EUROGATE turns to Ultimo to improve Asset Management

IFS Ultimo has announced that EUROGATE is to deploy its AI-powered Enterprise Asset Management solution across its container terminals. EUROGATE operates container terminals in five countries. As a leading container handling company, its core competencies also include areas such as transportation, maintenance and packaging. Over the past decades, it has developed into a central hub in the continent’s trade and logistics infrastructure.

However, EUROGATE Technical Services, operating in Germany across three terminals (Bremerhaven, Hamburg, and Wilhelmshaven), identified the need to improve its maintenance processes.

As the technical complexity of equipment and customer expectations rose around availability, reliability and cost efficiency, it realised it needed a data-driven and more structured approach to maintenance. Historically, maintenance was delivered in the moment, focus on execution. i.e., if something breaks, it is fixed.

However, modern enterprise asset management solutions can offer a more proactive approach. The firm reviewed solutions, though did not make clear which other systems it’s considered. After that review, it decided to acquire Ultimo EAM. It was chosen for its “usability, mobility, and data transparency, something lacking in the existing system landscape.”

Alongside the software decision, it also selected MaxGrip, a global consultancy firm and an Ultimo partner.

Stefan Jann, Managing Director of EUROGATE Technical Services, commented, “Implementing a modern asset management platform like Ultimo enables a new standard of reliability, transparency and operational excellence.”

The project

MaxGrip will assist with rolling out Ultimo, and a key part of the project will be providing the 450 technicians with mobile devices to take advantage of the Ultimo mobile applications—the intent is to improve data quality, efficiency and responsiveness in daily operations. Using mobile devices, the technicians will be able to update information at the point of work, ensuring that information ingested into the system is both more accurate and timely.

Technicians will also benefit from having access to the information at the point of execution, ensuring that they have the right information at the right time and right location. The Ultimo solution will also be integrated with SAP ECC, which EUROGATE currently uses.

With the firm planning to transition to S/4HANA within the next 18 months, it was also important to ensure that Ultimo also supported integration to the more modern cloud-based ERP solution. Last year, Ultimo EAM earned an official recertification from the SAP Integration and Certification Centre for S/4HANA. Earlier this year, the relationship with SAP deepened with Ultimo EAM becoming available on the SAP Store.

The project will see Ultimo implemented first at Wilhelmshaven, rolling out structured maintenance planning, incident management, and transparent documentation. With data collection improved, the organisation can make better data -driven decisions in a timely way. Other German terminals will follow as the firm learns from each implementation, gradually building internal capabilities and embedding new ways of working.

Steven Elsham, Ultimo CEO, summarised his excitement, “For EUROGATE Technical Services, maintenance is not just a support function. It’s a strategic capability that creates measurable value.

“And by strengthening its asset management foundation with Ultimo, EUROGATE Technical Services is building a future-ready technical operation that can support growing volumes, increasing complexity and higher performance expectations. We look forward to supporting them on that journey.”

The importance of the partner MaxGrip

MaxGrip has deep experience of implmenting EAM solutions for customers. The team will assist EUROGATE Technical Services through the implementation, advising on best practices and embedding practical improvements in the container terminals’ processes. It will aim to deliver performance improvements that extend beyond the initial implementation and deliver long-term value.

MaxGrip will assist with the migration from the existing EAM solution to the modern AI-powered Ultimo EAM one and help with integration into other systems, including SAP.

Mark Mulder, CEO, MaxGrip, commented, “For us, success goes beyond go-live. It is measured by the value EGTS creates for the terminal operators it supports every day. As Ultimo’s Service Delivery Partner of the Year and its only global partner, MaxGrip brings deep platform expertise and decades of asset performance experience to improve reliability, availability, and operational performance.

“Through implementing Ultimo, we enable EGTS to deliver that value to its customers.”

Jann added, “Ultimo will be a key enabler of digital asset management. Future priorities include advanced analytics and AI-supported performance optimization. We also want to move toward predictive maintenance.”

Enterprise Times: What does this mean?

No timescales were announced, partly because it is too early in the implementation process. What also isn’t clear is what will happen at the other EUROGATE terminals, those outside Germany. Much may depend on the success of this project and any lessons learned. Certainly, both MaxGrip and Ultimo are capable of delivering and implementing the solution at their other locations.

What will be interesting to see is whether, once Wilhelmshaven is complete, the firm is willing to do a case study and publish the improvements that the Ultimo EAM has already delivered. There will be significant changes for the technical team throughout the project. Not only will they have a new EAM solution, but they will also be using mobile devices to interact with it.

This should significantly increase efficiency and also the employee experience. It will be interesting to see which metrics EUROGATE uses to measure success, beyond the financial.

This initiative marks a significant step toward a more resilient, efficient and data-driven EUROGATE Technical Services, where asset management plays a central role in delivering operational excellence across its terminal network.

For any container, internal asset management plays a key part in operational excellence. Terminal infrastructure (such as quay cranes, straddle carriers, and yard equipment) can have a functional life of up to 50 years. Proactive maintenance is crucial for preventing equipment failure, which causes costly bottlenecks and reduces vessel turnaround speed.

Equipment failures can not only cause safety issues, but the equipment downtime can incur massive costs. Shifting to a predictive maintenance cycle will be vital to prevent that, and Ultimo EAM can assist with that transition.

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