Libra puts up plan to increase productivity by 20% this year
Valor Econômico
While it has no authorization for its ambitious plan to double the container capacity of the terminals it controls at the port of Santos, assessed at nearly R$ 550 million (US$ 343.8 million), Libra bets on short-term measures to increase the productivity up to 20% this year - increasing from 35 to 42 operations per hour the average of loading and unloading of containers. The portfolio includes five concurrent actions of optimization of processes assessed at R$ 9 million (US$ 5.6 million).
According to President of Libra Terminais - a Division of Grupo Libra - Wagner Biasoli, they have to bet on intelligent measures in those "two to three years", since Santos moves towards the limit of the installed capacity. This year the company should increase the operations in at least 10%, closing it at nearly 750 thousand TEUs.
R$ 2.5 million (US$ 1.6 million) will be invested in models that will allow it expedite the flow of cargo in the yards of the terminals as well as in the warehouses, located at the back area. The intention is to reduce the time spent with the trucks, which has already dropped nearly half since 2008, getting to 69 minutes last year. The company has also established the goal of reducing from 4% to 1.5% level of unproductiveness of its fleet of nine portainers (mechanically operated equipment used at the port terminal to load and unload container ships).
To deal with the challenge of restriction of areas, it will bet on a homemade recipe. Use some pieces of equipment currently considered obsolete to lift the tops of the holds of the container ships during the operation. Those cranes weigh nearly 40 tons and they are 14 meters long, which makes its moving difficult and requires energy that could be used in the main activity of loading and unloading of cargo. Another measure of the company is the creation of a Planning and Control Management, with the purpose of making the planning of cargo in the terminal and on the ship more scientific and tuned. Biasoli says that more proactive relation received the immediate approval of shipowners.
Biasoli, ahead the port arm for 90 days, received the mission of turning Libra Terminais into a heavy weight player in Brazil and Latin America, with capacity to offer and handle in line to compete with any global player - market that sniffs the national niche of port operation. Biasoli evaluates the existence of space for large terminals in Santos - that in 2014 might feature six container operators. Besides the already announced cargo, he says, there is an unplanned demand of goods that requires prior infrastructure.