What training do we need to effectively manage temperature-controlled supply chains?

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The success of industries that rely on cold storage supply chains comes down to knowing how to ship a product whose temperature needs to be tailored to the circumstances of the transport. Cold chain operations have substantially improved in recent decades and the industry is able to respond to the needs of a wide range of products.  Moving a shipment through the supply chain without suffering any setbacks or temperature anomalies requires the establishment of a comprehensive logistics process that maintains the integrity of the freight.

Most of the accidents of refrigerated cargo are caused by wrong consolidation operations. To make the most of the available space and to cut costs, exporters or importers tend to use all of the space of the transport units, not taking into account that for perishable shipments two vital things have to be considered: air flow between the cargo; and the types of freight that can be combined.

Understanding the functionality of a container and air flow circulation is essential to comprehending how to export such cargo. The Escola has identified the need for training in this industry and undertook upon itself to train its students on the operations of a refrigerated container to ensure safe and intact delivery of the goods at their final destinations.

For example, a common fallacy is to assume that a refrigerated container serves to freeze the loads within in. These units are designed to maintain a steady temperature throughout the transport chain, while the goods should be frozen or correctly stored prior to collection.

Aside from the transport equipment required, the majority of carriers of perishable goods aren’t familiar with the remaining operations throughout the logistics chain. The Escola considers it essential for the companies that operate with this type of cargo to have a complete knowledge of the chain to understand how the goods control, transport, inspections and other necessary procedures are carried out. Only a complete understanding and consideration will ensure the integrity and quality of the cargo at the end of the day. To explain such a well-structured procedure, visits, case studies and practical workshops are fundamental.

All of these topics are dealt with in depth in the specialized training in Temperature Controlled Supply Chains offered by the Escola Europea, which will take place from 6 to 9 May 2019 in Barcelona. The main objective is for people to know what are the best planning and execution practices in each of the stages of the cold storage supply chain and, specifically, those that utilise intermodal transport. The legal aspects surrounding such operations are also analysed during the training.

The idea of offering a course with these characteristics arose from an analysis of the evolution of supply chains and from the demands of professionals and students alike. They called for more specialized training that would facilitate visits to the leading operators in the sector that carry out the practical parts of the operations. The course includes the active participation of companies and entities active in the sector of perishable products in Barcelona such as Mercadona, Frimercat, Cultivar, PIF, Barcelona Container depot service SL, Tmz and Port de Barcelona.

If you’re interested and want to know more, you can take a look at the course programme: https://escolaeuropea.eu/calendar/temperature-controlled-supply-chains/. Registrations are open all the way through to the end of April

The jobs of the Future

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Talking about the jobs of the future has become fashionable. What will a white-collar professional look like? For many years now, researches have been predicting that new technologies, constantly evolving, will be incorporated into our daily lives to the extent that they will substantially change the way we work. Nevertheless, it is still not clear what, how and when these changes will take place.

The end of February saw the Mobile World Congress, which was held in Barcelona. Following the gathering we now know that networks with 5G technologies will be deployed quickly. The Port of Barcelona has set aside considerable investment in the network’s installation. From then on we can look forward to robots, automation processes, sensorisation, big data, IoT, drones and so on and so forth.

A news item from the Spanish online magazine El País Digital dated 25 February 2019 further underlined the issue: “Before the halfway point of the year is passed, the Ford and Nissan plants (with more than 10,000 workers between the two) will reveal what future awaits them. Doubts about the future of diesel and the risks about how the transition to electric cars will be dealt with and whether the Spanish industry will be able to climb on the bandwagon to produce them. “

Employees who know how to make cars with traditional internal combustion engines will now have produce electric cars. The electrical engineering skills for these new vehicles might be better found among employees of a washing machine factory rather than the workforce of current-day carmakers. We are living in a world of disruptive changes that demand a very high adaptability.

We are told that many of the current jobs will disappear and new ones will be created, but we do not know which ones, nor do we know the specific skills that will have to be acquired. Even if we had the advantage of foresight, it would not be easy to react either as surely, we do not yet have readily available teachers or experts prepared to train others in these subjects.

I, as the director, am fortunate because the Escola Europea has a magnificent vantage point to see and assess the situation in many training centres in Europe and across the Mediterranean shores. A significant number of students and teachers pass through our classrooms. We spend a lot of time together, and this gives us the opportunity to get to know each other and to talk a little about a myriad of topics.  I’ve seen that the majority is worried about the future, and about whether the students are well prepared for what faces them in the road ahead.

Our teachers are exceptional, but nevertheless they are aware that the problem is universal and affects everyone. They also are faced with the challenge of teaching skills that they themselves have not yet fully mastered. The VUCA world (Volatile, Uncertain, Complex and Ambiguous) imposes itself.

According to the study by the Barcelona business school IESE “The Future of Occupation and Future Professional Skills” ( February 2019), what we can see is that the knowledge gap in technology and digitalization is following a continuous upward trend. “48% of companies detect deficiencies in vocational training graduates. Likewise, companies consider that the knowledge gap in areas such as big data, digital marketing, artificial intelligence or blockchain will be even bigger in five years, which increases the challenge of improving the education system”. Companies consider that they have to play a more active role in the definition of future professional competences and in the contents of training. They need, on the part of the education system, a more complete, holistic and practical training, with emphasis on the knowledge, skills and attitudes needed in the coming years. A more intense collaboration of the different actors is needed. 87% of the companies that participated in the study considered it important for them play a more active role in defining the necessary knowledge, skills and attitudes that are in demand in the industry. They expressed their willingness to collaborate in the creation of training plans with the educational centres in this vital task.

The message is clear. The responsibility for training belongs not only to the educational institutions, but also to the companies themselves, and to the workers already active in the sector who should get their associations and professional networks involved.

We all owe recognition to those professionals who devote part of their time to training others. At the Escola we know this very well and are indebted to the individuals who come to lecture in our classrooms or carry out the practical workshops, and share their professional expertise and advice with us and our students. I ask you for the recognition and gratitude they deserve for the work they do.

If you are interested in this topic, it is worth spending some time on the report that the world economic forum produced in 2018 (https://www.weforum.org/reports/the-future-of-jobs-report-2018).

We must think of strategies that will allow us to facilitate the transition into this new technology-dominant professional landscape. And we have to be prepared for the surprises that will inevitably come up. Personally, I strongly believe that we will have a much better world, albeit a drastically different one from what we have today.

 

Eduard Rodés Director Escola Europea – Intermodal Transport

 

The Escola opens up registrations to 2019 Technical Courses

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The Escola constantly tries to identify what is lacking in the educational sphere of intermodal transport, in particular in light of the continuously changing landscape of the sector. New technologies bring new procedures, which in turn call for new skills of the operators and professionals involved. This gave birth to the Escola’s technical courses, which take a close look at specialised transport in today’s everchanging climate.

In the second quarter of 2019, the Escola Europea – Intermodal Transport will offer specialised technical courses for professionals in the logistics-port sector. There will be two editions of specialised training in May and June.

The first technical course will focus on temperature-controlled supply chains. It will take place from 6th to 9th of May in Barcelona. The contents of the course focus on how temperature-controlled products (stored, handled and transported) should be circulated through the distribution networks (manufacturers, service providers and customers) in accordance with their specified temperature conditions. Visits to Mercabarna (the wholesale market of Barcelona), a container terminal, an importer/distributor’s storage facilities, container depot and the Border Inspection Point (BIP) will accompany the theory taught in the classrooms. Organised in collaboration with the Port of Barcelona, Mercabarna, Barcelona Container Depot Service, Frimercat and Cultivar, the course is aimed at manufacturers, importers, exporters, distributors and shippers of temperature-controlled cargo and perishable products. For more information on the course, please visit:

https://escolaeuropea.eu/calendar/temperature-controlled-supply-chains/

The second technical course scheduled for June 17-19 focuses on groupage operations and consolidation centres. It will similarly take place in Barcelona, training participants in the handling of groupage shipments, consolidation centres, import/export procedures, customs, etc. To give a practical understanding of the theory imparted, visits will be made to a container terminal and consolidation warehouses. The course is organised in collaboration with the Romeu Group, International Forwarding S.L., CWT Globelink Group, Terminal Hutchison Ports BEST, Ibercondor, ATEIA-OLTRA and the Port of Barcelona. For more information on the course, please visit:

https://escolaeuropea.eu/calendar/groupage-and-consolidation-centres-2019/

The Escola Europea kicks off the year with a course in railway intermodality

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During the third week of January the first course for professionals of 2019 was organised by the Escola Europea – SURCO Operations II. This course offered advanced training in intermodal logistics and international freight transport.

The training is directed at professionals linked to companies involved with freight transport, shippers and/or port authorities.

The course analyses the different elements required for the provision of rail services, and give the necessary training and information to those who manage logistics chains in which the railroad is seen as a cost-effective alternative for services, cost or time. It also promotes the use of rail transport by exploring its characteristics.

The group of more than 20 participants came from companies such as SEAT, DB Shenker, NAFOSA, Campofrío. PortIC, Logiral, Aralogic, and from port authorities and dry ports (Barcelona, Tarragona, Valencia, Castellón, Avilés, Santander, Vilagarcía de Arousa, Cartagena, and Azuqueca. They had the opportunity to gain specialist knowledge in international rail transport. Alongside the theoretical classes, two out of the five days of the course were dedicated to practical workshops: one in Zaragoza to see the operations of the traffic control centre of ADIF and from the Maritime Terminal of Zaragoza (tmZ), and the other to discover the various railway infrastructures on the border between Spain and France (Port Bou terminal, LFP (transborder tunnel of Pertús) and the LorryRail terminal). The format of the training impressed all of the participants, as stressed by one of the participants “The visits were very useful, and combining theory and practical workshops is very good. The global experience is very good and extremely satisfying.”

From the 10th to the 12th of June 2019, a new edition of SURCO Operations I will take place in Barcelona. This introductory course will offer training in logistics and railway operators, infrastructures and equipment, legislation and documentation, freight railway services and railway terminals in ports. For more information you can consult: https://escolaeuropea.eu/calendar/surco-operations-i-2019/ . In the first half of 2019 the Escola will hold four other courses dedicated to professionals which will focus on technical aspects of transport (including temperature controlled freight, consolidated shipments and port operations). You can find information of these courses on the Escola’s website.

The Escola Europea closes the year with a course for North African professionals

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Over the past week the Escola Europea has organised the MOST MED course which brought together professionals from three countries from the Magreb: Algeria, Morocco and Tunisia. The training took place between the 16th and the 19th of December, and welcomed representatives from the port and logistics sectors. The goal was to explain, promote and debate the intermodal services and the motorways of the sea in the Mediterranean.

The course was organised in the framework of the TransLogMED project. The Escola is the leader of the initiative which aims to extend links with countries from the Magreb.

The individuals came both from private companies and public institutions, and thanks to their varied nationalities, the attendees were able to analyse different scenarios from each of the three countries. From Algeria members of the l’École Nationale Supérieure de Technologie (ENST), Groupe Serport and Logitrans Groupe took part. From Morocco, professionals from the Agence Marocaine de Développement de la Logistique, Association des Freights Forwarders du Maroc and UNISHIP came to the training. Finally, from Tunisia representatives of the Office of the Marine Marchande et des Ports, Groupe- Societé Tunisienne de Transit d’Agences et de Transport, Societé Tunisienne d’Acconage et de Manutention, Groupe des Manutentionnaires de Sfax, Institut Méditerranéen de Formation Aux Métiers Maritimes and the Ministry of Transport attended.

This final course marks the end of a busy year for the Escola, which witnessed 83 training actions, among which 35 were courses and 48 were visits – workshops in the Ports of Barcelona, Genoa and Civitavecchia, and on board of the vessels of Grimaldi Lines and GNV.

The Escola has welcomed more than 1200 students in its courses this past year, and more than 1800 individuals participated in the visits – workshops. Overall, a total of 32 training centres with students spanning 45 different nationalities have participated in the Escola’s training actions in 2018.

GNV vessel Excelsior becomes certified as a classroom for the Motorways of the Sea Training (MOST) courses

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This December Marta Miquel, Chief Business Officer of the Escola Europea – Intermodal Transport, delivered the Arete metope to certify the Excelsior vessel of the shipping company Grandi Navi Veloci (GNV), which operates the Tangier-Barcelona-Genoa route, as a classroom of the Training Centre. The certificate has been delivered to Commander Alessandro Fantini and Valerio Esposito, the GNV representatives in Barcelona, ​​and has immediately been placed in a pre-eminent place on the bridge of the vessel. This certificate indicates that the vessel meets the quality requirements established by the Escola to host the MOST courses (Motorways of the Sea Training).

The Arete award comes from the Greek word for “excellence” (Ἀρετή). In ancient Greece it was an important part of the education of young Athenians (Paideia). It included physical training, for which the gymnasion was created, and mental training, which gave the population skills of oratory, rhetoric, basic sciences and spiritual formation. All these disciplines serve as inspiration for the Escola, which emphasizes that the vessels in which the courses take place must be able to adapt to this type of training (updated with the requirements of modern training).

Other recipients of this award include the Cruise Rome and Cruise Barcelona vessels of Grimaldi Lines, the GNV vessel Fantastic, Tanit from Cotunav, the Aula dels Estels at the Drassanes terminal and the Europa classroom at the BEST terminal (both in Barcelona).

The Consortium of the Zona Franca launches its collaboration with the Escola in Forma’t al Port

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On the 26th of November, Pere Navarro, the State Representative of the Consortium of the Zona Franca (Free Trade Zone); Eduard Rodés, the Director of the Escola Europea and Joaquim Cabané, the President of the Work Group of Training and Employment of the Executive Committee for the Promotion of the Port of Barcelona, signed a collaboration agreement in which the Consortium became incorporated as a sponsor of the Forma’t al Port programme.

The programme, promoted by the Port of Barcelona and sponsored by the Barcelona Provincial Council, the City Hall of Barcelona, the Escola Europea, associations and organisations from the sector, has recently completed the first year of its second triennium (2017-2020).

The meeting also brought together Blanca Sorigué, the general director, Victor Francos, the Director of the Cabinet of the Special Delegate of the State and Marta Miquel, Chief Business Officer of the Escola Europea and Programme Manager of Forma’t al Port.

Forma’t al Port is the programme which helps the port community open its doors to students of Transport and Logistics, and International Commerce. In 2018 it has seen an exceptionally high participation rate: 415 young students could discover the Port of Barcelona and its business community.

The courses promote the incorporation of students in dual training schemes offered by companies in the sector, with the objective of helping create a logistic community that is able and well prepared to handle the strategic challenges of the Catalan region. The Consotrium of the Free Trade Zone will actively participate in the Training and Occupation working group of the Governing Council for the Promotion of the Port Community of Barcelona, contributing in particular to discussions on the professions of the sector.

Forma’t al Port has completed the month of November with two Management courses with Genoa as their destination. It will return in January with Introduction courses scheduled already for students coming from Catalan secondary schools.

Thanks to the good results achieved this year, the programme continues wiht the objective of helping position Barcelona and Catalonia in the front lines of logistic activities in Europe and in the World.

For more information you can visit the Programmes website www.escolaeuropea.eu/format or write to info@escolaeuropea.eu

MOST Iberia 2018 brings together Spanish, Portuguese and South American professionals

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For a second year running, the Escola brought together professionals from Spanish and Portuguese transport enterprises during the MOST Iberia edition of its well-established courses in intermodal maritime transport.

Between the 20th and the 23rd of October, a group comprising 53 professionals from the logistics and port sectors of Spain, Portugal and South America descended onto Barcelona to improve their knowledge of intermodal logistics and the motorways of the sea, and to expand their professional networks. During 4 days on board of a Ro-Pax ferry of Grimaldi Lines linking Barcelona to Civitavecchia, the participants could share their experiences, idiosyncrasies, and knowledge coming from their respective countries.

From Spain the participants came from the Spanish Ports (Puertos del Estado), as well as including logistic operators, transport companies and large associations and corporations from the sector: Roehlig, Casintra, Acotral, JVC Shipping & Solutions, El Corte Inglés and ATEIA. The South American delegation consisted of 25 professionals coming from port communities from Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama, Peru, the Dominican Republic and Uruguay. Members of public entities such as the regional government of Madeira, the Institute of Mobility and Transport, port authorities of Sines, Algrave, Douro, Leixões and Viana do Castelo, alongside representatives of private companies (Navex and Intermodal Portugal) formed the Portuguese delegation. “Excellent lecturers, an experience that allowed us see transport logistics from different perspectives than the ones we’re used to. All of this while living and experiencing a Mediterranean maritime journey. Thank you for everything” expressed one participant.

The teaching staff comprised: Álvaro Rodríguez Dapena, Planning and Development Director of Spanish Ports (Puertos del Estado); Ana Arévalo, Commercial Manager of SSS at the Port of Barcelona; Antonio Vargas, Ex General Director and current Board Member of Grimaldi Logistics Spain; Eduardo Bandeira, Executive Director of Intermodal Portugal; Raquel Nunes, Promotion and Training Manager and Eduard Rodés, Director of the Escola Europea.

The course developed the concept of co-modality as a tool to improve transport management. The motorways of the sea were shows as fundamental elements of a sustainable logistics supply chain. The course participants have to resolve a case study that evaluates short sea shipping solutions, and applies calculations of direct and indirect costs to determine an optimal transport solution in terms of economic, social and environmental terms.

A hugely successful fourth edition of the MOST Italy course in intermodal maritime logistics takes place in Italy

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As in previous years, the Escola Europea – Intermodal Transport has concluded with great success another edition of the MOST (Motorways of the Sea Training) Italy course in intermodal logistics for Italian professionals. From 29 September to 2 October, 32 participants from Italy and Brazil attended this edition of the training.

The inauguration ceremony was held at the Port Authority of Civitavecchia, seat of the ADSP of the Centre-North Tyrrhenian Sea and founding member of the Escola. Its president Francesco Maria Di Majo, accompanied by the Director of Harbour Security of the Ministry of Infrastructures, Mauro Coletta, have given the welcome to the participants and briefly introduced the present and the near future of intermodality in the Mediterranean and the fundamental importance of training in order to exploit the whole potential of the motorways of the sea.

Following the first theoretical classes on land, the large group of participants, accompanied by the teachers of the course, all of whom were experts in short sea shipping (SSS), boarded the Grimaldi Lines Ro-Pax vessel CRUISE BARCELONA, en route to Barcelona, along one of the motorways of the sea studied in the course.

Once again the Escola Europea was able to count on the collaboration of RAM (Rete Autostrade Mediterranee) Logistica – Infrastrutture – Trasport and ALIS (Associazione Logistica dell’Intermodalità Sostenibile), as well as the support of the Ministry of Infrastructures and Transport, Confitarma and Assoporti  for the organisation of the training.

During the four days of the course, the participants studied logistics and transport issues through theoretical lectures and practical workshops.

Andrea Campagna, from the Research Centre for Transport and Logistics of La Sapienza University in Rome, offered an in-depth analysis of transport costs, service times and other competitive factors to open the debate on the feasibility of a sustainable alternative to short sea shipping; Francesco Benevolo, director of RAM SpA, presented a wide overview of the motorways of the sea in Europe and explained the European Union’s environmental policy on transport, paying special attention to the fiscal incentives MAREBONUS and FERROBONUS, designed for intermodal transport; Nicolò Berghinz, representative of ALIS, presented some real cases of companies affiliated to the association that have successfully focused on intermodality to grow in the world of transport. The shipping companies and ports involved in the motorways of the sea between Spain and Italy explained the functioning of their infrastructures dedicated to short sea shipping: for the Port of Barcelona, Ana Arévalo, Commercial Manager specialized in SSS; for Grimaldi Lines, Commercial Manager Marcello Donnarumma; for GNV, Alessandro Feniello, Sales Freight Manager of GNV and for the ADSP of the Northern Central Tyrrhenian Sea, Giovanni Marinucci, Head of International Projects, who offered a presentation of the Port of Civitavecchia.

The contents of the course have been custom designed for the Italian professionals who attended the course, who came from different transport and logistics companies, four port system authorities and two higher technical institutes (ITS) in the Mobility area.

The aim of the training is to present participants with all the benefits to achieve by incorporating motorways of the sea as a key element in building efficient and sustainable supply chains. In addition to the theoretical lessons and workshops, the participants worked hard to solve a case study and were able to observe closely the infrastructure and equipment involved in intermodal operations. Finally, networking activities were organized to facilitate the development of networks of contacts between professionals and experts in the Italian sector who participated in the course.

The comments received from the participants were very positive. The level of satisfaction in this, as in the past, edition was very high: “I feel lucky to have been able to learn with and from professionals in the field, and with a spectacular organization”.

The Escola would like to thank all its founding members (Port de Barcelona, ADSP of the Northern Central Tyrrhenian Sea, Ports of Genoa, Grimaldi Lines and GNV) for their usual cooperation and generosity.

The dates for the fifth edition have already been set: from 5th to 8th of October 2019.

This year the Escola is also planning a course in intermodal maritime logistics for Spanish and Portuguese professionals, MOST Iberia, to be held from 20 to 23 October 2018.

Port Single Window: study visit for an Algerian delegation organised by the Escola Europea

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After a few weeks of summer break, this week the Escola Europea reopens its doors to training. An Algerian delegation, made up of representatives of various public institutions as well as private companies, met in Barcelona for a study visit entirely dedicated to the Port Single Window, thanks to the initiative of the World Bank and the Port of Barcelona. The course is organised by the Escola Europea, which has designed a programme of theoretical lectures and practical visits to some facilities of the port community of Barcelona.

The course, which started yesterday, August 28th, lasts 3 days (18 hours). The starting session was chaired by the new President of the Port of Barcelona, Mercè Conesa, accompanied by Nora Berdja, Consul General of Algeria in Barcelona.

The theoretical sessions of the visit will cover all the operations involved in the procedures related to the Port Single Window, and will be complemented by a maritime visit to the Port of Barcelona and two land visits to the ro-ro Grimaldi terminal and the semi-automatic container terminal BEST.

The teachers on this visit, designed to suit the Algerian delegation, are professional experts in international trade. For the Port of Barcelona: Carles Rúa, head of strategic projects and innovation; Rafael Gomis, director of organisation and business consultancy; Lluis Paris, commercial manager; and Jaume Bagot, business process improvement manager. They are joined by Josep Carles Llagostera, Barcelona Maritime Customs Administrator; Beatriz Cruz, head of the BIP (Border Inspection Post) area; Javier Gallardo and Vicente González, respectively director and project manager from PortIC Barcelona.

The Escola Europea thanks the support and collaboration of the Grimaldi terminal, of the BEST Hutchison Group terminal, for the practical visits.

The study visit is part of the activities of the TransLogMED project, of which the Escola is the promoter. The visit will serve as a first step to organize training activities on Algerian territory and thus begin to strengthen collaborative ties with the Maghreb country. The next activity planned in the TransLogMED calendar is the conference on Motorways of the Sea to be held on 3 October in Casablanca.