Case Study
Shoreham Port Authority | Track-a-Pack
Shoreham Port is a key hub for the timber industry, handling over 420,000 cubic metres of timber and forest products annually. It offers efficient stevedoring services and has expanded its storage facilities to accommodate growing imports from Sweden, Finland, and the Baltic states. The port provides around 16 acres of outdoor storage and 47,938 sqm of covered space, with modern infrastructure, including new sheds & cranes.
Transforming Timber Management with Track-a-Pack
Shoreham Port faced significant challenges with its ageing systems, which were increasingly unreliable, leading to frequent failures and costly downtime. To modernise operations, we collaborated with Shoreham Port personnel to develop Track-a-Pack, a comprehensive solution for managing the importing, storage, and delivery of timber cargoes.
The system utilises wireless handheld barcode terminals to capture data and barcoded labels to uniquely identify each pack. This ensures that all timber is fully traceable and managed both individually and by customer. Track-a-Pack also accounts for different grades, sizes, and specifications, ensuring stock is stored, organised, and delivered with complete accuracy..
Shoreham Port’s customers now benefit from a real-time web interface, allowing them to view stock levels and make shipping requests based on their specific needs. With up-to-date inventory figures, customers can accurately plan stock levels and streamline their supply chains..
As Track-a-Pack continues to evolve, it provides increasing value and enhanced functionality, reinforcing Shoreham Port’s position as a premier timber-handling port. To date, the system has successfully managed over 3 million unique packs of timber, maintaining a complete transaction history for each, ensuring efficiency, transparency, and reliability.
The Track-a-Pack implementation at Shoreham Port became the foundation of our AR-Track architecture. The system's scalability, flexibility, and real-time data management capabilities provided the building blocks for AR-Track, allowing for easy integration and the development of bespoke features that could be adapted to meet the specific requirements of different industries. This foundational system paved the way for further advancements in asset and inventory tracking solutions across multiple sectors.
Barcode Printer
Each pack of timber is uniquely identified with its own barcode label which is attached to the pack of timber.
Mobile barcode readers
A combination of Windows and Android mobile readers allow the stevedores to discharge, identify the correct packs and load correct packs to the lorry.
Wifi network
Shoreham Port features approximately 47,938 sqm of covered storage and 16 acres of outdoor storage. To enable barcode scanning and real-time data retrieval from the central database anywhere on-site, a Wi-Fi network was installed across the sheds and lighting towers, ensuring full coverage across the port..
Bespoke Client Software
Windows software allows Shoreham's users to manage their customers stock. Adding customer orders, specific loads as well as interrogating the database to see full pack transaction history. A dashboard allows management to see a quick snapshot of vessels being discharged, along with volumes of timber.
database
An onsite local SQL Server database was chosen to ensure fast, reliable data access while maintaining full control over security, performance, and system integration.
Customer Web Portal
An onsite local SQL Server database was chosen to ensure fast, reliable data access while maintaining full control over security, performance, and system integration.
solution summary
The port’s ageing systems were unreliable, leading to frequent failures and increased downtime, which disrupted operations.
The Solution
Track-a-Pack provided a modern, robust system that improved reliability, reduced downtime, and ensured smooth operations.
There was no efficient way to track and manage individual timber packs, leading to potential misplacement and inventory issues.
The Solution
Using barcoded labels and wireless handheld barcode terminals, Track-a-Pack enabled real-time tracking of each pack, ensuring accurate stock management.
Customers had no real-time visibility into stock levels, making it difficult to plan and request shipments efficiently.
The Solution
A web interface allowed customers to check stock in real-time, make shipping requests, and manage inventory based on up-to-date information.
The port struggled to correctly store, manage, and deliver various timber types, leading to inefficiencies and potential mix-ups.
The Solution
Track-a-Pack accounted for different timber grades, sizes, and specifications, ensuring accurate sorting, storage, and delivery to customers.