The Role of Information Technology on the Implementation of Priority Systems and the State of the Practice of Information Technology on Marine Container Terminals
José Holguín-Veras and C. Michael Walton, University of Texas at Austin, October 1995, 54 pp. (721928-3)
This report discusses the role of information systems and information technology on the implementation of priority systems, as well as the state of the practice of information technology on marine container terminals. The analysis is comprised of several parts. First, an idealized import process is described in a network representation in terms of the interactions among the agents involved i.e., shipping companies, brokers, motor carriers, container terminal operator and regulatory agencies, and the internal activities of the agents.
The network representation of the import process is then used to construct the networks of information activities for the interactions and internal activities of the terminal operator. These network representations are used as the framework to analyze the Survey on the State of the Practice of Information Technology. The aforementioned survey targeted a number of selected terminals and retrieved information on current practices.
The network of information activities for the internal activities of the container terminal operator is used to estimate the characteristics of the information flow for the current operational schemes. Then, this network is modified to make it reflect the information needs associated to priority systems. The characteristics of the resulting information flow are estimated accordingly. The role of information technology in the context of priority systems is analyzed as well. Using the characterization of the information flow, previously defined, the desirable characteristics of the information technology system are estimated for a priority systems environment. The main obstacles for these types of application are identified. Current trends in information technology applications are examined and the possible impacts on priority system are estimated.
Keywords: Information Technology, Information Systems, Containers, Priority Systems, EDI Ports
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Reference Report #721928-3
