Chairman of the Board of Ashdod Port Company, Orna Hozman Bechor, participated in the annual directors' conference of the Israeli Directors' Union. At the conference, which took place at the Stock Exchange Convention Center, Hozman Bechor said, as part of a symposium on innovation, that "the employees at the port understand that we must bring in innovation and technologies and to become more efficient in order to become more competitive. Ashdod Port is presently the leading port in Israel, and we want to continue to lead even after the two new ports are established".
Hozman Bechor spoke at the conference about integrating innovation and technologies at a company with a traditional orientation such as the Port and she noted that "the State of Israel decided in recent years to establish two new ports, and this decision provides an opportunity from Ashdod Port's standpoint to become an innovative port and this is what we are striving for. I am convinced that innovation can increase our bottom line and we must take advantage of the opportunity we were offered to become more efficient and to bring innovation to the company".
During the conference, which was led by Attorney Michal Mor Kopel and Accountant Nir Zichlinsky, Hozman Bechor said that Ashdod Port decided to establish a technological incubator for start-ups with a focus on the seaports and developing operational technological solutions: "We are always looking for ways to create solutions, become more efficient and to improve our customer service; bringing in innovation and technologies is the way to go. During the last year we have been operating an appointment scheduling for transportation companies. This system essentially allows them to bring in and take out containers at any time of day six days of the week. This is an application that allows the transporter himself to receive a timeline for arrival at the port, with instructions which gate to use and where the container that he needs to take is located or where the container that he loaded should be taken to. This technology alleviates traffic congestion in the Ashdod region, spreads out the port's activity and provides better service for our customers".
The Chairman of the Board also spoke about the vehicle unloading and storage sector at the port: "A roll-on/roll-off ship that arrives at the port unloads hundreds of vehicles in one anchoring. Today we are planning the development of technology that we developed using the Port's equity, in which we will issue the vehicle importers a full identification certificate for the vehicle from the moment that it arrives at the port until the moment it leaves. This identification certificate includes the vehicle model, its location at the port, when it arrived, how long it has been at the port and other details that interest the importers. This technology makes the work in this sector more efficient ".
Hozman Bechor added while speaking at the symposium that she implores the relevant bodies to put some thought into whether it is correct to define a director who specializes in innovation and technology: "I personally believe that there is a need to have someone on the Board of Directors of large companies who by definition has a background in the area of innovation; just like there is a need for people who specialize in the areas of finance or law. At Ashdod Port there is presently a director on the Board who previously was the Chief Logistics Officer of the IDF, and he certainly contributes greatly in the area if logistics, which is one of the foundation stones of our activity".
