Reaching a 300th edition is a significant milestone for any monthly publication, but much is still to be done, working together with the industry to ensure so far as is reasonably practicable that TT Club supports, highlights upcoming challenges, identifies emerging trends and considers the yet unknown risks that the industry will face.
Collaboration
Collaboration and partnerships with like-minded industry organizations has been at the center of much of the work that TT has achieved over decades, many of them featured in relevant articles. These close relationships have empowered TT to deliver against a number of initiatives and are not to be underestimated. The future is likely to see an ever greater number of such relationships forged and existing relationships strengthened.
Innovation
Looking to the future, innovation holds great opportunity, whether that be driving efficiencies to assist with sustainability, improving safety or delivering ever more robust security solutions. TT works closely with innovators across a wide spectrum of disciplines with a view to understand, promote and, where appropriate, help to shape solutions in the developmental stage.
Digitalization
While there are numerous definitions of digitalisation, for TT Club and its Members it is essentially the use of digital (computer) technologies to drive greater insight, transparency and operational performance. From a safety perspective, digitalisation could serve to identify bad actors placing mis-declared goods into the global supply chain. Digitalisation might also provide an opportunity to increase security through the supply chain, clearer and more frequent communications.
Where is the shipping industry in relation to digitalisation? Diverse industries approach change, be it cultural or economical, in different ways and at different pace. There seems to be some consensus that the overall freight supply chain industry (i.e. ocean shipping, ports, terminals and landside logistics and carriage of goods) has traditionally been slower than other comparable industries to embrace change. There are several initiatives to achieve meaningful standardization within shipping but one of the leading organizations is DCSA, composed of the main container shipping lines. On the terminal operating side, TIC4.0 seeks to fulfill a similar role. One area of focus is that of port call optimisation, also known as ‘Just in Time’ (JIT) in order to reduce time for ships waiting for a berth, with consequent fuel savings, and thereby helping avoid congestion and delays on the landside.
In the context of future risk, it is likely that the industry will continue to contend with many of the risks present today. Innovations will assist in mitigating existing risks, but new risks are inevitably going to arise, perhaps linked to digitalisation and the journey to net zero emissions. As the saying goes, ‘change is the only constant in life’. TT seeks to understand such changes, stand with the industry and support successful implementations.
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Source: TTclub
