Independent Stevedoring Ltd
Log Scanner Application
Background
Independent Stevedoring Limited (ISL) is a stevedoring company specialising in project cargoes, bulk cargo, fresh produce and added value commodities. As a specialist in the industry, ISL has an international reputation for the skilful handling of a variety of mixed break bulk cargoes.
THE CHALLENGE
ISL required a new mobile logistics solution to replace the legacy system used to validate, track and load logs onto ships. The new solution had to be intuitive, user-friendly and robust for wharf side use by stevedores. Reliability was a fundamental requirement as shipping delays can be very costly.
OUR APPROACH
Cucumber provided a Business Analyst who worked closely with ISL to understand existing challenges and resulting solution requirements. After reviewing off-the-shelf packages against requirements, ISL selected Cucumber to build a tailor-made solution as existing systems were too complex, didn’t provide the desired functionality and left ISL unable to control future enhancements.
A key project requirement was the ability to start small and the agility to easily enhance the solution to meet future business requirements over time. Using an agile process Cucumber were able to deliver small amounts of functionality quickly to get key stakeholder feedback and allow for change within the defined project timelines and budget.
Through this approach, Cucumber developed the new Tracker solution over a short period of time with the ISL product owner involved on a daily basis. The technical solution included a management and customer portal along with an Android mobile application for wharf side cargo scanning and validation.
Cucumber have since enhanced the solution by implementing an image recognition engine using a computer vision machine learning model. Powered by AI (artificial intelligence), the image recognition engine enables computer assisted identification and counting of logs.
THE OUTCOME
After delivering the solution on time and within budget, it was beta tested on a real ship load across a weekend with zero issues, a testament to the thorough testing by Cucumber and ISL. Feedback has been overwhelmingly positive with ISL reporting operational efficiency gains through reduced admin time and data entry errors. Enhanced load progress dashboards deliver real time insight for ISL management and improved communication and visibility for their customers.
The recent addition of the image recognition engine provides ISL with increased accuracy of log counts while lowering the operational load of the stevedores, allowing them to focus on other tasks. This results in increased throughput and efficiency when loading ships. The photos generated by the system are valuable for auditing and traceability purposes as an additional benefit.
The solution has the potential to reduce labour costs and to improve ISL’s competitive position in the market.
“ The whole team were fantastic. There were no surprises, except how well it went. Every single person exceeded my expectations, I’ve never come across a team where everyone excelled. They understood our business requirements, they asked the right questions and really took me along with them. They delivered exactly what we needed”
ISL, Financial Controller