Hyster participates in the iTerminals 4.0 Project

9th January 2023

Hyster is a participant in the iTerminals 4.0 Project. This project has been developed to facilitate the integration of technologies like Internet of Things, big data, artificial intelligence, and cloud computing to improve the efficiency, safety, and sustainability of container terminal operations.

Co-funded by the European Commission through the Connecting Europe Facility Program, the iTerminals 4.0 Project seeks to advance the standardisation of processes and the application of Industry 4.0 technologies in the port container terminal industry. iTerminals 4.0 is driven by relevant materials handling equipment manufacturers, such as Hyster, software providers, as well as container terminal operators all over Europe.

Watch this video to learn more about the project and see Hyster® trucks in action!

What is iTerminals 4.0?

The iTerminals 4.0 project has aimed to test and evaluate industry 4.0 technologies, running pilot deployments in real operations to serve, improve and adapt demonstrated solutions, all to improve the Port Container Terminals on 4 strategic operational topics: Safety, Efficiency, Sustainability & Maintenance. The pilots are used to bridge the gap, while particular focus is put on creating and improving harmonised operational and information exchange standards for the port container terminal industry. The project has also resulted in the creation of the Terminal Industry Committee, also known as TIC 4.0.

Improving preventative and predictive maintenance in port container terminals

Managing maintenance efficiently is key for container terminal operations as they are highly dependent on equipment availability and uptime. Digitalisation can provide significant benefits for the improvement of preventative and predictive maintenance of the equipment, by extending the operational lifetime of port equipment and machinery while improving reliability and reducing maintenance costs.

As part of the iTerminals 4.0 project, Hyster is currently involved in two pilot programmes that focus on the smart maintenance of port equipment.

  1. Hyster smart tyre pressure monitoring

The first pilot comprises the development and testing of a smart tyre pressure monitoring system using the TIC 4.0 signal standard, which has proven benefits for better management of the equipment’s tyre status. Tyre maintenance and replacement is one of the highest maintenance costs at port terminals, and this new system is expected to guide terminals to reduce costs while improving operational safety, efficiency & sustainability.

The system includes real-time monitoring, which allows for a live indication of the status of the tyres on Hyster truck at all times. This is expected to enable preventative or predictive maintenance before a catastrophic breakdown occurs.

  • Hyster dynamic oil monitoring

Field repairs of oil-related breakdowns can also be costly in terms of replacement of major components and downtime. So, the second pilot programme focusses on dynamic oil monitoring and follows a similar approach to enhanced predictive maintenance and to optimize the oil change intervals, based on key aspects of the oil. Real-time oil monitoring helps to support maintenance when required and is expected to prevent unexpected wear and therefore will extend the lifetime of both the Hyster truck, and its components.

Managing maintenance digitally

A notable innovation in both pilots is the design of a new TIC 4.0 set of standardised telemetry signals making use of a Gateway and IOT Edge device. iTerminals 4.0 has allowed us to develop and pilot this new communication approach, which helps us to improve operational maintenance by standardising the digital exchange of data. It is expected that this will allow port operators to detect and manage equipment incidences in advance, improve the efficiency and uptime and lower the costs of operation of the Hyster equipment.

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