Port of Felixstowe (Hutchison Ports), 5G and AI Predictive Maintenance Trial for Cranes
The Port of Felixstowe, the United Kingdom's largest container port, operated by Hutchison Ports, led a government co-funded 5G trial designed to test internet of things sensors and artificial intelligence to optimize the predictive maintenance cycle of its 31 quay-side and 82 yard cranes (DCMS, 2021; UK Government, n.d.).
By March 2022, six quay cranes were being fitted with sensors (Three UK, 2022). Partners were Three UK, Cambridge University and Blue Mesh Solutions, with Ericsson and Siemens as subcontractors. Government funding was £1,634,590 of a total project value of £3,405,776 (DCMS, 2021).
Sensors on the cranes were to monitor factors such as temperature changes, vibrations and noise, with the data fed into an AI engine to develop a predictive maintenance algorithm that would optimize when cranes are taken out of service. The work focused on the quay crane spreader, which had been identified as prone to failure (UK5G, 2021).
The trial aimed to show productivity and efficiency gains while reducing unplanned outage (DCMS, 2021). At launch, Hutchison Ports UK estimated multi-million pound savings from improved availability and better scheduling of planned maintenance (UK5G, 2021). This was a forecast, not a measured result, and no published trial results were found.
Transferability
For DMC ports, the Felixstowe trial shows how a port can pilot sensor based predictive maintenance on a failure prone crane component with research and technology partners.
Transferable elements include condition monitoring sensors on critical components, an analytics capability that turns sensor data into maintenance schedules, and partnerships that share the cost and risk of a pilot.
Because no results were published, ports should set baseline measures for availability and maintenance cost before a pilot so that benefits can be verified.
Sources
All information used for this case study was based on publicly available resources.
- DCMS. 2021. £28 million to trial innovative new uses of 5G to improve people's lives. Press release, 13 January 2021. (opens in new tab)
- UK5G. 2021. 5G and IoT to revolutionise marine industry. 13 January 2021. (opens in new tab)
- UK Government. n.d. 5G Testbeds and Trials Programme: Complete List of 5G Projects (entry: 5G Ports of Felixstowe). GOV.UK guidance. (opens in new tab)
- Three UK. 2022. 5G Goes Live at the Port of Felixstowe. 3 March 2022. (opens in new tab)