Meeting with DP World, P&O, and Eurogate gave me a complete walkthrough of all of the parts of Cyprian ports. Thus far, learning from these three companies has been the most applicable information gained from this trip.
DP World
DP World nearly monopolized global port operation and logistics. They only have one large competitor, and have ports in six continents. The main job of this company is to manage bulk cargo and logistics terminals, providing solutions to the supply chain. Because of their success, DP World is always looking to invest in countries with a high potential, Cyprus being one of them.
P&O
This company has partnered with DP World to provide yet another form of income through ports: cruises. The most memorable thing about meeting with this company was to see the cruise ships up close. This provided us with an understanding of the magnitude of investments that are happening. These million dollar ships needed a port to be based out of, and because of DP Worlds near monopolization, a great tandam was formed. Another interesting thing I learned about the cruises in Cyprus is the large amount of complaints from mainland tourists. People say the cruises ruin the view and bother people. This provided me with only one of the many challenges a port will face.
Eurogate
If DP World makes the pieces, Eurogate puts them together. As an Industrial Engineering student, I was more than eager to learn about this company. If I had any doubts about wanting to be and IE, they were all gone by the end of the day. Basically, Eurogate provides the port with transportation and warehousing. The transportation consists of million dollar cranes and other machinery to transport cargo. The warehousing consists of docks for the boats and temperature regulated storage for perishable cargo. The reason this company is applicable to my intended occupation is because of the need for somebody to plan the efficiency of the port. From the placement of the cranes to calculating optimal storage, an Industrial Engineer is needed.
Evaluation
The main outcome of the day was the importance of Cyprus in the supply chain. Cyprus is one of the only countries (if not the only) that lies in the crossroads of three continents. Because of this, the country attracts the largest of investors when it comes to shipment, for example, DP World. It is quite easy to tell the growth of Cyprus by simply looking at the developing cities. Because of Cyprus’s recent turmoil, it is a clean slate for investors. Ports in Cyprus can be the perfect destination that the world needed for the supply chain to come together. Especially since I am nearing my studies of being an Industrial Engineer, this trip greatly heightened not only my ambition, but gave me a head start of knowing what it is about.
Brief Acknowledgement
I just wanted to mention that I was impressed with the speaker from DP World. He was the first speaker we have had that valued a connection with us students. He was not condescending towards us, but instead wanted to learn about us. He asked us what our names are as well as our interests. I learned a lot from this. One thing was the importance of bonding with people outside of the workplace. The other was work ethic. This speaker preached about the work ethic and said something that will stick with me forever. “If you have a task, give it to the busy person”. My interpretation of this was that if a person has proven that they can execute many tasks at once, they have the performance edge over the person that limits themselves to one task.