The Enabler

For Arne Wagner, nothing works without cooperation. As a resource planner in the control centre at HHLA Container Terminal Altenwerder (CTA), he has to coordinate closely with customers and colleagues and be able to react flexibly.

The lift moves swiftly to the top floor, the lift doors open. With just a few steps, Arne Wagner crosses the corridor of the office building at the CTA. A soft "beep" sounds as he enters the secure area with his employee ID card. The room is flooded with light. The large windows of the control centre offer a good view over the entire terminal area.

Here, in the CTA control room, Arne Wagner and another ten colleagues work each shift. With three shifts, the entire day is covered, 360 days a year. Wagner has been working for HHLA as a resource planner and shift supervisor for three years. His duties include ordering employees who are needed to handle the ships.

"We refer to a bridge crew as an aisle," explains the logistics graduate. "How many aisles we need per ship depends on how quickly a ship has to be ready, which bridges are available and how much cargo has to be handled."

Planning is done five days in advance. Besides good planning, flexibility also plays a big role. "If a ship is late, for example, we have to react and try to use the ordered aisles on other ships," says Wagner. "This requires close coordination with other terminals, the agents in charge and my colleagues in and outside the control room. "Without cooperation, nothing works for us."

To prepare the berths for ship arrivals, Wagner also has to coordinate the equipment that will be used to handle the ships. If, despite the best planning, there are delays or technical failures, Wagner needs quick solutions. Alternatives, in other words, with which containers can be unloaded or loaded. Ships, i.e. customers, are extremely reluctant to have them serviced here.

Wagner and his colleagues, however, always have to keep an eye on their own facility. "If, for example, we only put containers from the ship into the warehouse and don't also deliver some in the opposite direction at the same time, then the unloading/loading ratio can get out of balance," says Wagner. "Our job is to keep the balance here." After all, the Altenwerder container terminal "has to keep running", he says.