The hottest interview with Thoma, global automatio

Exclusive interview with Mr. Thomas gylling, global automation equipment director of Kony group

exclusive interview with Mr. Thomas gylling, global automation equipment director of Kony group

China Construction machinery information

Thomas gylling, global automation equipment director, Kony port crane, hyvink ä, Finland

Q: what is the key to achieving good port operations

a: if we look down on the whole operation process of the container terminal, we will find that everything is based on terminal management. The basic premise of good container terminal operation is a strong working culture, that is, good operation discipline runs through all links of terminal operation. In the past, various wharves operated independently of each other, built their own equipment independently, and maintained and maintained independently. At the same time, they adhered to a strong work culture of being responsible for the operation and operation performance. The wharf staff usually also had excellent professional skills, which is still very common today

generally speaking, the operation management, work culture and personnel skills of a wharf can be maintained at a relatively good level. However, with the development and change of the times, new technologies begin to play an increasingly important role. Among them, the importance of IT technology is growing particularly rapidly. Many container terminals are developing their own internal IT systems and have made quite good progress. However, from the macro level, it technology has shown incredible rapid development in all industrial fields, including container handling, and the trend of automation is becoming more and more obvious. For the terminal, traditional methods and personnel skills are the basis for good operation, but from a commercial perspective, we must consider such a question: when will the challenge of IT technology "force" the terminal to seek help from professional IT technology and automation companies

the container handling industry is ushering in a new era. In today's container terminal operation, operators must find ways to maintain their traditional advantages since the mid-1990s, while analyzing which problems can be solved internally and which problems must seek the help of external partners. Kony's purpose is to provide operators with the most ideal container handling equipment and systems. We hope to become an excellent partner of container terminals around the world

q: what factors do you think have the greatest impact on ports and terminals today

a: in the container handling industry, the biggest problem is how to maximize the potential of economies of scale in a market with extremely fierce cost competition, which is determined by the increasing container flow. At the same time, the production efficiency of intermodal hub also has huge room for improvement

q: how does your company cope with the current growing demand for transportation capacity

a: we have comprehensively considered the growth of container goods in various transportation channels, including sea transportation, road transportation and railway transportation. First of all, since the container ship will not be subject to any restrictions in its navigation before landing, the simplest way is to increase the size of the container ship. Secondly, the transportation on land is more complex, and the road infrastructure is the biggest constraint to improve the flow of road transportation containers. Finally, we also explored the possibility of increasing the volume of railway transportation containers, which has proved to have considerable room for improvement

in this case, Kony's goal is to shorten the turnaround time of container ships, trucks and trains in container terminals and intermodal hubs. We can provide efficient and reliable container handling equipment to achieve this goal. Among them, container cranes are the most important, which is the basis for the good operation of container terminals both now and in the future

for a long time, Kony has invested a lot of money and energy in equipment research and development and equipment testing, so as to maintain a leading position in technology in the world, and then provide customers with ideal solutions to meet their growing business needs. By choosing Kony, customers can realize operation automation in the best way, which can not only meet and exceed current and future operation needs

q: which market do you predict will grow in the next decade

a: we expect that in the next decade, the markets in Asia and developing countries will continue to grow, the growth of the U.S. market will also accelerate, the North American market as a whole will also perform well, the African and South American markets will also have bright spots, and the Middle East market will also grow. The test principle is still the pulse reflection method. Relatively speaking, the European market is slightly difficult, but there are also bright spots

q: can you tell us about Kony's history

a: Kony's predecessor is KONE elevator, a famous Finnish supplier of personnel transportation system. Kone elevator's history of manufacturing and selling large bridge cranes can be traced back to the 1930s. After World War II, its crane business has developed strongly, and KONE elevator has also moved towards globalization step by step, growing into an internationally renowned crane supplier

after thinking about the future, we think that transporting people and goods are two completely different concepts. Therefore, Kony was separated from KONE elevator in 1994. Kone elevator focuses on the graphene flexible transparent keyboard displayed at the safety meeting to efficiently transport personnel, while Kony group focuses on the safe and efficient transportation of goods. In short, KONE elevator is committed to "passenger flow business", while Kony focuses on "lifting business"

facts have proved that the business logic behind the split is successful, and the two companies have achieved steady development in their respective fields. Kony group was listed in 1996 (then known as Kony industries, and officially renamed Kony group in 2006). Now it has become a leading global supplier of lifting equipment

Kony provides customers with a wide range of high-quality products and professional services to meet various complex application needs in industrial fields, from pulp and paper to metallurgy and power generation. Of course, we are also experts in the field of container handling

q: how to realize the automation of container handling? What are the steps

a: theoretically, we should conduct a complete analysis of the whole transportation and logistics process of containers, find overlapping and redundant links, and eliminate unnecessary container handling, so as to liberate production but the improper parameters used, improve logistics capacity, and save costs

to implement process automation in any industry, we must first clearly define the process, and then carry out process control statistics, that is, define and control all processes involved, and systematically and gradually adjust and improve the process according to the statistical data. As we all know, in process control, robot technology can provide more accurate control, and then automatic mechanical equipment runs completely according to the control instructions, and its behavior is completely predictable

for container cranes at the terminal, the reliability of quayside (STS) cranes is the key to the whole terminal. Please imagine what it means for the operation of the whole wharf to realize 100% working reliability by automating the control of STS crane? STS crane is the core of wharf operation. It must be very reliable in design and operation. Only in this way can we successfully realize the automation of container loading and unloading on the shore

with a reliable crane that can be automatically controlled, the next step is the automation of the surrounding environment, which is reflected in the application of STS crane in the dock area. In the past ten years, Kony has developed and provided customers with an automated rail mounted gantry crane (RMG) system, and has accumulated rich experience in the operation of the dock area

our expertise and technology have been further enhanced through the development and testing of automated RTG system. First of all, we have realized the automation of the crane itself. Then, we made an in-depth study of the surrounding operations and the whole terminal operation process, and established a practical operation model. Finally, our ARTG system realizes the complete control and automation of the entire ARTG area and other horizontal transportation operations by using the unmanned automated rubber tyred gantry crane and unmanned truck, and realizes the seamless integration of all data communications

q: how can automated container handling systems improve the cost-effectiveness of container terminals

a: automatic container handling system can extend the service life of container cranes from many aspects and reduce the environmental impact of cranes. For example, precise control of container loading and unloading can eliminate the collision between containers and realize the light handling of containers and slings, so as to reduce the structural load of cranes, especially the slings, while significantly reducing the slapping sound of containers and slings and reducing noise pollution

from the perspective of energy consumption, when the automated container loading and unloading fleet is connected to the same electricity, electricity can achieve very considerable energy recovery and utilization from the container descent and other deceleration movements in each working cycle. Of course, this is based on highly predictable automation equipment

in terms of environmental protection, thanks to the electrification of automated container handling equipment, local emissions have been greatly reduced. The application of automation system also reduces the total load and peak capacity of local electricity. If the power of the terminal is provided by modern and energy-efficient power plants, it will be the best example for the economies of scale of power plants to benefit the container terminal and the environment