A Terminal Operating System, or TOS, is a key part of a supply chain and primarily aims to control the movement and storage of various types of

cargo Cargo consists of bulk goods conveyed by water, air, or land. In economics, freight is cargo that is transported at a freight rate for commercial gain. ''Cargo'' was originally a shipload but now covers all types of freight, including tran ...

in and around a

port A port is a maritime facility comprising one or more wharves or loading areas, where ships load and discharge cargo and passengers. Although usually situated on a sea coast or estuary, ports can also be found far inland, such as ...

or marine terminal. The systems also enables better use of assets, labour and equipment, plan workload, and receive up-to-date information. Terminal operating systems generally fall under one of two categories depending on supported cargo type, namely, containerized or non-containerized. Large container terminals typically require yard management functionality in a TOS, whereas bulk dry and liquid cargo terminals do not. Terminal Operating Systems often use other technologies such as internet, EDI processing, mobile computers, wireless LANs and Radio-frequency identification (RFID) to efficiently monitor the flow of products in, out and around the terminal. Data is either a batch synchronization with, or a real-time wireless transmission to a central database. The database can then provide useful reports about the status of goods, locations and machines in the terminal. The objective of a terminal operating system is to provide a set of computerized procedures to manage cargo, machines and people within the facility to enable a seamless link to efficiently and effectively manage the facility. Terminal operating systems can be stand alone systems, managed as a service or use cloud technologies. In its simplest form, the TOS can data track cargo in and out of a terminal.

Functions

A Terminal Operating System may be used to do some or all of the following functions:

Shipping

Terminals requiring various types of

ship transport Maritime transport (or ocean transport) and hydraulic effluvial transport, or more generally waterborne transport, is the transport of people ( passengers) or goods ( cargo) via waterways. Freight transport by sea has been widely used th ...

Container terminal A container port or container terminal is a facility where cargo containers are transshipped between different transport vehicles, for onward transportation. The transshipment may be between container ships and land vehicles, for example train ...

s using

Containerization Containerization is a system of intermodal freight transport using intermodal containers (also called shipping containers and ISO containers). Containerization is also referred as "Container Stuffing" or "Container Loading", which is the p ...

for LO-LO (lift on Lift Off) operations such as

these These may refer to: *the plural proximal demonstrative in English *These, a variation of the Greek Theseus Theseus (, ; grc-gre, Θησεύς ) was the mythical king and founder-hero of Athens. The myths surrounding Theseus his journeys, ...

require plans for efficiently loading and unloading

Container ship A container ship (also called boxship or spelled containership) is a cargo ship that carries all of its load in truck-size intermodal containers, in a technique called containerization. Container ships are a common means of commercial intermoda ...

s docked within their Terminal. A

using

RO-RO Roll-on/roll-off (RORO or ro-ro) ships are cargo ships designed to carry wheeled cargo, such as cars, motorcycles, trucks, semi-trailer trucks, buses, trailers, and railroad cars, that are driven on and off the ship on their own wheels or using ...

ships A ship is a large watercraft that travels the world's oceans and other sufficiently deep waterways, carrying cargo or passengers, or in support of specialized missions, such as defense, research, and fishing. Ships are generally distinguished ...

require plans for efficiently loading automobiles, trucks, semi-trailer trucks, trailers or railroad cars that are driven on and off the ship on their own wheels.

Rail

Terminals that require the arrival and departure of

trains In rail transport, a train (from Old French , from Latin , "to pull, to draw") is a series of connected vehicles that run along a railway track and transport people or freight. Trains are typically pulled or pushed by locomotives (often k ...

such as container trains or

bulk cargo Bulk cargo is commodity cargo that is transported unpackaged in large quantities. Description Bulk cargo refers to material in either liquid or granular, particulate form, as a mass of relatively small solids, such as petroleum/ crude oil ...

Road

Handle the receival and release of

Cargo Cargo consists of bulk goods conveyed by water, air, or land. In economics, freight is cargo that is transported at a freight rate for commercial gain. ''Cargo'' was originally a shipload but now covers all types of freight, including tran ...

for

transshipment Transshipment, trans-shipment or transhipment is the shipment of goods or containers to an intermediate destination, then to another destination. One possible reason for transshipment is to change the means of transport during the journey (e. ...

from other modes of transport or storage.

Yard management

Creating Shipping list or keeping track of

Warehouse A warehouse is a building for storing goods. Warehouses are used by manufacturers, importers, exporters, wholesalers, transport businesses, customs, etc. They are usually large plain buildings in industrial parks on the outskirts of cities, ...

levels. Tracking machine moves around the terminal.

Invoicing/Reporting

Invoicing An invoice, bill or tab is a commercial document issued by a seller to a buyer relating to a sale transaction and indicating the products, quantities, and agreed-upon prices for products or services the seller had provided the buyer. Payment ...

and providing reports for internal and external use.

Inventory

Keeping track of

Inventory Inventory (American English) or stock (British English) refers to the goods and materials that a business holds for the ultimate goal of resale, production or utilisation. Inventory management is a discipline primarily about specifying the sh ...

and storing its movements.

Cargo Type

Various types of

can be managed dependent of terminal type. This includes containers, dry bulk, liquid bulk, break bulk and vehicles (roll-on/roll-off).

External Clients

Terminals may wish to communicate with the following through their Terminal Operating System: * Terminal operators * Freight forwarder * Shipping line or shipping agent * Container operators * Port authority * Pilots, tugs and mooring gang * Cargo owner (eg. oil companies) * Customs office

Vendors/Suppliers

There are several suppliers of Terminal Operating Systems available. * Autostore TOS, TBA Group * Cofano * CommTrac * GullsEye * Hogia * Infyz * iPortman * Mainsail * MarineBerth * Master Terminal * Navis * Octopi (by Navis) * OPUS Terminal * OSCAR * Solvo.TOS * Softpak * Total Soft Bank * Vertti * Proycom

References

{{Reflist

External links

How to Choose a Terminal Operating System
Logistics