Hamburg, 20 October 2021 – Dr Nils Kemme has been appointed Managing Director of HPC Hamburg Port Consulting. His appointment, effective from September, completes HPC’s dual leadership by seasoned experts promoted from its own ranks. Nils Kemme has been working at HPC for a decade in various management positions. Together with fellow Managing Director Suheil Mahayni, he will be driving the further development of consulting services and digital solutions for the global port and logistics industry. 

Nils Kemme has been closely associated with terminal operations since his university days. A business economist specialising in logistics, he conducted research on the optimisation of Automated Guided Vehicles AGV at Container Terminal Altenwerder, part of the HHLA Group, and wrote his doctorate on simulation-based planning and optimisation of container terminals.

As a terminal planner at HPC, he has developed numerous planning and optimisation projects aimed at operational efficiency and has established HPC’s own simulation department. With his team, he has successfully implemented more than 40 such simulation projects. Additionally, Nils Kemme has brought into focus significant features in the areas of sustainability and electrification of equipment. Having assumed the role of a partner in 2019, he has since taken responsibility for shaping the company. 

“With Nils Kemme, we have gained a renowned expert in the industry as well as a confident leader,” says Suheil Mahayni. “As an insider, he is also very familiar with the DNA of the companies within our group.  I am really looking forward to our cooperation.”

The joint MDs are united in their motivation: “Together we can demonstrate how we want to develop our organisation: customer-, team- and technology-oriented,” says Nils Kemme. “With climate change, the demands of energy transformation and new technologies, the global port and logistics industry is facing major challenges.  We must meet these with a strong team possessing a great deal of expertise, motivation and a good connection to the customer,” adds Suheil Mahayni.

Hamburg Port Consulting (HPC) operates as a logistics consulting company, specialised in strategy and transformation services for the ports, terminals, and rail sectors. Since establishment in 1976, the Hamburg-based consulting company has delivered approximately 1,700 projects across 130 countries spanning six continents, along the full port project development cycle. HPC employs about 100 domain experts with a background as terminal operators, software engineers, logistics managers, transport economists and mathematicians. As a subsidiary of the Hamburg Port and Logistics Corporation (HHLA), HPC has its roots in port handling of container, break bulk and multipurpose, as well as hinterland operations. www.hamburgportconsulting.com

Potential analysis and determination of digital maturity level of the European inland waterways within the TEN-T corridors to inform an EU-wide digitalisation strategy

Hamburg, 6 October 2021 – HPC Hamburg Port Consulting, the leading logistics consultancy for ports, maritime and inland terminals as well as intermodal rail transport, has been commissioned by the German Directorate-General for Waterways and Shipping (GDWS) to conduct a study on information services for ports and terminals. The analysis is being carried out as part of a European project aimed at developing a digitalisation strategy for freight transport on continental Europe’s inland waterways. 

As the central federal authority of the Federal Waterways and Shipping Administration, the GDWS is participating in the “Digitalisation of Inland Waterways” (DIWA) project, which is funded by the EU’s Connecting Europe Facility (CEF) programme and involves four other national inland waterway authorities: the Netherlands, Belgium, France and Austria. The project aims to develop a common, integrated strategy for the digitalisation of the inland waterways of the TEN-T corridors, making the transport mode more competitive and sustainable in the long term.

“We at GDWS are pleased that, together with our European project partners, we will be able to help shape the future of European inland waterway transport and to contribute to this environmentally friendly mode yielding an even better performance,” say Thomas Wagner, Head of Department for Inland Transport Engineering and Tobias Aretz, National DIWA Coordinator (both GDWS).

As part of the business process developing a framework for the DIWA master plan, HPC has been commissioned to explore the information services for ports and terminals. The focus will be on building an inventory of the data inter-faces between inland navigation operators and European ports, as well as the IT system landscape.  The aim is to determine the existing level of digital maturity and future potential with regard to the digitalisation of the processes engaging ports and inland navigation.

” Against the background of the heavy utilisation of road and railway systems, the integration of inland navigation into the overall development of intermodal transport concepts is very welcome, ” says Hartmut Beyer, authorised signatory at HPC. He is convinced that “The digital transformation of the inland waterways network will significantly increase the attractiveness of the mode for customers. At HPC, we are very pleased to be able to input into the strategic development of this important trans-European project with our combined port and IT know-how.”

HPC has many years of experience in this sector and has advised national and international inland ports on operational issues, analyses and digitalisation projects. For example, HPC supports the Hamburg Vessel Coordination Center HVCC in optimisation and coordination of maneuvering when feeder vessels and larger ships meet in restricted parts of the Elbe or in port.

In addition, HPC has successfully implemented digitalisation and inland navigation projects for operators on the Rhine, in India and the USA.

HPC is an active member of the Inland Vessel Working Group of Hamburg Hafen Marketing. The working group aims to strengthen the role of inland navigation in the Port of Hamburg.

Further information on the DIWA project and the TEN-T corridors can be found at www.masterplandiwa.eu.

For more information on HPC’s consultancy services, please visit www.hamburgportconsulting.com.