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"114 LELLM i a ya ara | |: wi tn Conducted by H.E.STOCKER Iclency In Hoisting and Conveying Economic Limits A\nalyzed for the economic efficiency under which an enterprise op- erates it is first necessary to come to an understanding as to the basic character of that particular type of enterprise. With regard to an -en- terprise undertaken for: profit, the case is simple as such an enterprise is concerned only with a favorable showing on the balance sheet. With respect to a port the question must be considered differently. For a port does not serve its own ends, but. is always:a secondary undertak- ing‘for the service of transportation. In a port serving general traffic the technical installations and sys- tem of organization are not ar- ranged primarily with profit in mind, but rather with the view to the mul- tiple demands of the traffic, the suc- cessful promotion of which is to a large degree determined by the eco- nomic entity represented by the port activities. Taking under consideration meas- ures for technical systematization in such a case the limits are not. to be found at the point where the bal- ance of the port undertaking, be- cause of such systematization begins to be unfavorable, but rather at the point where through increased tech- nical systematization the degree of success is greater than the degree of systematization. Therefore the lim- Bu: trying to fix the limits *Abstract of article by Herr Bottcher, director of the Port of Hamburg, in the Der Schiffsfrachtendienst for Feb. 28, 1931. Translated by Alf W. Nelson, Bu- reau of Operations, United States Ship- ping Board. 36 its: of efficiency in such a case can- not be simply indicated in so many figures, but can only. be drawn through a thorough experience and working knowledge. It must be re- alized, however, that to exceed this limit would be just as economically unsound as would the failure to ap- proach it as closely as possible. The common viewpoints with respect to two of the most important activities in port traffic—hoisting and convey- ing—will be treated here. Thorough mechanization of many ‘branches of industry through the ‘use of conveyor equipment, which ‘has. eliminated human labor to .a large degree, is unthinkable as be- ing applicable to port operations. Naturally some goods are _ better adapted to mechanical handling thai others; thus all freight may be class- ified under two heads ‘‘bulk goods”’ and ‘‘package goods.’ The flow of grain from the oceanship to the river vessel, from the railway to the silo- warehouse, and from this again by pneumatic means into the various land and water transportation media, the unloading of coal, ores, fertilizer- salts and similar commodities with grabs, lifts or conveyors, and even the similarly scientific handling of package goods as for example sacked goods, bananas and so forth, for which continuous conveying appa- ratus is often employed—all very strongly remind one of the working methods of modern industry. No- body, today, would advocate hand labor for these commodities. The suitability of mechanization in such cases cannot any more be doubted, MARINE REvIEw—January, 1932 and the efficiency limits in these as well as in other continuously operat- ed undertakings can easily be com- puted in a purely arithmetical man- ner. The handling of package goods, on the other hand, is characterized by a lack of continuity. Therefore this activity makes the greatest demand upon a scientific treatment of its problems. Hoisting In Cargo Handling With respect to hoisting, in load- ing and unloading operations is perhaps well to limit oneself to the “more complicated aspect, that is, the operations taking place at the quay- side as distinct from such as are car- ried on with vessels moored out in the harbor—a method not used in America and other places. The question then becomes the problem ‘‘crane”’ considered from the standpoint of economic efficiency. The first question as to whether cranes should be employed, or not, might be held surprising by one not knowing the equipment of many ports outside of Europe. One might ask: How should package goods be unloaded from ocean-vessels, then, if not with cranes? It is only to us Europeans that the use of cranes seems so matter-of-course. To others it is not so, by any means. It seems logical to them that a ship should use the gear which it carries for the purpose of operating where it is not possible to go alongside the quay. In Hamburg only about 380 per cent of all goods is handled at the quay by means of cranes. Even