Portsmouth Commercial Port’s fruit importing business, MMD Shipping Services, has invested in a £2.2 million mobile harbour crane and an integral IT upgrade which will improve the service it offers clients as it anticipates a busy 2010.
MMD has this month assembled its new Gottwald HMK 4406 mobile harbour crane. With a maximum lifting capacity of 100 tonnes, and a working radius of 46 metres, the crane has been selected to match customers’ moves towards larger ships, with more on-deck container capacity.
The versatile HMK 4406 will suit MMD’s requirement to switch from intensive loading and unloading of containers, to handling of fruit pallets, general cargo, and when required, handling of project cargo and heavy loads.
Following Fyffes’ decision in 2008 to increase the volume of bananas imported through Portsmouth by 35 per cent, and the ongoing success of MMD’s Moroccan contract, the company decided to add the crane to the port’s offer.
In addition to the large investment in new cranes, MMD has also undertaken a full IT upgrade which will involve the full scanning of all bananas in and out of MMD. By March, MMD will have also implemented a web portal which will allow customers and staff to have access to accurate information regarding available stocks.
Mark Willcox, MMD director, said: “We have high aspirations for the service we want to offer our customers, and improvements in the IT system definitely help us to provide a more efficient offering to them. Our new web portal will be a fantastic addition for our clients, and the cranes will ensure that we can handle changes in cargo, but our aspirations don’t stop there and we hope to build on it throughout the coming years.”
Showing further commitment to customer service at MMD, the company has now achieved approval to the international standard for quality management ISO9001 2008. This award will ensure that MMD has structured procedures and systems in place to support its long-term customer and employee needs.
Port manager and MMD director Martin Putman said: “We’re investing for the long term, and that reflects the confidence we have going into 2010. We work in partnership with all of our customers, and every investment is designed to meet their needs, now and in the future.”
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