Associated British Ports (ABP), a major port operator in the United Kingdom, is advancing workplace safety and planning through the trial of a new workforce scheduling platform developed by UK-based startup, Ensemble Analytics.
In this trial, ABP will utilize the ‘Athena’ platform at its Ports of Immingham, Hull and Ipswich to bolster operational resilience and facilitate long-term resource planning and scheduling. The deployment of Athena is supported by the Department for Transport (DfT)’s Freight Innovation Fund.
Athena is a workforce scheduling tool designed specifically for ports, capable of managing complex workforce structures, integrating with operational systems, and automating labor deployment based on skills and labor agreements. This platform enables planning teams to make data-driven decisions, ensuring safe, fair, and efficient workforce schedules while streamlining administrative tasks.
“At ABP, we are delighted to be trialling this new scheduling platform which can bring a host of benefits to the business, further supporting safe, compliant, and efficient operations for our customers and our employees. It’s also fantastic to be working with a UK startup on an innovative solution and we look forward to assessing the results at the end of the trial to see if this truly is a good fit for us,” stated Sam Jones, head of Business Process Improvement at Associated British Ports (ABP).
As gateways to the future, ABP’s 21 ports across England, Scotland, and Wales are essential to keeping Britain trading and offer strategic locations to future-proof businesses. ABP contributes US$19 billion annually to the UK economy, directly employs over 2,500 people, and supports over 200,000 jobs in broader supply chains.
“We’re thrilled to be working with ABP on this trial of our Athena solution. Using machine learning, Athena will help ABP to create fair, safe and efficient schedules for its workforce. It’s great to see ABP showing leadership in the industry by using our tailored technology solutions to address the industry-wide challenges with utilisation, upskilling and communication,” commented Cato Davies, CEO and Co-founder of Ensemble Analytics.
