Bridging theory and practice: lessons from the first automated container terminal in Indonesia

Abstract Port automation has emerged as a transformative force across the global maritime industry, promising substantial advantages over conventional ports. While literature on port automation is extensive, relatively limited studies address the practical challenges of implementation in developing economies beyond the design stage. This study bridges this gap by linking established port automation literature with an in-depth case study of Teluk Lamong Terminal (TTL), Indonesia’s first automated container terminal and a pioneering example in a developing economy context. The study combines a systematic literature review with qualitative evidence from seventeen in-depth interviews spanning staff, middle managers, top management, and external stakeholders to identify key dimensions of implementation. The findings show that while automation at TTL has delivered improvements in performance, safety, and process standardization, these outcomes emerged through continuous adjustment. Workforce roles were reconfigured toward more advanced planning and monitoring, while governance arrangements evolved iteratively as operational experience accumulated. In theoretical terms, the TTL case supports socio-technical and interpretive perspectives that emphasize co-evolution between technology, organization, and governance. Meanwhile, the waterfall or linear maturity models are challenged, as the automation at TTL functioned as an ongoing organizational condition. The analysis further shows that the prevailing automation literature tend to underestimate the temporal horizon, managerial discretion, and institutional capacity required to stabilize automation in specific developing economy settings. By explicating these mediating mechanisms, this study refines existing automation theory and provides empirical insights for ports in similar developing countries pursuing automation under conditions of institutional and organizational constraint.