On Friday, we visited three unique shipping companies: DP World, P&Q, Eurogate, and the Cyprus Port Authority. Our discussions mainly concerned maritime shipping and managing the ports. One topic that stood out was location and how important it is to be strategic about the placement of shipping ports. Cyprus being between three companies makes it an ideal destination for shipping ports. Additionally, I found the impact of the Turkish invasion on the shipping industry to be interesting. When we talked to the Cyprus Port Authority, I learned that the company lost around half of its employees. This is because one of the main shipping ports previous to the invasion was on the Turkish side of the island.

Another topic that I was interested in was the various ways the shipping companies optimized their resources and time to be more efficient. One aspect that I had never considered before is the size and capacity of the machines. The companies discussed how important keeping their machinery updated is. For example, Eurogate recently acquired new cranes with more rows to work with more products in a shorter amount of time.

Machinery is an important factor when it comes to optimizing time and resources. In addition, there are other things that are important for efficiency, such as reducing the time of pick up for the containers, the time of delivery, and digitizing specific steps of the process. For example, when companies were able to digitize the customs process and use electronics instead of paper, the process sped up exponentially. The truck recycle time was also something I had never heard of before, and was intrigued to learn about. These are all more micro factors of supply chain management that I had never learned of before, but I quickly realized their importance as a whole.

Lastly, I was not shocked to learn that the Ukrainian-Russian war affected the companies’ success. Still, I was surprised to learn how drastically it harmed the Cyprus Port Authority, which lost around half of its employees.