18th April 2019
Hutchison Ports is turning fifty this year – as we celebrate this milestone, it is important that we look to the future as well as the past.
Over the last five decades we have built a solid foundation for our Group, thanks to a combination of the hard work and expertise of our people who ventured into the uncharted territories of the port and logistics sector with an entrepreneurial spirit. This has served us well and paved way for the expansion of our business globally.
We have developed a balanced portfolio of ports across the world. Throughput volumes are evenly distributed amongst all the regions, creating a portfolio that is resilient, especially in times of volatility with the changing trade routes that have resulted from political headwinds. We provide flexible options, helping our customers adapt to shifting trade patterns through our global network of strategically located ports.
Driving the development of Hutchison Ports is our four-pronged smart network strategy which consists of the standardisation of systems and data, automation of operations, digitisation of our business information and replication of our successes.
We are committed to investing in AI and other technological solutions to enhance our terminal operations. We are also increasing the deployment of remote-controlled cranes across our port network – by 2020, we will have doubled the number of remote-controlled cranes into nine countries. As well as retrofitting existing equipment, we are also looking to the exciting possibilities at our greenfield sites. In Stockholm, we will be installing fully-automated straddle carriers from day one of operations. You will read about the latest developments at Hutchison Ports Stockholm in this issue.
We are also looking to expand our capabilities beyond the port by developing our landside logistics services and supporting cargo owners by offering smart technology that streamlines booking and payment processes. You can read more about these plans in both the cover story of this issue, ‘Telematics moves from science fiction to reality’ and ‘Paris API – the next generation in transport planning and optimisation’.
As we move forward, we will be exploring how to better harness and manage data flows, while continuing to look at the potential of blockchain solutions so that we are in the best position to capture opportunities. We explore this topic further in the article ‘Blockchain at the crossroads’.
Hutchison Ports’ greatest asset has always been its people and we are proud that we have been able to identify and nurture talented staff members through applying our Leadership Competency Model. We are now going to expand this programme further to empower the next generation of Hutchison Ports’ leaders. The new model is derived from our corporate values represented by the acronym UNITY. Under this model there are clear guidelines to help cultivate leadership qualities and corporate entrepreneurship of the highest standard across our network. It will also serve as a compass to guide us in supporting potential staff into new leadership roles to meet future challenges.
Our investment in people and technology will continue to be key for driving our business growth as we look forward to even more new opportunities for Hutchison Ports.
Eric Ip
Group Managing Director
Hutchison Ports