Trade Facilitation: What is a Port Community System (PCS)?
A Port Community System (PCS) is what connects a port, its essential businesses, stakeholders, local companies, communities and dependents to the wider, globalized world.
The notion of ports being ‘gateways’ to just a particular city, region or nation has been vastly expanded in the 20th and 21st centuries; ports are now both entry and exit points that service the entire world, with goods travelling ever greater distances through increasingly complex chains of production, transport, supply and demand.
A PCS is a modern, highly technical and essential means of bringing together vast amounts of data to process required documents and procedures by optimizing, managing and automating port logistics. It utilizes the submission of information to connect and operate a port’s transport and logistics chains on both a worldwide and regional level.
To facilitate the globalization of trade and to accommodate the huge volume of goods transported on mega cargo ships that deliver the products the world craves, modern ports have had to add fluidity and connectivity to their supply and logistics operations. The result is a highly connected chain of companies, partners and logistical functions that runs from the deepest hinterlands to the quayside itself.
As specialists in the speedy facilitation of logistics, border and trade processes through the use of the latest technology and techniques, Webb Fontaine’s PCS software acts as an interface between port authorities, terminal operators and customs via a comprehensive set of features designed specifically and exclusively to initiative efficient port logistics operations.
At the core of the PCS is automation: this allows port operations to be observed and controlled with a superior level of visibility, oversight and maneuverability.
The result is a smoother, more orderly supply chain with management able to swiftly and simply move goods, handle clearance processes and avoid ports becoming congested, bloated and backlogged.
Maintaining the integrity of the data that is fed into the PCS is essential, particularly when this information pertains to sensitive materials or items that could be of interest to undesirable parties. Web Fontaine ensures data integrity and maximum security through the synchronization of data entry points and all data formats, from information exchange and logistics to billing and payment, throughout the entire PCS.
The inherent transparency and fluidity provided by a PCS solution enables not only individual ports, but entire regions and nations, to become part of the worldwide trade, import and export ecosystem, a move which stimulates economic growth, attracts investment and spurs development.
A PCS system means compliance with essential international standards as set out by the WTO Trade Facilitation Agreement, allows ports to evolve into regional or global logistics hubs and, ultimately, increases economic growth by allowing for significant reductions at every stage of the cargo value chain.
Author: Jean-Edouard Nicolet
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Webb Fontaine is a leading provider of solutions for trade facilitation; powered by world-class technology, investing in the largest research and development centres in the trade area. Webb Fontaine is headquartered in Dubai, U.A.E. with a presence across Europe, Middle East, Asia and Africa.