Determinación y ponderación de criterios evaluación de las

One of SmartPort’s goals in defining its role in both international commerce and domestic distribution is the ability to offer differentiating services. Smart-Port understands the reality that a natural trade corridor, running through Kansas City exists and continues to grow. The provisions of the North Amer-ican Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) facilitate international trade with Mex-ico and Canada. Local transportation, warehousing and logistics infrastructure are capitalizing on the central location of Kansas City and are attracting other related investment.

SmartPort recognizes that the changing landscape offers both opportunity and challenges. While tasked with increasing the role of Kansas City as a trade and transportation centre, SmartPort also recognizes the need to effectively manage the associated risk. SmartPort has embarked on an ambitious, funded project to develop the infrastructure needed to support several specific trade lanes.

At this time, SmartPort has basically completed the trade lane architecture study and high level requirements. SmartPort is currently running live opera-tional tracking and tracing tests for the planned opening of the Mexican

Customs office, demonstrating cargo risk management and transportation information integration on Mexico-bound, in-bond cargo.

6.2.2 Compatibility with Existing and Developing Freight Systems The Kansas City SmartPort ITS System Architecture and Concept of Opera-tions task is intended to establish the System Architecture functional perform-ance characteristics achieved by deploying applicable technologies in the Kansas City region. To date, a number of other related freight processing projects have been developed or are in the planning process both here and around the country. Therefore, compatibility to the extent possible with these systems is important. These projects currently include the following systems:

u free and secure trade (FAST) programme;

u Customs-Trade Partnership Against Terrorism (C-TPAT);

u automated commercial environment (ACE) programme; and

u commercial vehicle information systems and networks (CVISN) programme.

A significant Kansas City SmartPort objective is to establish international rail and truck corridors from SmartPort to the borders with Mexico and Canada. A key function will be the capability to process freight at SmartPort for movement with minimal delay and processing at the border. Two of the six objectives established in the RFP issued by Kansas City SmartPort for the international corridor integration project (ICIP) are pertinent to the opera-tional testing. They are:

u analyse and develop a service delivery model that includes the develop-ment of security profiles, storage capacity, transportation routes, inter-modal locations, technology and infrastructure needed to track and secure container moving from point to point on the corridor; and u assess customs and legal constraints, coordinate green lane

arrange-ments and develop the economic model for the project and conduct a series of operational tests on the corridor between Kansas City and Mexico with specific attention placed on freight cleared by the Mexican Customs facility in Kansas City destined for markets in Mexico on rail and truck.

The next phase of the global trade system will be implemented in 2007 at Kansas City SmartPort. The goal of this implementation will be to begin development of foundational components of the TDE. A governance process must be developed and the TDE must begin operation, achieving the require-ments and goals of SmartPort. To understand the global trade system, an understanding of SmartPort is helpful.

6.2.3 Integrated Transportation Information

SmartPort users have indicated the industry’s need for visibility into freight and cargo movements. SmartPort stakeholders complain of intermodal ‘‘black holes’’ when freight changes hands across modes and carriers. Visibility will only be possible through the integration of carrier, shipper, broker, importer, exporter and forwarder information.

Currently EDS is demonstrating that it is possible to integrate disparate transportation information. The SmartPort ITS architecture will play a vital role in laying the foundation for large-scale information integration and needs to continue to be adapted to allow for information to be provided quickly and easily to SmartPort stakeholders. A broader information net needs to be set to capture the information necessary to remove ‘‘black holes’’. The natural by-product of increased ITS integration is improved operations efficiencies and ultimately increased security.

Figure 2: SmartPort Conceptual Architecture

6.2.4 Risk Management and Security

Regardless of the port of entry, the volume of cargo coming from Third World exporting countries challenges the US Customs and Border Patrol (CBP).

The risk associated with this stream of cargo is not insignificant, and those who would like to harm the US do not appear to be resting. Likewise, it is not reasonable to hand-search each of these in-bound cargo containers.

Beginning with the Operation Safe Commerce project, it became apparent that the multi-modal solution to the problem is based on the application of effective sealing, sensing and tracking technologies coupled with data-driven

A Comprehensive Information System

risk management. The sensing envisioned is complementary to and compat-ible with SensorNet capabilities. With this in mind, we see a significant opportunity to participate in the development of this risk management model for freight moving in-bound to and out-bound from Kansas City.

Traffic through the Kansas City area will naturally increase with the flow of goods from Asia. In the initial deployment, we look to implement sensors along the KCS line from Lazaro Cardenas to Kansas City and on the BNSF line from Seattle/Tacoma to Kansas City. This will give us a real-time profile of the rail cars and associated cargo as it approaches its Kansas City destina-tion. Looking beyond this deployment, we would like to then begin the process earlier, as the containers are loaded onto the US-bound ships.

Long term, we believe that this project could set the standard for inter-national trade data risk management and result in an even broader deploy-ment of sensors. To meet the needs of Kansas City SmartPort, a solution was developed using the global trade system concepts.