Waalhaven Botlek Terminal (WBT) recently became the first very first inland terminal connected to the Portbase service Notification Import Documentation. Three locations of United Waalhaven Terminals (UWT) are the first empty depot that will be launched shortly in Hinterland Container Notification Barge. WBT and UWT are both part of the Waalhaven Group. Commercial manager Willem Beskers explains why the company wants to lead the way in digital innovation.
Driven by practice
“Our participation in Portbase is mainly driven from daily practice. MCA Barge gives barge operators much better insights into the status of containers at UWT. In addition, our participation in MCA Barge has to do with the upcoming integrated planning of inland navigation via Nextlogic. We have been involved from the start. We want to be on the front and see how integrated planning works out for us.”
Reduce noise for customers
The participation of WBT as first inland terminal in Notification Import Documentation is clearly practice driven. “Wherever possible, WBT wants to reduce noise. By allowing clients to pre-notify customs documents digitally via Portbase, we can further structure administrative processes and speed up logistics. It really saves time if the correct documents are in the system when the driver arrives.”
Ever more digital
The companies within the Waalhaven Group are taking digitisation a step further. “Ultimately, we want to move towards terminals with automatic gates where everything is pre-notified, office functions are separate from the terminal and the terminal is purely the place where the operation takes place. On the way to such system, we would like to see a solution for WBT, for example, for the registration of export documentation. As far as we are concerned, that is the next route for Portbase to take.”
