Ecopátio increases productivity with investments in cargo control
Valor Econômico
Ecopátio Logística Cubatão, the intermodal terminal of Ecorodovias, will increase the technology used in the control of the cargo that goes to the port of Santos. The company has an agreement with Ebco Systems, of the area of X-ray and scanners, to make the tracking of products that go through the terminal, in the municipality of Cubatão (SP), and are transported by truck to Santos. It is a means of reducing the waiting time for trucks on the way down to the port and gain productivity in exportation.
Ebco will install a portal at the Ecopátio equipped with a large-sized scanner that will allow complementing the cargo tracking service. The scanner, through which trucks loaded with containers and bulk-carriers may pass, will generate images of the products that may be transmitted in real time to the clients. The images strengthen the safety of the system since they allow certifying the cargo has not been violated, says Luiz Claudio Santoro, director of Ebco Systems
The operation consists on tracking the product from its leaving the plant until its arrival at Ecopátio and from there until the loading of the product in the port. The forecast is that the equipment starts operating in August, with investments of US$ 5 million made by the company which represents the English group Smiths in the country. In Brazil, Ebco has 1.6 thousand pieces of equipment installed in ports, airports, border points and penitentiaries. The company should sell R$ 60 million (US$ 31.1 million) this year compared to last year's R$ 26 million (US$ 14.2 million).
Santoro said the purpose of Ebco is to attract companies that already use Ecopátio as well as new clients. According to him, the offered technological solution - which gathers the traceability and verification of cargo through the scanner - reduces risks and can contribute to lower the cost of the policies for road freight. The scanner has the capacity to inspect 120 trucks per hour.
Jefferson Satyro Filho, commercial manager of Ecopátio, said the terminal operates 1.5 thousand trucks carrying agricultural commodities a day. At the moment, the terminal works in the export route but it intends to start rendering services in imports starting in 2010. The company plans to start operating with full containers for the exportation, in September. Today it operates only empty containers in a specific area that was opened this year. Satyro said the terminal has static capacity for the storage of 15 thousand TEUs (Twenty-foot equivalent units) and can operate up to 200 thousand TEUs a year.