Founded over a hundred years ago, Gottwald Port Technology GmbH, now a member of the stock-exchange listed Demag Cranes Group, took a decision twenty years ago to concentrate exclusively on products for material handling in ports and terminals. The company is acknowledged as being the inventor of the Mobile Harbour Crane and is also the pacesetter in the automation of container handling.

The range of products currently includes Mobile Harbour Cranes and such derivatives as Portal Harbour Cranes and Floating Cranes,  Automated Guided Vehicles (AGVs) for horizontal container transport, Automated Stacking Cranes (ASCs) and Wide Span Gantries (WSGs). In addition, there is the navigation and management software developed in-house for operating and interlinking AGVs and ASCs, in particular. And finally, state-of-the-art  simulation and emulation technology assists terminal planning, design and performance assessment even before the first cut of the spade.

The products are equally suited to operation in maritime and inland terminals and, depending on needs and the chosen configuration, work seamlessly together. The connection is made through the latest in software programming.

The tremendous increase in container and bulk transport and, as a result, the volume of cargo handled in almost every port, has necessitated, firstly, faster cargo handling and, secondly, significantly improved use of space. It was for this reason that we have almost doubled the hoisting speed – the single most important performance factor in the loading and unloading of vessels – achieved by our Generation 5 cranes compared with the previous generation. At the same time, we have improved our advance order programme for Mobile Harbour Cranes and considerably reduced production lead-times. Based on its successful Mobile Harbour Crane technology, Gottwald has developed and, quite literally, launched, Floating Cranes. Floating cranes, which are currently experiencing a renaissance, have short delivery lead-times, especially when they are based on the modular Mobile Harbour Cranes, make additional quay space unnecessary and neatly navigate around the entire problem of approvals procedures.

Apart from the benefits to a terminal generally associated with automating container transport, stacking and retrieval, Gottwald's ASCs offer far improved stacking density and faster working speeds. One-over-five stacking solutions, coupled with variable stack widths, rapid storage and retrieval, ensure high volumes and fast speeds in the container stackyard while maximising space usage. In the field of automated horizontal container transport, Gottwald is currently introducing its latest development, the Lift AGV. The Lift AGV combines Gottwald's proven AGV technology – several hundred of which are in use – with innovative features enabling container transport to be decoupled from storage processes. This not only reduces the number of vehicles required by around half, it significantly increases productivity.

The logistical interlinking of individual machines and entire fleets of machines using smart software is playing an increasingly important part. In this context, Gottwald spares no effort to ensure its own software can be easily integrated in superordinate TOS software. The part played by software in influencing productivity in terminals is generally underestimated. It is, indeed, the software that makes a considerable contribution towards improving handling rates in container terminals. After all, only software can efficiently link the processes in maritime and inland terminals. With its range of products, incorporating both hardware and software, Gottwald makes a decisive contribution to sustainable improvements in terminal productivity and to preventing quay congestion.

　　德國(guó)高華（Gottwald）港口技術(shù)有限公司成立已有百年之久，現(xiàn)今是上市公司Demag起重機(jī)集團(tuán)的成員公司。二十年前高華開(kāi)始集中全力開(kāi)發(fā)港口碼頭所需的物料搬運(yùn)產(chǎn)品。公司發(fā)明了移動(dòng)式港口起重機(jī)，因此而聞名天下。高華同時(shí)還是集裝箱搬運(yùn)自動(dòng)化系統(tǒng)的先導(dǎo)。

　　高華的產(chǎn)品范圍目前包括移動(dòng)式港口起重機(jī)及相關(guān)派生產(chǎn)品，包括用于水平集裝箱運(yùn)輸?shù)母劭谄鹬貦C(jī)、浮式起重機(jī)及自動(dòng)導(dǎo)向車（AGV），自動(dòng)化堆積起重機(jī)（ASC）及寬跨距龍門(mén)系統(tǒng)。另外，公司還提供海運(yùn)及管理軟件來(lái)進(jìn)行室內(nèi)的AGV及ASC操作及互聯(lián)。先進(jìn)的模擬仿真技術(shù)在開(kāi)工前協(xié)助了港口規(guī)劃、設(shè)計(jì)、性能等各方面的評(píng)估。

　　高華產(chǎn)品適應(yīng)于海運(yùn)及陸上抗口操作，根據(jù)客戶需求選擇適當(dāng)?shù)呐渲?。各裝置間的配合操作通過(guò)軟件項(xiàng)目進(jìn)行，做到了嚴(yán)謹(jǐn)有效。

　　集裝箱及散裝貨物運(yùn)輸急劇增多，加重了各港口貨物搬運(yùn)任務(wù)，使得更快的貨物搬運(yùn)及空間的良好運(yùn)用逐漸成為了當(dāng)務(wù)之急。因此，高華通過(guò)使用第五代起重機(jī)，提升了起升速度。起升速度是船只貨物裝卸中最為重要的性能因素。同時(shí)，高華改良了移動(dòng)式港口起重機(jī)的揀選程序，極大地減少了生產(chǎn)間的時(shí)間間隔。依靠成功的移動(dòng)式港口起重機(jī)技術(shù)，高華開(kāi)發(fā)并推出了浮式起重機(jī)。浮式起重機(jī)配送間隔時(shí)間短，目前處于復(fù)興階段。尤其當(dāng)浮式起重機(jī)在組合移動(dòng)式港口起重機(jī)的基礎(chǔ)上進(jìn)行操作時(shí)，節(jié)省了碼頭空間，順利解決了所有的問(wèn)題。

　　高華的自動(dòng)化堆積起重機(jī)不但改善了碼頭的自動(dòng)化集裝箱運(yùn)輸、堆積及檢索效率，還提高了堆積密度，加快了工作進(jìn)程。1-5種堆積方案，可變的堆積寬度，快速的存儲(chǔ)及檢索保證了集裝箱堆場(chǎng)的高容量及高速度，同時(shí)實(shí)現(xiàn)了空間的最大化使用。在自動(dòng)化水平集裝箱運(yùn)輸方面，高華推出了其最新開(kāi)發(fā)的自動(dòng)提升導(dǎo)向車（Lift AGV）。Lift AGV結(jié)合了高華的先進(jìn)AGV技術(shù)（幾百臺(tái)高華AGV正在使用中）及創(chuàng)新的科技，使得集裝箱運(yùn)輸從存儲(chǔ)程序中分離了出來(lái)，不但將所需車輛的數(shù)量減少了一半，還極大的提高了生產(chǎn)效率。

　　在單個(gè)機(jī)器與整個(gè)機(jī)器車隊(duì)的互聯(lián)方面，靈活的軟件發(fā)揮了極為重要的作用。高華不遺余力地改善其軟件系統(tǒng)，使其更易于整合入高級(jí)的碼頭管理系統(tǒng)（TOS）軟件。該軟件在改善碼頭生產(chǎn)效率方面發(fā)揮的功效不可限量，及大地提高了集裝箱碼頭的搬運(yùn)效率。僅用一項(xiàng)軟件系統(tǒng)便能有效地鏈接海運(yùn)及路上碼頭的搬運(yùn)程序。通過(guò)提供系列產(chǎn)品，包括軟件及硬件，高華港口有限公司為碼頭生產(chǎn)效率的可持續(xù)發(fā)展、防止港口擁塞做出了巨大的貢獻(xiàn)。