Sri Trang Logistics is a fast-growing logistic provider in the region of south-east Asia. Since 2008 it has been a container seaport operator in Kantang, Trang Province, Thailand, and in 2016 it officially begun its railway container yard operation in Thung Song, Nakon Sri Thamarat. Around 16,000 TEUs pass through the ports every year.
Rubber is the main material that goes through the company’s both locations due to the substantial amount of rubber production in the area. Rubber is typically transported in baled sheets, which are then containerized or as liquid latex transported in containerized tanks.
CAPABLE AND FLEXIBLE
Four Konecranes reach stackers, model SMV 4531 TC5, are working in the two ports in Kantang and Thung Song, primarily assisting with container lifting. Stacking up to five containers high and across three rows, calls for a flexible reach stacker with large lifting capacity. Mr. Apichart Parnitchkul, CEO of Sri Trang Logistics explains “If you produce and transport some of the highest volumes of natural rubber in the world, you need best-in-class machines and partners to do that successfully and consistently”.
A common challenge for machine owners is after sales service, but Mr. Apichart Parnitchkul points out that “Even though our company is located in the far down south of Thailand, we have no issues with technical support such as spare parts, on-site technician and technical support. All of the communication is established between Konecranes and Sri Trang Logistics to ensure the machines highest uptime and customer satisfaction.”
VALUABLE INSIGHTS WITH REMOTE MONITORING
All the reach stackers are equipped with TRUCONNECT® systems, as Sri Trang Logistics acknowledge that remote oversight of usage and maintenance issues can be the difference between productive machines and downtime. “The most difficult part of my job is to have an accurate evaluation of each machine and their activities, but now I can access Konecranes web portal at any time to check on the machines in all of our branches. It is extremely valuable to have all that information at your fingertips. Every day I also receive a report of each machine’s performance and activities.” Says Mr Atthapon Mebusaya, Maintenance and Procurement Manager.
He continues, “With TRUCONNECT®, we are able to focus on driver productivity, ability and maintenance. When it comes to productivity and ability; each month we have a driver KPI meeting to discuss how efficient the operation of the machine is. After each meeting each driver will redesign the way to operate the machine and the outcome is outstanding improvement. For maintenance, we are able to plan PM in advance and effectively, without, or with the least, interruption of the seaport operation.”
For any mechanic, including Mr. Kitiwat Thongpradab at Sri Trang Logistics, the biggest challenge is to keep the machines in perfect working condition at all times. Also for him the sensors on the machines come in very handy: “I love to fix and look after the heavy machines. With Konecranes machines, whenever something is not working as it’s supposed to, I can see what the error is on the MD4 screen in the cabin, making it very easy to find the cause and quickly get the machine ready to continue its work.”
THE BEST VALUE
Sri Trang found that the Konecranes reach stackers in combination with remote monitoring system TRUCONNECT® and being backed with after sales support, offered them the best values for their operations. Mr. Atthapon Mebusaya, Maintenance and Procurement Manager and Mr. Tossaporn Mebusaya, Operation Development and Corporate Strategy Manager concludes: “One of our main criteria to choose the supplier was the service capabilities and we are very confident with Konecranes after sales set-up”.
