In September 2018, Ports of Auckland Limited (POAL) in New Zealand signed a software service level agreement (SLA) with Konecranes for the new automated straddle carriers soon to arrive at their terminal. The SLA includes 24/7 software technical support once the new equipment goes live.

The equipment covered by the software service level agreement was ordered in 2017. The order included 27 new Konecranes Noell Automated Straddle Carriers (A-STRADs) and 21 retrofits to manually operated Konecranes Noell straddle carriers that would make them fully automated.

“Our upgrade to automated straddles is essential to increasing our capacity so that we can handle the future freight needs of a rapidly growing Auckland city,” says Ports of Auckland Chief Executive Tony Gibson. “In order to deliver for the city, we need to have confidence that any problems with the automation software will be resolved quickly and efficiently. This SLA gives us that confidence.”

“We very much appreciate the trust of POAL in our automated straddle carriers and software. The software agreement comes as part of the Konecranes automation solution in order to provide support under the most critical circumstances, and also, to provide piece of mind when changing, upscaling or transitioning fr-om manual to automated operation,” said Mario van den Heuvel, Director, Technical Support, Konecranes Port Service. “With around the clock access to our experts and minimum failure response times, the transition becomes easier.”

Under the SLA, Konecranes will provide a 24/7 expert hotline, continuous access to its service desk, and the latest updates of all the system software. Konecranes will be able to react and resolve software issues fast, as hotline staff will establish a secure remote connection to the POAL Konecranes Noell straddle carriers fr-om anywhere in the world.

About Konecranes
Konecranes is a world-leading group of Lifting Businesses™, serving a broad range of customers, including manufacturing and process industries, shipyards, ports and terminals. Konecranes provides productivity enhancing lifting solutions as well as services for lifting equipment of all makes. The Group has 17,000 employees at 600 locations in 50 countries. Konecranes class A shares are listed on the Nasdaq Helsinki (symbol: KCR).