Kalmar says it will have a "complete end-to-end automation system" at its Technology and Competence Centre in Tampere, Finland.

Kalmar will invest about EUR3 million (USD3.25 million) in a new port automation testing and development platform at its Technology and Competence Centre in Tampere, Finland.

The platform, which is slated to be fully operational in early 2016, will be mainly used for testing in customer projects and new product releases. The investment includes all modules to run an automated container yard operation, including the total automation system, a new automatic stacking crane and the R&D work required for the deployment.

Kalmar president Olli Isotalo explains: "In the past, a lot of time was used for testing and optimising at the customer site after the equipment had been delivered. In an automation project, this can have a significant impact on the implementation time and cost.

"With this unique set-up, we can start the testing well in advance before the equipment delivery and keep the on-site testing at a minimum. This will result in faster implementation times and our customers can expect the shortest possible time to value in port automation projects.

"Furthermore, we will have the capability to test new product features before their market introduction. This will shorten the time to market for our new products and further improve their reliability and quality."

With the testing and development platform, Kalmar says it will have a "complete end-to-end automation system" in Tampere, including automated and manual straddle and shuttle carriers for horizontal transportation, an automatic stacking crane system for yard operations and automated truck handling for landside operations, all integrated with the Kalmar terminal logistics system and Navis N4 terminal operating systems.

The virtual environment in the Technology and Competence Centre will also be used for regression testing of new software releases.

Kalmar parent Cargotec invested approximately EUR35 million (USD38 million) in the construction of the centre in 2011-13 (Forkliftaction.com News #534, #618). Kalmar claims the centre has the industry's largest automation test field and world-class facilities and laboratories for prototyping, simulation, testing, monitoring and optimisation. Automated equipment can be tested on site and via remote connection 24/7 for overseas customers.

Separately, Cargotec has become the sole owner in China Crane Investment Holdings Ltd.

Cargotec has jointly owned China Crane Investment Holdings Limited with CAG Marine Holding Limited, which is in turn wholly owned by Carlyle Asia Growth Partners IV, L.P. and CAGP IV Coinvestment, L.P. China Crane Investment Holdings Limited, an investment company, has owned 18.75% of the shares in Jiangsu Rainbow Heavy Industries Co Ltd (RHI) from 18 March 2015.

Carlyle has decided to sell its portion of China Crane's stake in RHI and exit RHI. Cargotec's aggregate ownership in RHI remains unchanged at 9.19% and, following Carlyle's exit, Cargotec will own 100% of China Crane.

In July 2011, Cargotec announced plans to establish a joint venture with RHI to strengthen its presence in China (Forkliftaction.com News #528). As part of the establishment of the joint venture Rainbow-Cargotec Industries Co Ltd (RCI), Cargotec strengthened its strategic partnership with RHI by purchasing RHI shares from Carlyle, who owned 100% of China Crane at that time.

RCI plays a role in Cargotec's global supply chain and manufactures port and offshore cranes for Cargotec's Kalmar and MacGregor business areas.