Page 10 - Port of Hamburg | Port of Hamburg Magazine 1.2022

■ CONTAINER WORLDS
The portal of the rail crane extends over the nine fully occupied tracks.
10 | Port of Hamburg Magazine | June 2022
high-bay warehouses and standardized processes that are simpler to automate. Automated drones flying by night even sort out inventories.
AUTOMATION ATTRACTIVE FOR SPECIALISTS
Barely anybody is more aware of the motivation be- hind such far-reaching steps in automation than Bernd Mann. Even as an undergraduate, his main field was automation technology. He started with iSAM in 1993, and has been Executive Board member responsible for development and technology since 2002, becom- ing chairman in 2020. In his experience, lack of ex- perts frequently compels his customers to automate processes and procedures.
This can also improve staff working conditions. “Younger colleagues, especially, find cooperating on a remote-control console attractive,” says iSAM’s top executive. “They prefer working in an air-conditioned office, with a coffee kitchen next door, to spending a shift alone and having to climb up a giant device in all weathers.”
Mann knows from his experience in Australia that a remote operation center can produce new prospects, for example, when staff are sought for remote and un-
popular areas. To a great extent, mining operations out there can be controlled from a distance. “These employ hundreds of workers, who no longer need to commute. This has numerous advantages for their families and the environment,” says the head of iSAM.
DEPLOYMENT EASIER TO PLAN
In high-wage countries, among them Australia and those in the EU, such jobs are more secure in the long term, being more productive and therefore more com- petitive. Mann is aware of another important reason for the onward march of automation: “The strain on technology is milder than if a human being is handling it. Then this usually very costly equipment last longer.” In addition, their performance can be monitored con- tinually, simplifying planning and making them easier to embed in complex terminal processes.
The Chairman of iSAM-Chef concedes that as a result of automation, in some areas fewer staff are required. Yet he sees fresh employment opportunities in termi- nal operations: “Nobody in the ports any longer yearns to have to drag around heavy sacks. It is primarily the less attractive jobs that will disappear. Sufficient work
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