EGS invests in artificial intelligence from Quintiq 20 September 2017

Quintiq has partnered with European Gateway Services (EGS) to bring a new level of intelligence to intermodal logistics. EGS offers the market an integrated network for transport to and from the European hinterland.

To better support its customers, EGS takes standard planning strategies to a new level with a synchromodal trip optimiser using Quintiq’s planning and optimisation software, which employs artificial intelligence to choose the optimal modes and routes at all times.

European Gateway Services has an extensive network; the two terminals of parent company Hutchison Ports ECT Rotterdam (ECT) in the Port of Rotterdam as well as other deep sea terminals in Rotterdam and Antwerp are connected to EGS’s inland terminals and other inland terminals by rail, barge and road. The key differentiator between the offering of EGS and those of intermodal service providers operating throughout Europe is simple but powerful; while intermodal service providers typically run fixed routes made up of pre-defined modalities and legs, EGS allows for mode- and route-neutral transport solutions. It selects the most reliable, efficient and sustainable route at that moment for that customer.

When planners work with Excel or other traditional route planning technologies, fixed routes are typically the only way to plan, given the limitations of human capacity and the standard technology. However, by leveraging artificial intelligence, planners can work without these restrictions and manage higher levels of complexity. Powered by the speed and intelligence of the Quintiq software, all possible modes and routes are dynamically evaluated. This allows the system to perform a wide search in real time to find the most optimal solution in terms of costs, on-time delivery and capacity utilisation among other KPI’s.

The Quintiq software draws on EGS’ data and its network in real time to ensure that plans remain optimal even when external factors such as delays affect the network. The result is a growing network of efficient, reliable and sustainable connections.