The Ports 4.0 fund committee has selected our solution, supported by several ports and port terminals in Spain, such as the Port of Barcelona, Hutchison Ports BEST, Terminal Marítima de Zaragoza, APM Terminals Barcelona or Autoridad Portuaria Bahía de Algeciras.
The Ports 4.0 capital fund is the open innovation model of Puertos del Estado and the Spanish Port Authorities to attract and support disruptive projects from start-ups and technology spin-offs to facilitate their application in the Spanish port-logistics sector.
Our objective
AllRead, an innovative company in the application of computer vision and Artificial Intelligence technologies for the traceability and monitoring of goods, has been selected by the Ports 4.0 fund.
“The aim of the project iso break with the status quo of port OCR and democratise traceability solutions in rail freight“.
Adriaan Landman, COO of AllRead
At AllRead, we developed a technology that is accurate, scalable, modular and easy to implement and integrate into any camera or mobile device.
“We want to offer superior accuracy to traditional OCR, through Deep Learning and Machine Vision technologies, and without the need for large infrastructures, hardware or additional cameras“
Adriaan Landman, COO of AllRead
The recognition system is applied to traceability, security and port logistics control. It is installed at access controls, container depots, loading and unloading points (Ro-Ro) and for internal flow monitoring, and offers high accuracy even in adverse situations, such as high-speed movement, in the dark or in dusty and dirty environments. All of these conditions are very characteristic of the port logistics industry.
Towards a more sustainable and digitized rail transport
In recent years, the European Commission has focused on promoting rail transport to favour a transition towards clean, competitive and connected mobility. The ports of Spain join this objective by supporting technologies such as ours that allow greater visibility, traceability and efficiency in intermodal freight transport.
The solution we propose is called “Intelligent Identification Software in Intermodal Transport (I2TI)” and enables the ubiquity of traceability in port facilities by lifting the financial and technological barriers to its adoption.
AllRead I2TI provides “as a service” and “on the edge” OCR capabilities, allowing cargo assets (containers, tankers, wagons, dangerous goods…) to be effectively tracked anywhere with any ordinary CCTV camera, allowing ports to have virtually ubiquitous OCR tracking capability.
“We are primarily interested in the traceability of goods transported by rail, because the problem of traceability is even more acute in Spain. With this solution, inefficiencies, errors and associated costs will be drastically reduced”.
Miguel Silva-Constenla, CEO of AllRead
The Port of Barcelona and the Hutchison Ports BEST terminal: main drivers of the proposal
Hutchison Ports BEST, the semi-automated container terminal of the Port of Barcelona, has committed to this project by agreeing to carry out the pilot tests at its facilities. BEST has provided AllRead with its structure, know-how and the use of the server to carry out the tests. The terminal has been providing the necessary feedback to help increase the reliability of this new technology.
The system, developed by us and implemented in the BEST terminal, identifies in real time the containers and wagons entering the port by train, with a reliability of 99% with only two cameras. In this way, it is possible to know what position each of the containers occupies within the train, making the operational management of this part of the terminal easier and more efficient.
Damià Calvet, the President of Port of Barcelona, also recalls the pilot test we carried out at his facilities to identify containers and wagons.
“950 trains and 13,500 containers were analysed, achieving a reading accuracy level of 99%: an extraordinary percentage.”
Damià Calvet, President of the Port de Barcelona
The project allowed the optimisation of operations and the automation of data collection of goods, facilitating the processes of loading and unloading trains.
Awarded to apply our technology in major ports and terminals in Spain
As a candidate in the “pre-commercial” category, AllRead has been awarded financially, with resources that will be used to continue developing the technology and expanding the team. It also gives access to collaboration with multiple ports in the rest of Spain, which support the candidacy by making their infrastructures available to the startup to improve the solution.
“It is great news to know that our support for AllRead, together with other Spanish ports, can contribute to the progressive application of artificial intelligence in the port logistics sector. Aspects such as the traceability of assets, the improvement of security and the availability of reliable data in real time could help us to streamline processes and, in short, generate significant time savings in day-to-day operations. The benefits of implementing new technologies are undeniable. The advances that are being made were unimaginable a few years ago.“
Zaragoza Maritime Terminal
“From the APBA’s intermodal point of view, we are pleased that the AllRead initiative, which we have supported, has been selected by the Ports 4.0 fund to continue its work to improve port efficiency through the use of artificial intelligence. This type of solution represents a substantial improvement in the optimisation of processes related to the traceability of cargo, providing real-time information of great value to both shippers and the other agents involved in the ferroport logistics chain, favouring the reduction of the passage times of goods in our facilities and increasing the quality, safety and sustainability of operations.”
Juan José Aguilar Pacheco, Head of Operations Division at Port of Algeciras Bay.
APM Terminals Barcelona will also implement the AllRead system.
“It will mean extending the use of Artificial Intelligence to optimise our railway operations.”
Sergi Domínguez, IT manager at APM Terminals Spanish Gateways.
“From our experience, we believe that this system will bring robustness and technical reliability to the rail terminal’s services, and help reduce potential operational issues with relevant competitive advantages over other terminals.”
Jordi Vidal, Operations Director of Terminals Spanish Gateways.
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