Grup TCB Orders Orbita GateSuite for Barcelona Terminal

Container terminal operator Grup TCB has selected process automation and engineering specialist Orbita Ingenieria to automate the truck gates at its flagship facility, TCB - Terminal de Contenidors de Barcelona. The contract will see Orbita supply its GateSuite optical character recognition (OCR) solution to automate 10 new entry and exit truck lanes being built as part of a major expansion program at the leading Spanish container terminal.

Now underway, and due for completion this November, the project includes installation of truck lane gantries equipped with GateOCR, Orbita’s automated container identification and truck license plate reader system. GateOCR combines IP camera technology, megapixel sensors and sophisticated image processing using neural networks and other vision techniques to deliver high reliability in reading ISO container numbers and truck license plates, as well as capturing images for container damage inspection control.

Orbita will additionally supply its GateOS software to integrate gate OCR data with ARGOS, Grup TCB’s terminal operating system (TOS) and will provide the hardware and systems needed for truck drivers to interact with the TOS, including QR Code readers and RFID readers. The project also covers the removal and relocation of TCB’s existing Megaports radiation detection portals and infrastructure to the new terminal gates.

TCB, which handled close to 800,000TEU in 2012, is one of Spain’s longest established and largest terminals. Serving global carriers including CMA-CGM, Maersk Line and the G6 Alliance, it is a major Mediterranean gateway for the Far East container trades, plus American, Caribbean and African services. As a predominantly import-export facility, 80% of TCB’s container traffic enters or exits on the landside by truck and rail, making the gates critical to overall terminal performance.

The current manual gates can handle up to 200 transactions per hour at peak times. When the new automated gate complex is fully installed, TCB expects to boost capacity by nearly 25%, serving a terminal now being expanded from 57 to 81 hectares.

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