Insight – August 2023
VICT Container VGM Check Weighing – Weight Discrepancy Fee
Container Transport Alliance Australia (CTAA) released an update on the VICT Weight Discrepancy Fee that has been in place since 1st June 2023.
Since 1 June 2023, Victoria International Container Terminal (VICT) at Webb Dock, Melbourne has been applying a VGM Weight Discrepancy Fee for full import and export containers determined to have a +/- one tonne variance from the container’s Verified Gross Mass (VGM) declared to and documented by the shipping line.
VICT has calibrated the load cells attached to the “spreaders” on its Automated Stacking Cranes (ASCs) to meet Australia’s weight measurement standards. Effectively therefore, VICT weighs every container passing through the container terminal.
In consultation with VICT, CTAA has explored the ramifications of the check weighing processes now in place at VICT and the application of the VGM Weight Discrepancy Fee.
In the short time that the VGM Weight Discrepancy Fee process has been in place at VICT:
- 7% of full import containers have recorded a variance of +/- one tonne from the declared VGM;
- 3% of full export containers have recorded a variance of +/- one tonne from the declared VGM
Some containers have been found to have larger variances than one tonne. For example, 7% of the containers found to have a variance have recorded a variance greater than five tonnes from the declared VGM.
In an Update on the issues, we have suggested what steps forwarders, importers and exporters should take to ensure more accurate declarations of Verified Gross Mass (VGM) are made at the port of origin (for imports), and at Australian ports for exports, to avoid Weight Discrepancy Fee “penalties” at VICT or at other container terminals in Australia.
The Impact of AI on the Logistics Industry
Artificial Intelligence is a next-level technology that understands, learns, and replicates human activity and produces efficiency more than a human.
An MHI study projected that the pace of AI growth is predicted to rise from 14% to 73% over the next 5 years. Recently AI has been gaining traction in the logistics industry. Thanks to AI abilities, there are no domains that can escape from it.
Digitalization is now essential for any domain with changing customer demands. In that, logistics is not an exception, it is indeed for them to smooth the operations. Along with digitalization, integrating machine learning and AI could bring automated operations and error-free supply management.
Here are a few impacts that AI has on the logistics industry:-
- Predictive Analysis
- Computer Vision
- Speeding the Delivery
- Big Data
- Influence on Costs
- Improved Client Experience
- Enhanced Safety
AI has a lot of use cases in the logistics industry. The tech is having a holistic approach to doing everything in logistics from production to fast shipment and safe delivery. With these significant impacts, there is no doubt that AI influence in logistics will drive revolutionary growth in the upcoming decades with cutting-edge advancements. Thereby driving efficiency and profitability.
Reach out to your SILA Sales representative today or sales@sila.net.au to learn how SILA’s visual platforms (SV3) can improve your supply chain
ABF Commissioner Michael Outram APM Speech to the Trans-Tasman Business Circle
Investing in the border as a strategic asset
What do I mean when I call the border a strategic asset?
Well, in good times, you can call these times the good times now, the border is of course an economic asset that should be used to leverage economic growth and productivity through trade and travel primarily. It can generate more money of course, through increased productivity and migration.
In times of crisis, the border is an asset that can protect our economic and national security. And border settings should be able to be adjusted by Government, in cooperation with industry, in a really fast and agile and nimble way to guard against risks, harness opportunities and enhance our overall resilience. And that did not happen in the pandemic, we weren’t able to do it because we’re still on a paper based systems.
The border has to be an efficient mechanism to ensure our economic security, protect our supply chains, of course, and protect our community during a crisis. And we all know from the pandemic, the thing about crises is we don’t know when they’re coming. But we know we have to prepare for more.
So I want to create a broader policy discussion around the border, and the way we look at it, more border as a system – not just a series of lines on a map or entry or exit points or new ports or new airports, cargo containers, passport checks. These shouldn’t be thought of in a policy sense at all as separate or siloed – all the domains or functions that industry and governments sometimes think in terms of. The whole thing’s interconnected and needs to be thought on in those terms, as being an interconnected system.
Read the Commissioners full speech here
AUSTRALIAN TRUSTED TRADER
Australian Trusted Trader reduces red tape for Trusted Traders at the border, improves certainty in export markets, and expedites the flow of their cargo in and out of Australia, which means faster access to market.
Administered by Home Affairs with the Australian Border Force, Trusted Trader is free and accredits Australian businesses with compliant trade practices and a secure supply chain. Once accredited, businesses have access to a growing range of benefits that simplify their customs processes.
SILA Global is an Australian Trusted Trader (ATT) and we encourage our clients to explore the benefits of being an ATT. If you would like to discuss this further or be guided through the process, our in-house customs broker, Nic Demo, is happy to help!
Nicoll Demo
nicoll@sila.net.au
(07) 3908 1622
AMAZON AUSTRALIA ANNOUNCES ROBOTICS FULFILMENT CENTRE FOR MELBOURNE
New robotics centre to create around 2,000 jobs, working alongside cutting-edge technology
Around 2,000 additional jobs will be created during construction and fit out of the building
Amazon Australia announced plans to open its second Amazon Robotics fulfilment centre (FC) at the AustralianSuper owned Craigieburn Logistics Estate, in Craigieburn, northern Melbourne. Targeting completion in 2025, the new site will house up to 25 million of the smaller items that are sold on Amazon.com.au. Amazon Australia’s investment in the site continues the company’s commitment to Australia, boosting employment opportunities and improving selection and delivery promise for customers around the country.
It will create around 2,000 local jobs once fully operational, with the opportunity to work alongside advanced robotics. Excavation works have begun on the site which is being developed by LOGOS. It is expected the construction and fit out of the state-of-the-art facility will create an additional 2,000 jobs for the area. Once open, the site will offer a diverse range of job opportunities from part time to full time, in a high-tech, industry-leading workplace. Jobs will range from highly skilled roles like IT, HR and engineering, to entry level roles with on-the-job training. The majority of jobs will be permanent full-time roles, offering exciting career opportunities, competitive pay and benefits such as subsidised healthcare and up to 20 weeks paid parental leave.
The fulfilment centre will span around 209,000 square metres across four levels – that’s equivalent to 11 Melbourne Cricket Grounds, or five times the size of Federation Square, making it the largest warehouse ever built in Australia (beating Amazon’s Western Sydney robotics site by 9,000 sqm). The construction of this second robotics site follows the successful launch of Amazon Australia’s first robotics site in Western Sydney in 2022, which doubled the company’s operational footprint.
Read the full Amazon Notice here
ANTI-DUMPING NOTICE NO 2023/041
Certain Hollow Structural Sections exported to Australia from countries subject to Anti-Dumping Measures
Findings of Exemption Inquiry No. 0093
