIs. This is my favorite option since it’s where innovative ideas usually emerge between companies (and this results in higher added value). What would happen if a delivery company wanted to offer food delivery services to the carriers that are waiting to enter the terminal? What would happen if an agent could manage several terminals from just one application?
Scaling
Terminals may digitalize operations, but those operations have a naturally physical or “analog” part: ships have to moor, cargo has to come or go. Several physical aspects determine a terminal’s capacity, such a space, the number of quays, cranes, or other equipment. A terminal can’t scale only digitally, simply because a quay cannot be created digitally (at least not yet).
Digital transformation at terminals should be aimed at the efficiency of their processes. Especially of those processes that entail interacting with users, both within or outside the terminal. “Efficiency” means that each operation is carried out once trying to exert a positive impact on the terminals’ use of resources. And, obviously, seeking no intervention from users in the execution of those processes.
First Steps
Fortunately, this is the easiest part. As in all global transformation, it’s probably more difficult to be outside than inside. We just have to make sure we assess the digitalization at each stage of our value chain.
Comprehensive digitalization provides observable behavioral data. The observation of that data results in new opportunities. And that set of opportunities gives rise to the possibility of automation.
To sum up, we can say that digital transformation is an ongoing process, which implies much more than just digitalizing some of the terminals’ processes. On the contrary, it entails a comprehensive paradigm shift, which must be centered on the needs of the users or end clients. To that end, it is necessary to count on the agreement and commitment of all the areas at the terminal, seeking to align not only processes and applied technologies but also teams and people.
