Shipyards are perhaps one of the most complicated settings in which communication between employees is paramount to the success of the business. The scale of the goods that are being transported around the facility make it a major disaster and disruption if something goes awry in communication, such as a box being sent to the wrong location. Shipyards pride themselves on the ability to move goods at incredible speeds without any mistakes, and even just a few high profile cases where things have gone wrong can be extremely damaging to a company’s business.
The command center needs to be in constant contact with the cranes, keeping the drivers on track and moving the right containers to the right location as quickly as possible without mistakes. For this, crane/shipyards intercom and communication equipment needs to be at the highest level.
First of all there is going to be a huge amount of different communication through the airwaves in a relatively small area, so crane/shipyards intercoms needs to be able to work within this crowded airspace.
Secondly, a shipyard is hardly a quiet area, so being able to hear what is being said across a standard radio can be difficult. The difference between hearing ‘B3’ and ‘C3’ can mean an hour’s difference in shipping time, as the mistake needs to be rectified. This means that standard radios are not really up to the job – a company needs to equip its employees with radio communication that is crystal clear and can cut out background noise.
Hands-free equipment is also increasingly used, both in the command center and in the cranes. The benefits of this is quite clear – with more and more work being done on computers in the command centre it makes things much easier if the employee can use both his hands to type. Within the crane, it’s a lot easier for the driver to concentrate on his work when he can use both hands to move the equipment.
Finally, ruggedness is going to play a strong factor. The communication equipment is going to take some abuse, and needs to be able to stand up to it. Furthermore, if the communication system was to go down for any reason, this is going to be a major delay, so shipyards should invest in a system that is not only rugged, but has a backup in place for the unlikely event that the primary mode of communication goes out.