Improving the efficiency of Port Community Systems through integrated information flows of logistic processes

Abstract

The aim of the paper is to investigate maritime logistic processes, focusing on efficiency and coordination. The topic is timely because, in the European context, the EU Directive no. 2010/65/EU imposes the adoption of digital procedures concerning documents and information, in order to facilitate the relationships between all the actors of a port community system (PCS). From a theoretical viewpoint, we adopt the evolutionary economic approach, since it helps to understand the change processes due to its focus on organizational routines and their institutionalization. From a methodological viewpoint, we adopt a case-study approach, investigating the port of Salerno (south of Italy), which is involved in the “Smart Tunnel Project”, whose aim is to create a platform for intelligent logistic services. As a result, we provide a model that aims to replace the old inter-organizational routines with new more efficient ones, also improving the knowledge of the logistic processes through a facilitation of the exchange of documents and information between all the involved actors