Ramesh Shivakumaran Review: Vital Port Management Concepts

Port management plays a vital role in national and international economics; however, not many people realize or appreciate this fact. Gulftainer has been in the business for almost four decades now and definitely knows how it is done. We share some of the basic concepts involved in having and operating port terminals.

1.    Fully understanding how ports organize the delivery of services and the relationship between infrastructure, conservancy, navigation and handling facilities is an essential step in port management. Without this primary conceptual grasp of the entire operation, all you have is the skeleton of a cold, inanimate entity without purpose and value for humans. It takes people, of course, to run any business. But ports require more than humans who know how things are done. They demand meticulous care and precise orchestration that bring all parts into a thriving and dynamic entity that mimics the flow of living blood through the human veins and arteries. The precious goods handled and moved literally keep the world spinning. It takes highly-skilled professionals to have the expertise and passion to run the entire living organism.

2.    Recognizing how the activities interface with one another through the performance of the various functions of an entire port organizational structure allows port managers to deliver valuable service to their clients. A comprehensive view of this multi-level and multi-functional structure demands of port managers many years of experience and extraordinary professionalism in order to maintain a viable engine of economic growth not just for a company but for a wider environment. Ultimately, the port's stage is not merely its specific location but the whole world.

3.    Recognizing the importance of ports being managed as commercial enterprises regardless of their ownership leads to a mature and discriminating management attitude that puts the responsibility of success squarely upon the manner of providing quality service and not on any specific personal or political goal. World trade, historically, came into existence through the vital services provided by ports, large and small, which were established in ancient major cities. Some of them continue to exist and provide this important service and have benefitted those places greatly through the prosperity these ports had brought. In the end, the people see those ports as their doorway to the world of culture and progress.

4.    Completely understanding how port performance can be measured allows port managers to determining the success of their undertaking. Determining such parameters as vessel turn-round time, cargo volume, speed of cargo handling as well as preventing damage and pilferage help in maintaining a viable port operation. Operational and technological systems allow the industry to fine-tune or streamline services to benefit both clients and the company.

5.    Recognizing how quality management systems and benchmarking will go a long way toward improving and maintaining a high-level of performance by port managers and their personnel. Standards of operations exist for particular tasks or functions that require specialized equipment and machines, such as overhead cranes and fork lifts. Training of administrative personnel and skilled workers and providing them with incentives and benefits accordingly puts the flesh, so to speak, onto the non-living infrastructure of the port facilities.

Gulftainer Company Limited recognizes the great challenges encountered in the port management industry. Its many decades of track record in the business have given it an exalted name among the many players in the industry. These lessons have been the stock-in-trade of Gulftainer, more than the physical facilities that it operates. The ports will be washed away by the elements and forces of nature eventually; but the concepts acquired through the ages and the many years of involvement in the business will continue to exist as long as the need for ports remains.