Without a solid technology foundation, managing logistics for 300,000 containers and 7 million tons of freight per year simply wouldn’t be possible.
Helsingborg, Sweden’s second-largest container port, has a bold vision—to become the country’s most efficient and profitable port by 2030.
To make this a reality, Helsingborg IT Coordinator Jan Fenning and his team knew they needed to make some improvements to the port’s IT infrastructure.
“For many years, we were just fire-fighting infrastructure problems,” Fenning says. “We wanted to focus on delivering business benefits rather than being focused on technology.”
Fenning saw opportunities to help make port operations more efficient, from moving trucks through the docks more quickly, shortening ships’ berth times, and automating manual processes.
So, Helsingborg Port worked with Platinum Citrix Solution Advisor AceIQ to create a hybrid cloud infrastructure and modernize operations.
IT improvements lead to increased port traffic
Many of the processes carried out by port staff were manual, which led to delays—and even lost revenue—if staff would forget to log hours worked or services provided.
Now, staff use forms and workflows within Citrix ShareFile to record hours and services, which has reduced errors and omissions, and sped up processes. Using Citrix Endpoint Management, they also now have secure access to all relevant apps and data on their mobile devices, from wherever they may be around the port. Additionally, Citrix ADC has sped up logon times from three or four minutes to just 30 seconds.
“We have got rid of pen and paper as tools on the quayside,” Fenning says. “Most of the manual routines are gone, and we’ve seen the IT skills of employees increase significantly. Staff began to come up with more creative solutions—finding ways to use the technology to improve processes even further.”
The various improvements to Helsingborg’s IT systems have dramatically improved times for ships and trucks. Instead of one hour, the average turnaround time for a truck entering the port is now just 23 minutes.
“One local haulage business now makes six trips per day to the port instead of just two or three because of our improvements,” Fenning says. “That means better business for them and us. Our freight traffic is much higher now. We are receiving containers from all over the south of Sweden because people recognize we are an efficient port.”
Better security protects sensitive information
Information security is an important consideration for Helsingborg Port. Fenning’s team uses Citrix to control access to apps and data at a granular, job-role level.
“With Citrix ADC, we can give people access to the information they need and nothing else—no internet access or exe files,” he says. “We operate under strict security requirements from customs, and Citrix helps us ensure everything is secure. No data leaves the Citrix environment. Once we secure our Citrix servers, the whole system is secure.”
IT becomes an effective business partner
Helsingborg’s IT strategy of focusing on supporting business value rather than infrastructure has paid off. The IT team’s contribution to port operations profitability is widely recognized.
“Four or five years ago, IT was considered a pain in the butt. No one could see the value,” Fenning says. “But today, people appreciate our role as a business partner. The understanding of what we do is extremely good. Citrix and AceIQ have been an important part of that transformation. They will be our main technology partners for the foreseeable future.”
