Digitally track and manage large components at quayside storage areasCopy Link

Background

Network of port facilities

To support the growing Offshore Wind farm construction activities SGRE is developing its network of port logistics facilities in key offshore wind markets around the world. The port facilities are located geographically close to developing offshore wind zones, and will typically (but not necessarily) be co-located with a wind turbine blade manufacturing facility. One of the established port facilities is located in Hull and will be the initial focus for this challenge, providing a test site to pilot the successful solution. However any solution to this challenge should be scalable and transferable so that it can be rolled out across other port facilities.

Port facilities provide a mustering point for large wind turbine components (blades, nacelles and tower sections) which are delivered to the site either from adjacent manufacturing facilities, from other SGRE manufacturing facilities, or direct from suppliers. The large components can then be stored, maintained and pre-assembled in kits before being loaded out onto Jack-Up vessels in a scheduled order to meet a specific wind farm project construction programme. Moving, storing and maintaining these large components incurs costs which need to be allocated to appropriate projects and cost centres, and which can be minimised through improved logistics management, optimised planning and process efficiencies.

Components being moved at port facilities

Further details for the 3 main component types are provided here:

• Blades: at least 75m long and ~5m diameter at the root end. Blades typically arrive from adjacent manufacturing facilities, but sometimes additionally by road or sea. Blades generally arrive on site individually but will be dispatched as specific sets of three blades per turbine based on weights and balancing considerations. While in storage, blades are grouped ‘virtually’ and generally not physically located together. There are multiple laydown areas on the site for blades.
• Nacelles: dimensions vary depending on platform size, but a typical 8MW nacelle is 20m long, 6.5m wide and 8m tall. Nacelles are fully assembled when they arrive on site, typically delivered by sea. Whilst in storage, nacelles require periodic maintenance (e.g. shaft turning) and storage bays have power supplies provided.
• Towers: approx.100m long, 4-6m diam. Typically arrive at port facilities by sea in 3-4 sections. Assembled on dockside prior to loadout onto Jack-Up vessel.

Activity types undertaken at port facilities

Activities in and around the port facilities are generally planned. Planned works include:

• Receipt of components on site from adjacent factories or remotely, via sea or road transportation. Sea Transportation from other sites and suppliers may be LoLo or RoRo operations using specialist cranage and ships.
• Receipt inspections and handover of components arriving on site.
• Transport of components around the facility from point of receipt to allocated storage locations.
• Storage and maintenance of components
• Nacelle maintenance, final fit-out and dispatch preparations.
• Transport of components from storage locations to Load Out area
• Pre-assembly of tower sections to form complete towers for Load Out
• Load out in Turbine ‘kits’, typically for 4 turbines at a time, onto Jack-Up vessels for delivery to a wind farm construction site.

However operations must also be flexible to address any unplanned or emerging events. Some examples of these emerging activities include:

• Detection, recording and rectification of damage to components that may have occurred prior to receipt, or during transportation and storage on site.
• Detection, recording and rectification of any missed quality issues from point of manufacture.
  • In both cases, any damage or defects are recorded and logged in appropriate Quality Control systems.
• Modifications or retrofits of additional features (for instance as a late change of scope at customer’s request).
• Unplanned allocation and dispatch of individual components to other ports or wind farm sites as replacements to address shortfalls.

Unplanned activities are relatively rare but can be disruptive to operations and incur additional costs. Responses to address these emergent situations need to be planned and optimised to minimise costs and disruption to on-going planned operations and wind farm construction schedules. These activities need to be managed, tracked and recorded, with costs being allocated to responsible projects and/or cost centres.

All activities, planned and unplanned, require the use of equipment for transportation (e.g. trucks, trailers and bogies), lifting (e.g. craneage, jigs and beams) and storage (e.g. cradles, power sources, etc.) as well as personnel to operate them. Costs of all these logistics resources need to be managed, tracked and recorded and allocated to appropriate projects and costs centres. There is also a need to minimise the number of moves that any one component undergoes to minimise logistics and storage costs. This is achieved through planning optimisation and post activity reviews.

Location of components at port facilities

While on site, stored components are not necessarily linked to ‘geographically-fixed’ or predetermined storage bay areas, because the quantity and types of components will vary depending upon the number of construction projects at any one time and the delivery and dispatch schedules. Flexibility in the laydown areas is maintained to optimise the storage space available and to minimise movements of components in the bays.

Optimisation of port facilities and wind farm construction

Costs of Jack-Up vessels used for wind farm construction are high, and therefore the time spent in port for the vessel for Load Out purposes must always be minimised. Therefore careful planning and preparation is needed to ensure that all required components, including ‘matched’ sets of blades and pre-assembled tower components, are ready to go in the Load Out area when the vessel arrives.

Specifically for the Hull port facility there are two separate storage sites in use. The main storage is shown in Figure 2 and is adjacent to the blade factory and quaysides used for deliveries and dispatch. In addition, there is a separate ‘overflow’ storage site (not shown) used for periods of high volume. Components stored in this ‘overflow’ require road transportation to the main site for Load Out.

The main quayside area at the Hull site is 150,000 m2 and the overflow area is 70,000m2 located 1km to the east of the main site. There is an additional storage area at King George Dock (KGD) located 3km east with a capacity of 80,000m2. Both sites are covered by 4G networks, but GNSS positioning accuracy and connectivity across the whole site will need to be confirmed. Complete WiFi coverage for the whole site does not currently exist.

Other SGRE facilities in other countries will have their own specific geographies and set-ups which are not provided here, but any tracking solution must be able to be tailored to different site requirements.

Challenges

Challenge Introduction

SGRE is looking for solutions to improve the Logistics Management of its port activities. Specifically, it is looking for solutions to track the movements, storage locations and maintenance activities of large wind turbine components, as well as a system for recording and storing this operational data with functionality to utilise it in various planning and reporting activities, including cost-tracking, performance analysis, scenario planning and data visualisation.

Due to the breadth of the innovation challenge and the variety of technologies that could potentially address the challenge, it is being split into 2 sub-challenges to maximise the ability for innovative companies to respond and to focus on their own technology strengths. The challenge is split into:

1. Tracking and monitoring of physical parts, movements and maintenance activity, with the required hardware and software.
2. Data management, usage and visualisation, with the required software and interfaces.

Respondents are invited to apply to either one or both of the sub-challenges depending on their area of expertise. Solutions to each sub-challenge must be capable of linking seamlessly to the other, so individual applicants should consider the potential for collaborative approaches.

While not limiting the technologies from solution providers, it is expected that solutions would consider innovations from some of the following areas:

• Internet of Things
• Digital – databases and programming
• Artificial Intelligence
• RFID tagging
• Digital mapping
• Bar code or camera readers
• Camera systems with product ID
• Vision devices
• Warehousing
• Logistics management
• Food product warehousing
• Aerospace
• Automotive
• Manufacturing
• Space and Satellites

General Requirements

• All equipment must meet the standards for the expected CE mark for a system and its components with an outside working environment.
• A solution is required to collect data 24 hours a day on secure servers onsite or via cloud access.
• Additional support equipment like handheld devices must be weather proof and meet harsh conditions requirements as expected by people working on the quayside and heavy lift equipment. Equally, software solutions must be capable of gathering data from weather robust equipment.
• A solution must be able to handle multiple Logistics activities at any one time and should work with the knowledge that many very heavy and large parts are moving around the site.
• The technical requirements for power can be discussed at the next stage if successful.

Challenge 1: Tracking and monitoring of physical parts, movements and maintenance activity

A physical parts tracking solution is required which can collect and manage all data for large wind turbine components and activities around the port facilities. This should cover the entire quayside area. Deliveries could come from adjacent manufacturing facilities or from other plants, arriving on site by sea or road.

The aim of the solution should be to collect data on storage, transportation and lifting of components as they arrive on site, move around the dock and ultimately get picked up and loaded on to specialist ships for installation at an offshore wind farm.

The solution should monitor, record and manage:

• The location and current status of all large wind turbine components, including nacelles, blades and tower sections.
• The location, status and usage of all lifting, storage or maintenance jigs and fixings (e.g. lifting frames, bogies).
• Each movement activity including start/finish points, durations, personnel & equipment involved, reasons for movements and cost classifications and allocations.
• Any storage or maintenance activities required during storage periods (e.g. power to nacelles, rotations of components, etc.).
• Any special unplanned corrective measures or retrofit/refurbishment campaigns.
• Spaces available to provide locations for incoming goods.

Additional solution requirements are as follows:

• Output to a database of tracking data for financial and operational decision-making purposes – i.e. the solution must interface seamlessly with the solution to Challenge 2, detailed below.
• As mentioned, components should not necessarily be linked to ‘fixed’ storage bays, to allow flexibility in storage under different scenarios and volumes of components on site.
• During component moves, dynamic tracking is not necessarily required. I.e. as long as the start point, end point and duration of a move is recorded, the route taken around the site does not necessarily have to be recorded.
• Determination of the type of component tracking is left to the solution provider, whether this is dynamic real-time tracking of all components, or recording of positions at the beginning and end of each move.
• The ability to link other data files such as camera phone pictures to particular recorded activities (e.g. to record any identified damage to components) would be advantageous.
• Data from different sources to achieve stock management and safe operations on site.
• A mapping interface for operations managers and logistics operators to guide them to the component location using a tablet device or similar is required.
• Solutions should track the location and orientation of components to a one-metre accuracy.

Note: previously-trialled GPS systems have been shown to be inaccurate in parts of the Hull port facility. Selected solution-providers can discuss technology requirements and will be given the opportunity to survey the site if required. Additional hardware that may be needed to augment GPS to improve accuracy should be highlighted in the proposal.

Challenge 2: Data management, usage and visualisation

A Data Management system is required to record, manage and utilise data on activities within the port facility related to the movement, storage and maintenance of large wind turbine components.

The aim of the solution should be to collect and analyse the data from current and past operations. It should provide a historical record, cost allocation, record performance indicators and capture lessons learned, as well as have functionality for forward scenario planning. The system will take input data from asset tracking systems (see challenge 1 above) and other data inputs in various formats, visualise this and then route optimal ways to carry out future activities.

Functionalities of the solution are as follows:

• Record and store all logistics data captured from Challenge 1 above.
• Costing of individual activities and cost allocations to relevant projects and cost centres.
• Analysis, reporting and visualisation capabilities.
• Ability to input or import component information in advance of deliveries, e.g. accepting a simple entry system for production numbers and overseas deliveries which may come in spreadsheets or from an API.
• Ability to export operational and financial reporting data to other systems using common data transfer formats. SGRE runs SAP as a companywide ERM system - discussions on an API may take place but not essential.
• Planning capabilities based on delivery and dispatch information.
• Scenario planning and optimisation capabilities using variety of optimisation criteria – primarily cost-driven, but could include least time, least #moves, etc.
• Workflow management of personnel and logistics assets.
• Ability to notify workflow requirements to operators mobile devices.
• Ability to store and connect external documents (e.g. photographs, work instructions, etc.) which may be linked to a component or activity.
• A mapping system for current, historic and future scenario visualisation, interpretation and optimisation.
• It is envisaged that the database platform will be commonly commercially available and the tool will be portable to different database formats, unless significant advantages of a custom-built database platform can be demonstrated.
• SGRE are open to proposals of other functionalities or software modules not listed here, that solution providers see additional benefits.

Rewards and benefits

Successful applicants will be given an opportunity to pitch to SGRE. The package may also include:

• Support from the Catapult network and the KTN
• Support with the development of a prototype or pilot
• Technical support
• A place in KTN or Catapult events
• A potential business collaboration (it is expected that a complete solution may require a collaboration with applicants from challenge 2)
• Investor introductions (if investment is required)

If successful, SGRE may look for future developments of your product to include:

• Tracking of loads during transport from other countries
• Scenario planning to manage deliveries and collections
• Business development opportunities utilising a space to project calculator e.g. vessel layovers and ability to accommodate
• Plant tracking
• Blade stacking and stock control
• Nacelle maintenance
• Swept path analysis

Deployment Timescale 

• Launch of the Competition: 18th May 2020
• Deadline for applications: 2nd July 2020
• Selection and notification of finalists: 16th July 2020
• Solutions should be:
  • Fully deployable for prototype testing within 6 months of competition win.
  • Fully deployable commercially within 1 year (there are operational sites that a solution could start work on immediately if the system is already commercially available).

Cost requirement and market opportunity  

A solution to either challenge would provide significant commercial advantage if it improved load out efficiency because time at the quayside is expensive and delays to loading costly installation vessels must be avoided.

SGRE are looking for a solution to be maintained and kept secure on either a yearly lease basis or will consider purchase if the system can be proven to be maintainable through a third party or the original coders.

Eligibility and assessment criteria     

Entrants to this competition must be:

• Established businesses, startups, SMEs or individual entrepreneurs
• UK based or have the intention to set up a UK base

Applications will be assessed on:

• Relevance to the topic
• Innovative nature of the subject
• Coherence of the proposed business model
• Feasibility/ economic viability
• Development potential
• Maturity of project/solution
• Ability to launch project quickly/Ease of implementation
• Price/quality ratio
• Suitability for the UK and European Market

IP and Potential Commercial Route    

• Existing background IP associated with a potential solution will remain with Solution Provider(s). Where any new IP generation is envisaged, it will be subject to the mutual IP agreement of the Solution Provider(s) and Innovation Challenger.
• Any commercial deployment of transferred solution or newly developed solution, through licensing, joint venture, partnership or direct investment, will be subject to the commercial agreement between the Solution Provider(s) and Innovation Challenger.
• Where necessary, a non-disclosure agreement (NDA) may be signed to uphold confidentiality in the engagement between the Solution Provider(s) and Innovation Challenger.
• Innovate UK and KTN do not take any share of IP ownership or enter into commercial venture through the OWiX programme.

If you have any questions about the content of this challenge or are looking for a collaboration partner, we would be happy to help. Do not hesitate to contact John Ransford at the KTN for a detailed discussion: john.ransford@ktn-uk.org