Marine, shipping and logistics industries
Transportation, as one of the main foundations of sustainable and balanced development, is closely related to important components such as economic growth, security and social justice, and the development of this sector is considered one of the key axes of the growth and progress of economies. The growth and development of technology, especially the significant developments of the fourth generation technologies of the digital economy, makes the need to make various economic sectors smarter to accept the future developments even more necessary. The transportation industry in Iran in all its forms is very vulnerable due to the lack of integrated management, uneconomical and low productivity. This industry is currently facing a lot of problems both in the infrastructure sector and in the fleet and implementation sectors, and solving these weaknesses requires a comprehensive approach to this field, focusing on the introduction of new technologies and optimal management.
Today, the two main arms of the marine transportation industry, namely ports and shipping and their related industries, are continuously being updated and made smarter. The infrastructures of the mentioned industries (such as ships and ports) are equipped with new and smart technologies, and correspondingly, the skills of the employees in their respective jobs are continuously increased through the required training. Undoubtedly, the productivity of every sector of the industry, including marine industries, is affected by the three main factors of service quality, service speed, and total costs. These factors have a major contribution to competitiveness, which in today’s highly competitive business definitely depends on intelligence.
Intelligence in the shipping industry
Taking a quick look at the facilities, equipment and manpower working in ships, ports and shipbuilding industries in the last 40 years and comparing it with today’s ships, ports and industries, we see a huge and irreversible difference. These differences are mainly evident in increasing the volume and speed of activities, accuracy and quality of activities, increasing safety, reducing manpower, increasing personnel skills and using new technologies. The use and implementation of new technologies has been the cause of all these changes. Information and electronic technologies have played a major role in these huge developments. The nature of maritime activities in the field of work on ships and ports in the past has been generally person-oriented (manual). For this reason, it required a lot of manpower to physically carry out the operation. Therefore, due to the difficulty of work and the improvement of living standards in advanced countries in recent years, most of the European crews were replaced by crews from other countries such as India, Pakistan, the Philippines, Ukraine, Africa, etc., and on the other hand, the use of new technologies and intelligentization It has caused the reduction of employees in traditional and old jobs, which is considered a kind of threat. But besides that, turning to jobs in standards and the field of new technologies, especially GS1 standards and information technology technology, continues to increase day by day. In short, the main advantages of smartening and using GS1 standards and information technology are:
GS1 standards and information and communication technology are becoming the main axis and shaping the national competitiveness of countries.
GS1 standards and information technology and smart technologies play a vital role for continuing innovations in creating new processes and products and as a result creating competitive advantages.
GS1 standards and intelligence and information technology increase the transparency of administrative processes and decisions. All these achievements have been achieved in the shadow of reduction or lack of need for human factors.
Examples of the advancements made in the field of intelligence in the maritime transport industry
Smartening of ports by using GS1 standards and various types of technology, including information technology, has increased the speed, safety and accuracy of operations on a large scale. For example, the digitization of many ship reports, which, while increasing the accuracy and durability, has led to the ease of entering information while increasing its volume, and at the same time, it has caused the reduction of employees in the relevant departments. Conducting effective and practical training on ships, which, while increasing skills, has reduced the common processes of sending employees to special centers for training, the possibility of effective and accurate implementation of many international laws and regulations and requirements (such as reducing environmental pollution caused by greenhouse gases etc.) has provided
Establishing satellite networks for ships’ employees to use the Internet, satellite TV and their communication with their families has increased their motivation and consequently increased their productivity along with the improvement of seafarers’ living standards. Automatic and digital sending of navigational maps to ships has reduced the costs, reduced the work of the ship’s staff and increased the navigation safety of the ships. Controlling the use of parts, essentials, oil, fuel, etc. can be accurately monitored and optimized using advanced software. Sending accurate, timely and effective instructions to ships and establishing quick and direct communication with seafarers, especially in times of danger and accidents, has increased the safety and reliability of ship navigation operations. The use of new technologies in the field of “Condition Monitoring” automatically reduces the volume of “Planned Maintenance” of ships, and while reducing the risk of machinery failure, it also leads to a reduction in costs. The new technology has provided a lot of information to the commanders regarding the optimal selection of the route, intake and trim of the ships.
With the help of GS1 standards and information technology, which are the main foundations of intelligence, many facilities have been provided in terms of access to aggregated and long-term information, as well as sharing experiences and knowledge management, so that with proper planning, organizational knowledge can be easily collected. , extracted and transferred.
The impact of intelligentization on the maritime profession
Smart technologies have brought many effective changes in the field of maritime transport industry. With the use of technologies such as cameras, radar, sonar, GPS, and many other sensors over the past years, ship navigation has become easier for mariners. It is expected that in the near future, even the task of navigation and ship guidance will be completely handed over to intelligent systems. According to researchers, by 2020, the first unmanned ship will travel in local waters, and by 2050, the first unmanned ocean liner will travel in the seas. Undoubtedly, the use of new technologies greatly reduces cost and human error on board. In this way, the productivity of human power in shipping increases significantly. At the same time, economic constraints, financial pressures, rising fuel prices, environmental restrictions, and the difficulty of working in conventional giant ships do not affect the interest and enthusiasm of ship owners to use new ships; Because with these ships, the owners get more profit with less cost. With rumblings of intelligentization in the shipping industry, the International Transport Workers’ Federation (ITF), the International Labor Organization (ILO) and the International Maritime Organization (IMO) have focused heavily on it.
