You don’t need a crystal ball to interpret the future of the Port of Rotterdam. It is smart, self-steering, clean, efficient, and sustainable. And because the future fascinates, we take a leap with sector manager Ports Bob Smit of STC Next, and we look at what we can expect for the future. His message: the sector prefers to embrace the big, new developments by taking small steps.
Shortened logistics process
Anyone who has ever watched a news program knows the TV-images of the loading and unloading of containers; it is the Rotterdam port world in optima forma. But if you look closely, you will see that the image is evolving. “There are indeed changes,” says Bob. “The throughput time of containers is getting shorter under economic pressure. As a result, the logistics process is shrinking. The days when containers stood on the quay for five days are really a thing of the past, now we want them gone within 24 hours. That must of course happen safely. To keep achieving this, we depend on well-trained employees, also from abroad. Another change is that everything is increasingly going electric, and that we as a sector want to get rid of fossil fuels.”
Polling learning and growth readiness
Many terminals are expected to operate autonomously and be fully automated in a few years. They are then operated by software, and monitored via screens by Terminal Operators, the ‘new’ dockworkers. “A major challenge for STC Next is to poll the assessing readiness for learning and growth ,” says Bob. “Many port professionals are constantly developing during their careers. Nowadays you do see big differences in the way older and younger employees want to learn. The younger generation likes to do this modularly and digitally, at a time that suits them. No pen and paper, and not in a classroom. Young people also increasingly want to shape their working day themselves. That is a new challenge for employers to take into account.”
Recruitment and selection processes
Companies in the port sector are only too happy to take steps towards the future, but only when it suits them when the situation allows it. “That’s a challenge for STC Next. We are now training port professionals for traditional functions, but we also think it is important that they can bend with the developments.” To find the employee, STC Next also supports clients with assessments during recruitment and selection. Bob: “We help them to find out the learning readiness and the ‘stretch’ in new employees, so that employers know whether they will be of value in an automated terminal. We do this in a simulated, realistic working environment.”
Will manual work soon be eliminated?
Can you say that all work in the ports will soon be automated? “Certainly not,” says Bob. “The executive work will continue to exist for a part in the coming years, but it is in the context of the autonomous process. Because the step towards autonomy has been irrevocably taken. You can also see this in our Practical Manager training. With which employees learn to look at themselves and the organization with a different perspective.”
What’s Next?
The goal on the horizon has been established. However, Bob acknowledges that the journey still requires many milestones and moments of reflection to visualize expansion and growth. “As STC Next, we constantly ask ourselves: What’s next? This question is very applicable to port practice, because the route still has to be determined. The port world likes to do this step by step. STC Next helps you and your organization to take them, keeping an eye on the future.”