Managing the procurement of twenty straddle carriers to support the Port’s growing container terminal operations
Carrying the future
To support Lyttleton Port's ongoing growth, we managed the end-to-end procurement of twenty straddle carriers, including eight 3-high Liebherr and twelve 4-high Konecranes machines. Managing the definition of user requirements, appointing a new supplier and ensuring a smooth changeover to new machines within a unionised team were all critical elements of this project.
An internal and external process
The first part of the process saw us working closely with the port's operations and maintenance teams to correctly define requirements and ensure they were clearly included in the supply agreement. It was essential that we fully understood all operational and maintenance requirements, as well as future growth plans, to feed into the optimal selection of new machines and supplier.
Following this internal engagement stage, we then negotiated procurement agreements via a competitive process involving international vendors. The new straddle fleet is being introduced over a three-year period, with the first tranche successfully commissioned in late 2018.
Points of interest
- The Konecranes straddle carriers were pre-assembled and tested in Germany and then dis-assembled and transported to New Zealand to minimise time and issues during assembly on-site.
- A large amount of technology and driver aids were incorporated into the new machines to improve operational performance, maintenance effort and safety.
- The new machines were procured with consideration of potential future automation.
