Fourth generation ports – a question of agility?

Abstract

Since the Second World War, ports have been going through an evolution which the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) refers to as generations. The generation of a port reflects whether the approach adopted by port authorities/operators in developing their activities is likely to be reactive or proactive. These activities start with the traditional ones (cargo loading and discharging) and end up with the establishment of a wide range of logistics and value-added activities, developed in conjunction with industrial and commercial businesses. This generation of ports, classified as third generation, would be sufficient if the world economic growth pattern could be forecast with any certainty. Unfortunately, this is not the case and the external environment today comprises constant changes that are reflected in the high levels of market uncertainty. To cope with this uncertainty it is suggested that ports should adopt a new logistics approach, agility, which has already been employed in other industries. This paper provides a definition of fourth generation ports and a methodology for implementing the concept of agile ports.

Integration of Maritime Transportation to Supply Chains: A Literature Review and Suggestions for Further Research

“…For instance, Bichou and Gray (2005) propose that the performance of ports could be measured according to its contribution to overall added value of the channel. While some studies (i.e: Marlow and Paixao, 2003;Paixao and Marlow, 2003) offer logistics concepts such as leanness and agility for investigating port performance, other follow an empirical approach and suggest several constructs such as value-added services (i.e: Tongzon et al 2009) and information and communication systems (i.e: Panayides and Song, 2009). For instance, Carbone and De Martino (2003) investigate the contribution of a port to value creation through a case analysis, whereas Song and Panayides (2008) use 'use of information and communication technology', 'relationship with shipping line', 'value added service', 'integration of transport modes', and 'relationship with inland transport operators' as measures of port supply chain integration through a questionnaire survey.…”

Improving Port Terminal Operations through Information Sharing

“…The smaller ports can however look at their internal operations to find improvement opportunities. Paixao et al [9] builds a port development framework, based the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development's (UNCTAD's) "Port generations model". More details on UNCTAD can be found in Beresford et al [4].…”

Seaport network performance measurement in the context of global freight supply chains

“…Vertical integration strategies would help to extend the terminal operators' control over the chain, thus making them more attractive to be the chosen operator (De Souza et al, 2003). Paixao and Marlow (2003) claimed that ports have indeed become more integrated in supply chains. They introduced the logistics concepts of 'lean' and 'agile' operations as key indicators of port performance in supply chains, and suggested that a port's performance and competitiveness increasingly depend on logistics attributes in determining cost and responsiveness.…”