People are Crucial to Bridging the Gaps in Today’s Technologies

“Absolutely,” said Dr Saanen. Giving an example he said that when a terminal in Rotterdam moved to automated systems, they hired the same amount of process controllers as operators in a manual terminal. These people however, were not able to realise any benefits from the automation.

Then the terminal started hiring university graduates and productivity “significantly increased” as they were hands-on and better at handling exceptional situations during day-to-day operations.

Therefore, the profile of the people operating an automated terminal was critical to the success of its operations, Dr Saanen concluded.

Watch more: We Are Still a Long Way from Fully Realising the Benefits of Technology – Dr Yvo Saanen