Shipping orders by robot

Press, Volume CX, Issue 32460, 21 November 1970, Page 3

Shipping orders by robot

An exercise at Tilbury Docks has shown that it is technically possible to have complete automation of container movement between a shore assembly area and the holds of container ships.

The New Zealand division of the Institute of Transport heard of this yesterday, during its annual conference in Christchurch, when the likely future of air, sea and rail transport was discussed in three papers. The assistant general manager of the Union Steam Ship Company, Ltd (Mr B. S. Cole) forecast the development of a system of co-ordinated computers which would completely oversee the placing and delivery of orders. The paper, in his absence, was read by Mr D. C. Jury, of the Union Company. The shipper, said Mr Cole, would place an order through his machine for the supply of certain commodities by a manufacturer, and from there the production planning, the ordering of cargo space, the documentation, the provision of intermediate transport services, and the invoicing and payment could all be handled by a robot system. For the present, .installation costs of such a system were too high in relation to usage, said Mr Cole. But the shipping industry’s rate of growth over the last five

years had been greater than the progress between 1900 and 1950—and at this rate there was little that could not be achieved.

Discussing ship design, he said that it would not be sufficient in future for vessels to be designed for the greatest convenience of the sea voyage. They would have to be planned foremost for the most efficient loading and carriage of cargo. Air travel Air New Zealand was almost five times bigger than six years ago, its chairman (Mr G. N. Roberts) told the conference. The best measure of an airline’s size was the total number of capacity ton miles it could provide, he said. In 1964, Air New Zealand provided 31 million, and in the year to March 31, 1970, 151 million. This .was tremendous expansion. Nevertheless, Mr Roberts called for even higher growth rates, and for matching development of internal facilities for tourists.

“While there are question marks over the American economy, it is also a fact that more and more Americans are likely to want to see the South Pacific, an area less trodden and so less ‘old hat’ than Europe,” he said. “We need only a small proportion of the total American tourist potential to change our position dramatically.” Second, he said, Japan would become a more and more important source of tourists—who had to be attracted to New Zealand. Air

New Zealand had been struggling to get fares between Japan and New Zealand reduced. Third, Australia—the largest tourist supplier—was booming and well-established. Fourth, the airlines had all invested in huge double-aisle aircraft and would be increasing South Pacific frequencies and capacity very rapidly—“and they will do their damnedest to fill their seats,” said Mr Roberts. “Last, we have no choice,” he said. “The need to diversify our methods of earning overseas currency is now so obvious and so pressing that we must do all we can to take advantage of New Zealand’s great assets as a tourist attraction.” Air New Zealand, he said, was now spending more than $3 million a year promoting New Zealand abroad. Rail travel The Deputy General Manager of Railways (Mr T. M. Small) said that the Railways would actively compete for a share of the New Zealand passenger travel market, and would do so in the knowledge that, in such a highly competitive field, the one who offered the best over-all value for money would succeed. The Railways, he said, had inherited “certain operating characteristics,' and a certain type of social demand” which posed problems in terms of marketing the quality service which was its aim for the •future. I Circumstances had qften

- dictated that members of the i public saw rail passenger - services in a poor light, he said. Many people, particu- . larly family groups, travelled s only when trains were full, . refreshment rooms crowded, I luggage - handling facilities 3 strained, and—as a result of . these factors —the train runs ning late. Picnic trains, to some . people a major association ’ with rail travel, tended to attract older carriages held in > reserve for such events, said Mr Small. “As late as 1946, , a six-wheel carriage was ’ used on a Timaru-Fairlie pic- [ nic train,” he said. “For , many men, the main memory of. rail travel is a crowded ’ troop train, on an apparently endless journey. For younger people today, group travel ’ from Wellington to Auckland 1 may well mean an overnight ’ trip in a second-class carriage; to be quite frank, hardly a good advertisement . for long-distance rail travel.” Suburban passenger sers vices also gave an unfavouri able impression, Mr Small 1 said. “More than likely, the 1 train will be well-filled, if not ■ crowded; it may be too hot or (too cold; it could well be a J 40-year-old carriage, service--1 able, moderately comfortable. ■ but hardly a vehicle to be I enthusiastic about.”

The attitudes developed by these low-cost services, he said, presented “a marketing challenge of considerable magnitude” when it came to selling quality long-distance travel by the Silver Star, the Southerner, and the Blue Streak.