APS Technology Group, Inc., a leading provider of optical character recognition (OCR) and process automation technology solutions for marine and intermodal terminals, announced Contecon Guayaquil SA (CGSA) has implemented the APS Quay Crane Automation Solution at its container terminal in Guayaquil, Ecuador. CGSA is the first port in Latin America to use Crane OCR technology. In addition to the OCR solution, CGSA has implemented a spreader based system for container weight capture, automatically collecting all information in real time, and improving container processing times. All data from the combined solution is integrated to the Navis SPARCS TOS.

“Using the APS solution with our new weight capture system has improved our productivity and processing time significantly,” said Jaime Guazhco, CGSA Project Manager. “Several time-consuming, manual steps have been removed from the process, so throughput is faster and it is a much safer environment.”

The APS solutions automatically identify containers loaded and discharged by the STS cranes to improve data accuracy, throughput and security while decreasing overall operating costs. CGSA is also using APS’ MatchMakerTMsystem to automatically associate containers to terminal-owned trucks during handoff, allowing for work assignment and confirmation without manual intervention. The APS SureStow solution will automatically verify the final load position of containers onboard the vessel – comparing the planned load events to the actual placement and noting any deviation from the plan.

“We are proud to be the first in Latin America to use Crane OCR at our terminal,” said Pablo Triviño, Operations Manager for CGSA. “Our overall productivity has improved as a result of the combined OCR and weight capture system including better efficiencies and utilization of our terminal trucks.”

“When evaluating technology, it is important to us to find a solution that has been proven in environments similar to ours,” said Rodrigo Murillo, IT Manager for CGSA. “While it is new to Latin America, the APS Crane OCR solution has been installed around the world so we were confident it would be a good solution for our business.”