Semcon has announced it will be conducting a new feasibility study in the next three months for Yilport to investigate how transport flows in the Port of Gävle, a Swedish major port, can be made more efficient.
Autonomous vehicles enable logistics processes to be automated, which reduces costs while also improving safety and quality, said Semcon in its announcement.
“We have been commissioned to map and analyse the benefits and values autonomous solutions could provide to Yilport for a specific logistics process,” stated David Darwall, Semcon’s global business manager applied autonomy, who went on to explain that “The feasibility study will focus on a single process, but the vision is to build a fully autonomous logistics production solution for Yilport.”
The logistics process that will initially be investigated is the transport of containers by truck from container warehouses to the docks, where they are then lifted by crane onto ships. In the project, Semcon will map all parts of the process, costs, needs and challenges in order to understand the process in depth. A requirements specification, concept solution and business case will then be delivered to Yilport.
“We cover everything from design and development to implementation in a wide range of applications and in many different industries, whatever the vehicle type or manufacturer,” added Darwall.
Yeti Move, a software provider jointly owned by Semcon, Øveraasen and Husqvarna, will assist in the project, providing a platform for controlling and monitoring autonomous operations.
Yilport is responsible for the operation of 22 ports across the globe that use the same process for moving containers, which means that there are substantial financial benefits to be gained by finding a solution that can be applied to all their products worldwide.
“Automation in ports is common, but no one has really come up with a solution to get it to work in conjunction with other traffic, and in this Semcon is at the cutting edge,” commented Håkan Bergström, sales director Yilport Nordic.
