KGL Inter-national for Ports, Ware-housing & Transport Co celebrated the implementation of `Navis' Port Management Information System in the port of Shuaiba.

KGL PI firmly believes in the importance of Shuaiba for the economic prosperity of Kuwait as Shuaiba can accommodate the huge volumes of transshipment foreseen for neighboring countries, particularly Iraq, and can also serve as a critical entry point for the large industrial projects presently under way in Kuwait such as the petrochemical projects.
With this belief, and as a pioneering, privately owned company in the business of investing, developing and managing ports on a global scale, KGL PI is proceeding at full speed in its plans to modernise and further develop the port of Shuaiba to reach a production capacity of more than 500,000  TEUs per year. The implementation of Navis, which will be completed by September of this year, is another step in the company's plans to modernise, automate and upgrade the Shuaiba Port in general and the Shuaiba Container Terminal in particular.
Previous steps included among others, the opening of the Shuaiba Container Terminal's two storey 'SMART' building earlier this year. Several other steps and investments in the port of Shuaiba are forthcoming within KGL PI's developmental plans for the port. Such processes are in their final stages and will be launched once official authority approval is obtained - which is expected soon.
The Navis Port Management System being implemented at the port of Shuaiba by KGL PI is the most widely used Port Management Information System globally. It has the following main features:
1. Provides unprecedented visibility and control of goods in transit.
2.Expedites vital commercial transactions between parties in the supply chain via the Internet.
3. Encompasses the entire workflow of each operation in a comprehensive, real-time information system.
4. Provides for ship planning.
5. Optimise ship operations at the port.
6. Optimises port yard usage.
Navis LLC was co-founded by Jonathan Shields, PhD and Erik Tiemroth, PhD and started based on the opportunity they saw for a graphical planning and container handling software for the maritime industry.
The idea was born in 1978 when they met with executives from a major shipping line and learned about two major issues plaguing shippers:
• How to optimise a ship's stowage at each port in the vessel's voyage?
• How to solve the complex puzzle of sequencing containers for load and discharge at each terminal?
From this, the first graphical software for vessel operations planning was born. This new software achieved impressive gains in stowage capacity, productivity and operational flexibility and customers quickly standardised on these planning tools worldwide.
In 1988, Jonathan and Erik officially founded Navis based on the success of their graphical planning technology and their mission of providing the container transportation industry with the world's highest value portfolio of software products and services to improve terminal efficiency.
To help reach their goals, they brought together disparate knowledge and experience from industries including, supply chain and transportation, software engineering, information technology and maritime.
This seasoned team of professionals produced numerous groundbreaking technological advances for the container transportation industry resulting in an unmatched level of product innovation and service.
Now, Navis is the global leader in resource optimisation technology for the transportation and logistics industry with installations in over 150 sites in 36 countries (35 per cent market share in its core business and more than twice the number of all competitors combined).
Navis offers planning solutions to provide immediate visibility to critical terminal data so its customers can make immediate, smarter decisions.
The Navis integrated product suite is used by container terminals and shipping lines of all sizes to help manage and maximise available land equipment and container transportation resources, increase operating efficiency, and speed workflow to enable greater profitability and superior customer service.
Navis SPARCS: The cornerstone of Navis' software solutions is the graphical planning and control function found in Navis SPARCS (Synchronous Planning and Real-time Control System).
Container terminal operators rely on Navis SPARCS to optimise the utilisation of yard space and handling of equipment. The solution is designed to deliver container move information in real-time to help planners work concurrently to produce yard and vessel plans quickly and accurately.
This enables terminal operators to minimise the number of handlings per container and equipment idle time to achieve maximum productivity, efficiency and profitability. Navis SPARCS also benefits multi-terminal operators that need to consolidate planning in a centralised location.
Navis Express: Navis Express enables terminal operators to manage all terminal activity including business transactions such as billing, import/export processing, bookings, EDI support, gate activity and equipment management.
Navis Express enables streamlined service for terminal customers and can be configured to support each customer's unique procedures and business rules. Built-in interfaces to various gate techniques enable instant data input, which gets trucks moving through the gates faster.
Navis WebAccess: Navis WebAccess provides around-the-clock access to terminal transaction data.
Navis WebAccess displays live, continuously updated data from a port's internal software system (Navis Express) as containers arrive, cranes move and trains leave. Shipping lines, trucking companies, railroad operators, agents, consignees and government agencies can all benefit from the ability to securely access and update container information through the Internet.
Truckers have the opportunity to view pertinent container information and book appointments with ports so that container loads and unloads occur in a timely manner.
Terminal Solutions: Implemented together, Navis SPARCS, Navis Express, and Navis WebAccess offer a fully integrated, terminal management system that
provides superior auto-mation and efficiency.
Increased visibility to critical data allows terminal operators to monitor container moves in realtime.
The data flows throughout the internal system, updating all users with the critical real-time container information they need, when they need it.
Shipping Line Solution: Navis PawerStaw Navis PowerStow, Navis' advanced graphical stowage coordination application, enables shipping lines to strategically coordinate stowage of containers over an entire voyage.
This solution ensures optimal stowage at each port in the vessel's voyage and maximises efficiency and productivity. Navis PowerStow is the world standard in tonnage centres and onboard containerships.
Distribution Center Operation Solutions: Navis DC Navis DC is an integrated solution for distribution centers that manages and optimizes the smooth continuous flow of products in and out of the warehouse, docks, yard and gate. Navis DC brings much needed scheduling, tracking and optimization functions together to provide total visibility of every aspect of yard and dock operations.
Navis Consulting Services: Consultants utilise Stratus, a sophisticated simulation tool, to help customers uncover the best resource optimisation and workflow with the use of technology.
This simulation tool utilises existing data so the analysis is custom-tailored to each customer's operation.
Navis' consultants will enable a customer to make smarter decisions with an outlined IT plan detailing how to reduce operational costs, improve daily operational performance and increase capacity of existing facilities.
Navis' consultants will also assist the customer with the integration of Navis or third party software solutions into their IT plan.
Navis Business Alliance Program: Navis offers a complete solution to
provide seamless integration with third party products.