Transnet (Port of Durban)

AVEVA solutions improve the performance and resilience of the Port of Durban

Transnet, operator of the Port of Durban — Africa's largest and busiest maritime terminal — deployed AVEVA InTouch HMI, AVEVA System Platform and AVEVA Historian Clients to streamline its conveyor routing system and ensure products are correctly shipped to their final destination. With more than one million tons of goods handled each year from more than 4,500 commercial vessels, integrating the complex routing network with the material tracking system was a major challenge, as was simplifying operator tasks. AVEVA solutions provide scalable industrial monitoring, integrate seamlessly with existing equipment, ride through power outages and provide mining companies with vital cargo tracking information on demand.

Objectives

Transnet wanted to streamline its conveyor routing system to ensure that product was shipped correctly to its final destination
Improvements to the automation of the ore conveyance system needed to integrate seamlessly with the company's existing hardware and software.
A highly scalable system was needed for Transnet to more effectively track the location of materials and keep pace with the rapid expansion of port operations.
Enhance its current routing system so that vital tracking information can be provided to mining companies upon request

Solutions

AVEVA InTouch HMI
AVEVA System Platform
AVEVA Historian Clients

Results

InTouch HMI has successfully delivered a dynamic and user-friendly routing system that easily integrates with existing platforms
Transnet was able to eliminate invalid route selections and increase iron ore shipments to 80 million tons per year
Operations management can check the delivery status of iron ore orders in real-time and update status requests from mining companies
The system is capable of handling potential emergency events
AVEVA has provided a highly scalable and flexible solution that enables expansion
Centralized engineering that could be easily maintained and adapted to keep pace with the port's future growth without significant downtime
Stable industrial software platform that would support improved data processing speed and provide critical redundancy for data storage and device communication
Robust and flexible security processes to allow operators to remotely switch to backup power sources at any port site
Operational safety parameters to ensure the availability of automatic control sequences
Improve power supply efficiency and associated costs by automatically adjusting power factor correction calculations to successfully manage equipment power consumption
User-defined reporting capabilities to implement trend data for analytics
Implementation of software standards to reduce engineering time and costs for future system upgrades related to port expansion plans
Establish processes for tracking "cause and effect" scenarios with immediate access to real-time and historical data

Integrated AVEVA software

AVEVA System Platform

Transnet at the Port of Durban uses the AVEVA System Platform to centralize and unify the supervision of its port operations. This scalable platform integrates the various control systems and allows efficient management of the flow of goods and equipment of the port.

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AVEVA InTouch HMI

Transnet deploys AVEVA InTouch HMI to provide port operators with an intuitive graphical interface. This modern supervision allows for real-time visualization of equipment status and rapid reaction to abnormal situations, optimizing Port of Durban operations.

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AVEVA Historian

Transnet relies on AVEVA Historian Clients to archive the Port of Durban's operational data. This solution enables performance analysis, reporting and continuous optimization of port operations through reliable and historical data.

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FAQ

How does AVEVA support manufacturers in their digital transformation?

AVEVA offers a comprehensive portfolio covering engineering, operations and industrial performance: System Platform for supervision, Historian for real-time data, InTouch HMI for operator interfaces, MES for operations management and Predictive Analytics for predictive maintenance. This native integration enables manufacturers to build a coherent Industry 4.0 strategy, from the sensor to the executive dashboard, while protecting their long-term investment.

What is the value of AVEVA System Platform as an industrial operating system?

AVEVA System Platform provides the common services needed by any industrial application: configuration, deployment, communication, security, data connectivity and collaboration. This industrial operating system approach makes it possible to build a unified plant model that logically represents processes, equipment and systems. Manufacturers gain standardization, object reusability and operational consistency, while cutting engineering costs by several tens of percent.

How does AVEVA Historian turn data into industrial performance?

AVEVA Historian captures high-resolution real-time data from PLCs, sensors and SCADA systems. Its industrial historization technology combines acquisition speed, intelligent compression and high-performance queries. Engineers analyze trends, identify the root causes of incidents and feed predictive maintenance models. Without Historian, data remains ephemeral; with Historian, it becomes a strategic asset for managing industrial performance.

Why does a modern SCADA HMI make a difference in the control room?

AVEVA InTouch HMI applies situational awareness principles: visual prioritization, bright colors reserved for anomalies and contextualized presentation of information. This ergonomics reduces operators' cognitive fatigue, speeds up the detection of drifts and improves the quality of decisions in the control room. In a context where operators manage thousands of I/O points, the quality of the HMI directly determines the performance and safety of industrial operations.

What ROI can be expected from an AVEVA industrial supervision project?

AVEVA success stories show typical ROI of less than 24 months: energy savings of 10 to 20%, a 30 to 50% reduction in unplanned shutdowns and operator productivity gains of 15 to 30%. On top of these quantitative benefits come qualitative effects: regulatory compliance, increased safety and knowledge capture. The modularity of the AVEVA offering allows gradual investment, aligning the technical roadmap with the manufacturer's business strategy.

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