Port Community Systems as a technology to orchestrate synchromodal ports

Synchromodality is a logistics concept which strives to increase the share of sustainable transport modes. In synchromodal transport chains, real-time switching between transport modes enables efficient supply chains. Ports play an important role in supply chains as they constitute major multimodal freight hubs with high cargo throughput. For the implementation of synchromodality it is crucial to integrate ports. It is a problem that communication and information sharing in many ports is outdated. Communication often takes place via telephone or fax and is not digitized. An important success factor of synchromodality is to capture and share data in a sufficient way. In the ideal case, all information is available and accessible to all relevant stakeholders in real-time in an online environment, creating a digitalized information hub. In ports, so-called Port Community Systems emerged recently to improve the information exchange between various stakeholders. This results in better and transparent planning, faster handling and fewer errors. The aim of the poster is to reveal how the introduction of Port Community Systems can support the realization of synchromodal transport. It will be shown how Port Community Systems can constitute control towers, which is a technology needed in a synchromodal network to orchestrate freight demand.