Turkish Container Terminal is Live with Navis SPARCS N4

Zebra Enterprise Solutions, a division of Zebra Technologies Corporation (NASDAQ:ZBRA), announced today that Yilport Container Terminal in Gebze, Turkey has implemented Navis SPARCS N4 to support the terminal’s anticipated capacity growth of 2 million twenty-foot equivalent units (TEU) in five years. TEU is a standard measure in intermodal transport.

Located in the center of the most developed industrial areas in the Marmara Region of Turkey, Yilport has become a choice terminal for transport because of its suitable draft, calm sea, moderate weather and easy access to the main roads. Currently, Yilport is undergoing a three-phased development project to launch a regional transshipment terminal with an annual throughput of 2 million TEU.

"Currently we are at 400,000 TEU capacity, but we want to eventually get to 2 million TEU capacity by 2015,” said Mustafa Erkanat, terminal coordinator at Yilport. "We chose SPARCS N4 in order to achieve our goals in productivity and KPI (Key Performance Indicator) at Yilport. The N4 software gives us more freedom to customize for our operations and N4’s engineering makes it possible for us to handle higher volumes with ease. We also like its automation modules. We will be using Expert Decking, AutoStow and AutoGate, which are advanced modules within N4 that other TOS solutions do not offer.”

Phase 1 of the development project, which includes 4 STS gantry cranes, 12 RTG cranes on the main terminal, and 6 RTG cranes at the inland terminal, was completed in June 2009. Today, the main terminal gate has 2-in lanes and 2-out lanes but will be expanded to 10 lanes (6-in and 4-out) when Phase 2 development is completed by end of 2011, and TEU volume is expected to reach 1 million TEU. The entire three-phased project is expected to be completed by end of 2015 when Yilport anticipates a final annual capacity of 2 million TEU.

"The bottom line is, we expect SPARCS N4 to help us reduce cost and increase profitability,” Erkanat said. "We can’t increase our terminal tariffs for containers easily due to the tougher competition and market conditions, so we have to reduce our operation cost per TEU by increasing our productivity. We believe SPARCS N4 will help us achieve our financial targets and ROI.”

Yilport will rely on the web-based SPARCS N4 operating system to govern the movement of all container logistics and operations from gate to yard to vessel and to offer users improved customer support, lower operating costs and increased stacking yard capacity. SPARCS N4 will provide Yilport Container Terminal greater control over resources for operations to quickly and intelligently respond to changes or disruptions in the flow of cargo.

Bill Walsh, General Manager at Zebra Enterprise Solutions, said SPARCS N4 will deliver for Yilport and will demonstrate once again that the ZES terminal software solution is the industry’s proven leader.

"Our customers have told us that the ability to adapt the TOS to their specific operation, combined with low TCO, scalability and advanced optimization methods are the core drivers of ROI that they look for in a terminal operating system," Walsh said. "There's no other vendor in the market with anything close to what the SPARCS N4 TOS delivers in these key areas. We will help Yilport achieve its bottom line.”

About Zebra Enterprise Solutions

Zebra Enterprise Solutions, a division of Zebra Technologies Corporation, extends Zebra’s reach beyond passive RFID by employing state-of-the-art software and hardware solutions to locate, track, manage, and optimize high-value assets, equipment and people across the world’s largest supply chains. Whether tracking containers through a port, optimizing parts for manufacturing, or managing ground support equipment at an airport, the real-time asset management solutions from the combination of Navis, WhereNet, proveo, and Multispectral Solutions provide improved visibility and velocity to gain measurable business improvements. Utilizing products that are based on ISO/IEC 24730-2, Cisco CCX Wi-Fi, precision GPS, and UWB technologies, Zebra Enterprise Solutions offers a wide range of location solutions that are "application matched," enabling its customers to put the right asset in the right place at the right time. For more information about Zebra Enterprise Solutions visit http://www.zebra.com/zes.

About Zebra Technologies

Zebra Technologies Corporation (Nasdaq: ZBRA) provides the broadest range of innovative technology solutions to identify, track, and manage the deployment of critical assets for improved business efficiency. Zebra’s core technologies include reliable on-demand printer and state-of-the-art software and hardware solutions. By enabling improvements in sourcing, visibility, security and accuracy, Zebra helps its customers to put the right asset in the right place at the right time. Zebra serves more than 90 percent of Fortune 500 companies worldwide. For more information about Zebra‘s solutions visit http://www.zebra.com.