Implementing a production system at Russia’s largest coal terminal

Situation

Our client, one of Russia’s largest bulk cargo port terminals, was launching a project to improve operational performance and establish a production system. The company brought in Partners in Performance to accelerate the delivery of benefits, adopt a methodology tailored to port operations and help build an in-house production system team. The system needed to be flexible enough to respond quickly to constantly changing market conditions and the resulting changes in terminal workload. Periods of peak demand alternated with periods when the terminal needed to meet its targets with minimal resources.

What we did

• Launched a programme of organisational and technical initiatives to increase terminal productivity by 30%.
• Developed a model to assess capacity and identify the best cargo handling routes for the mix of orders.
• Refined shift and daily planning processes for terminal operations and developed reporting tools.
• Set detailed operating targets for each process stage for the period in which the project’s results were to be stabilised.
• Refined the approach to regular audits of production system maturity and the sustainability of improvements.

Result

• A 16% increase in the productivity of the wagon tippler, which had been the bottleneck for the entire terminal.