Planning and design of a chassis container terminal

Development of Models Predicting Dwell Time of Import Containers in Port Container Terminals – An Artificial Neural Networks Application

컨테이너터미널의 증가로 터미널 물량이 분산되어 기존 물동량 보존과 새로운 물동량 유치 경쟁이 치열해지고 있으며 이에 터미널 물동량 처리 능력과 유치에 다양한 방법을 모색하고 있다. 컨테이너터미널은 물동량처리 능력을 향상시키기 위해서 최신 장비 확충과 최신 터미널 시스템 개발을 통해 터미널의 생산성 향상과 효율성 극대화에 노력을 기울이고 있다. 컨테이너터미널의 생산성 향상에 영향을 줄 수 있는 요인은 다양하게 존재 한다. 그중 야드 이송장비의 경우, 특정 선석크레인(GC, Gantry Crane)에 야드 트랙터(YT, Yard Tractor)가 고정 할당되는 방식에서 다수 선석크레인(GC, Gantry Crane)에 야드 트랙터(YT, Yard Tractor)가 적절하게 분산 할당 방식으로 처리하는 Pooling System으로 전환하게 되면 터미널 생산성과 YT의 가용성을 높일 수 있다. 컨테이너터미널에서 생산성 지표가 되는 KPI는 GC 생산성이고 GC 생산성은 물리적인 GC 작업 속도를 넘어설 수 없기에 Pooling System 적용하여 생산성을 높이는데 의미와 효과는 크다. 본 논문에서는 컨테이너터미널에서 생산성 향상을 위해 이송장비 운영을 더 효율적으로 할 수 있도록 Pooling System 알고리즘을 제시하고 실제로 컨테이너터미널에 적용하여 Non Pooling System과 Pooling System 생산성을 비교하였다. 이송장비 풀링시스템을 도입하여 타 터미널에 비해 생산성을 향상함으로써 터미널 비즈니스에 있어 지속적인 서비스 질과 수익성 향상을 위한 필수불가결한 요소가 될 수가 있다. Due to the increase of container terminals, as the volume of terminals become distributed, the competition of preserving existing volume and inviting new volume are becoming fierce, and various ways for processing terminal volume and inviting volume are being sought. Container terminal efforts to maximize efficiency in order to improve the volume handling capability and productivity by both expansion of the latest equipment and development of the latest terminal system. There are a variety of factors that influence the improvement of productivity at container terminals. Among them, in the case of yard transfer equipment, if it were to convert from the method of a Yard Tractor(YT) being fixed allocated to a certain Gantry Cranes(GC) to a Pooling System that processes in a method that properly distributes and allocates a Yard Tractor(YT) to multiple Gantry Cranes(GC), the terminal productivity and the fusibility of YT may be increased. The KPI which is an indicator for the productivity at container terminals is GC productivity and since GC productivity cannot exceed the speed of physical GC operations, a Pooling System is applied to increase productivity which its meaning and effect is massive. Here in the Report, we produce the Pooling Algorithm system to improve the efficiency of the transported equipments in container terminal which is actually applying for this method and have compared Non pooling system with Pooling system in the fields. By introducing a transfer equipment pooling system and enhancing the productivity compared to other terminals, it may become an essential factor for increasing the continuous service quality and profitability in terms of terminal business.

<p>Purpose – The storage and supply of empty containers is a bottleneck in the global supply chain. In the wake of increasing containerisation and globalisation, improving efficiencies of processing within empty container depots can realise efficiencies. The overall objective of this research project is to propose an efficient and effective solution for reducing waste in an empty container depot using a crane. The issue of applying gantry cranes to empty container depots will cover both an operational and a strategic evaluation of the following research questions: 1) What are the potential solutions for a specific yard based on lean thinking, and which solution should be used within the constraints and contexts of this yard? 2) Who are the key stakeholders, and what are their stakes while implementing the solution in the yard to reduce waste? Design/methodology/approach – A review of the literature around empty container depots revealed that while lean operations have been applied to manufacturing, warehousing, and ports, it has not yet been applied to empty container depots. Whereas warehouses primarily deal with stock-holding and ports deal with quayside operations, empty container depots act as a conduit between consignors and consignees. In the vein of American Pragmatism, Design Science Research, and Strategy-as-Practice, this thesis shows that in the context of empty container depots a gantry crane is an artefact that can create efficiencies, reduce costs, as well as explore further effects on the organisation and its wider geo-political habitus. Case Study – A New Zealand company that handles roughly half a million TEUs per annum cooperated with this study. The study was conducted by analysing data from four working depots (Auckland, Tauranga, Napier) selected to illustrate variations in container volumes, types of flows (imports, exports, seasonality), and depot layouts. The current operations of these depots were analysed using lean operations, value stream mapping, and operations interwork centre flow graphs. Of the four sites identified, one (the Auckland OCP site) was shown to achieve the greatest results from a gantry crane. The results of the analysis were then used to develop a potential solution in which waste was identified and eliminated, primarily around excess handling and land utilisation. Findings – A key finding was that efficiency gains differ from site to site based on their unique demands and overall layouts. Furthermore, changes towards the current yard using gantry cranes need to be implemented incrementally based on continuous improvement. This is due to practical constraints around operations, culture change, cashflow management, the acquisition of capital, and broader market/stakeholder influences. Originality/value – The practical applications of this research case are scalable on a vast level. The effects of this research are explored in how the introduction of an artefact affects the organisation, its vision of itself, its strategies, and the broader supply chain in which this organisation operates. The results are further re-contextualisted in order to offer a holistic view of an artefact in its situated environment.</p>

Port of Tanjung Priok, Indonesia, faces excessive ship and container dwell times—particularly at Terminal III—driven by container traffic growth that outstrips the capacity of handling facilities. This study analyzes container ship handling time (dwell time), assesses the impact of adding ship-to-shore cranes, and estimates the required berth length and yard area based on projected container flows. Secondary data on container throughput for 2009–2013 were used and projected forward to 2014–2018. Queueing analysis was performed with an M/M/c model to obtain standard system performance metrics (L, Lq, W, Wq), which were then converted into dwell-time estimates; berth and yard requirements were calculated using berth-throughput approaches and standard space requirements per TEU. Results indicate that under the existing equipment level of 39 cranes, dwell time rose from about 6.92 days in 2009 to more than 14 days in 2012–2013, substantially exceeding operational standards. Simulations show that increasing the number of cranes to 51–55 units would reduce dwell time to approximately 5.85–6.82 days. Projected infrastructure needs for 2018 include an aggregate berth length of roughly 7,339 m and a stacking yard area of about 168.9 hectares. The findings underscore the urgent need for additional handling equipment and infrastructure development and point to opportunities for enhancing analysis and operational monitoring through the application of artificial intelligence for dwell-time prediction and real-time smart-port management.

Increasing the container volume and the lack of land acquisition for terminal development is a problem encountered by container terminal operators in Indonesia in the last years. To maintain the high demand on terminal service, the operator uses Inland Container Depots (ICD) as one of the fastest and cheapest solutions with some limitations compared to port expansion. Capacity and location are issues that should be addressed when ICD is used as one of the capacity-solving problems. ICD operation will increase the ability of the terminal services, yet the connecting roads that are also used by non-container traffic will affect the transfer operation of containers from the terminal to ICD. The container movement from the terminal to ICD is determined by the value of Yard Occupancy Ratio (YOR). The method that integrates the decision of transferring containers from the terminal and selecting ICD locations is required to cope with this issue. Differences in cycle time equilibrium of terminal operations and connecting roads complicate the construction of analytical equations. Discrete Event Simulation is used to accommodate the difference of operating time cycle, a stochastic condition of arrival, service time, an integration of terminal operation process and ICD location selection. The case study of Koja Container Terminal was used to perform experimental test of the proposed method. The simulation model was constructed for one month of simulation. Level of demand and ICD capacity were factors to be tested in the model to calculate the effects of ICDs operation on the container terminal. Optimum Terminal – ICD configuration was chosen by maximizing the container cost difference of without and with ICDs. Total container cost consists of the container handling cost (discharge, transfer, lift on, lift off, custom check and storage costs) and the container time cost (waiting time and potentially demand unserved). Since the addition amount of ICDs will increase the handling cost and decrease the time cost, so, there are appropriate ICDs numbers for a certain level of demand. Experimental result of Koja container terminal showed that the optimum amount of ICDs will decrease the total container cost charged to the users for the demand level above the terminal capacity. Terminal throughput will increase but the dwell time will not reduce significantly. The optimum configuration for the condition is Terminal – ICD (Yos Sudarso) and ICD (LLRE Martadinata). Optimization based on Discrete Event Simulation can be used to obtain the optimum configuration of ICD terminal system at certain demand level and to measure the ICD effect on terminal performance, ICD and Connecting Road. Operation of the ICD will decrease the container cost but will not provide significant dwell time for terminal improvements.

This study assessed the contribution of containerization to the development of Western Ports, Lagos Nigeria. The aim was to assess the influence of containerization on some indices of port development such as port infrastructure development, ship turnaround time, cargo dwell time and congestion. Questionnaire was used to gather information on the contribution of containerization to change in maritime trade in the country, the influence of containerization on terminal expansion, congestion, level of investment in container port infrastructure as well as the influence of such investment on container dwell time and ship turnaround time (TAT) and the competitiveness of container terminal within Nigeria port systems and with other developed container ports of the world. Secondary data used included statistics of reports of operations of Western Ports between 2000 and 2010 as reported by NPA, as well as reports of some selected ports derived from Containerization International Year Book, which were used in this study for the sake of global reference. Summary tables and ANOVA for the analysis of the data. Results revealed a significant contribution of containerization to maritime trade relative to the ports’ annual records but with no significant influence on ship turnaround time, cargo dwell time congestion which are determinants of port productivity and competitiveness. The study concluded that Western Ports have still not reaped gains of containerization and lacking in competitiveness when compared with other developed ports of the world.

The primary objective of this paper is to determine the role of port efficiency in determining a port’s associated maritime transport costs using direct and disaggregate measures, such as average truck turnaround time, berth utilization, and vessel turnaround time. Ports are complex places difficult to characterize by a single measure of efficiency. Port efficiency is better assessed by measuring the performance of a port’s constituent activities. Prior studies on port efficiency have primarily relied on indirect and aggregate measures of port efficiency, such as scores from the World Economic Forum’s Global Competitiveness Report or from data envelopment analysis. In the work presented herein, 11 port utilization indicators, collected over 6 years at Canada’s three leading container ports (Vancouver, Montreal, and Halifax), are used to econometrically estimate the unique impact and elasticity of each indicator on import and export container freight rates. Results suggest that higher berth utilization, longer truck turnaround times, longer container dwell times, and longer vessel turnaround times are associated with higher container freight rates (with elasticities ranging from 0.05 to 0.49). On the other hand, higher container throughputs, more vessel calls, and more containers, loaded and unloaded, per vessel are associated with lower container freight rates (with elasticities ranging from −0.07 to −0.53).

Cost-Based Optimization of Shipment Scheduling

Container dwell time is one of the main factors for evaluating performance of the seaports. The time a container spends in a port, prior to clearance is a real cost scenario that will affect the port performance and throughput at all parts of the port. The aim of this research is to provide an analytical tool to select the best strategy to reduce the container dwell time at ports. For collecting data, historical studies, together with a technical questionare, field studies and expedrts opinions were collected. Hence. Three main strategies have been developed and the Fuzzy Analytic Hierarchy Process was used to compare and analyse these strategies.The numbers used in the fuzzy matrices for evaluating the factors have been obtained from customers and experts in the maritime transport industry of Iran. Investigations showed that three factors including Operation of Costume, Role of Cargo Owners in Clearance of Goods, and Transport Systems with sequence of relative weights of 0.44, 0.39 and 0.17 had the most effective impact on container dwell time in Iranian ports. The study evidenced that the three main strategies including Penalty for Cargo Owners, Decentralization of Ports and Development of Customs with sequential relative weights of 0.38, 0.33 and 0.29, which had been obtained according to the viewpoint of experts, were the most important factors, respectively in this process. Reduction of container dwell time is considered as productivity criteria in ports. Therefore, port managers should pay special attention to include this criterion in their decision making.

Tanzania is the one of 54 countries which forms an African continent, Tanzania is located in the Eastern part of Africa. Tanzania provides an accessibility of maritime transport and seaport services to its surrounding landlocked nations of Zambia, Burundi, Malawi, Uganda, Rwanda, the Republic of Congo and Zimbabwe. Tanzania is a maritime state which containing the coastline of 1424 km. Coastline involves major and small seaports, major seaports in Tanzania includes Dar es Salaam, Tanga and Mtwara seaports while small seaports in Tanzania are Kilwa, Lindi, and Mafia seaports. Tanzania seaports have hybrid seaport management model which combined both public service and landlord governance model. This hybrid of a seaport management model faces several challenges. The absence of standalone regulator of seaports, high seaport tariffs, poor seaport service quality, low maritime education and skills of seaport staff, increased bribery level, low seaport efficiency, seaport congestion and too long average container dwell time are identified as challenges facing the existing hybrid seaport management model in Tanzania. Constructive suggestions for the modification of the existing management framework such as executing a total landlord port management model, introduction of maritime authority, encouraging competition among private investors, modernizing the seaport operating system and systematizing staff training sessions are given to wind up, these strategies will enhance efficiency and service quality of seaport in Tanzania.

This study assessed the contribution of containerization to the development of Western Ports, Lagos Nigeria. The aim was to assess the influence of containerization on some indices of port development such as port infrastructure development, ship turnaround time, cargo dwell time and congestion. Questionnaire was used to gather information on the contribution of containerization to change in maritime trade in the country, the influence of containerization on terminal expansion, congestion, level of investment in container port infrastructure as well as the influence of such investment on container dwell time and ship turnaround time (TAT) and the competitiveness of container terminal within Nigeria port systems and with other developed container ports of the world. Secondary data used included statistics of reports of operations of Western Ports between 2000 and 2010 as reported by NPA, as well as reports of some selected ports derived from Containerization International Year Book, which were used in this study for the sake of global reference. Summary tables and ANOVA for the analysis of the data. Results revealed a significant contribution of containerization to maritime trade relative to the ports’ annual records but with no significant influence on ship turnaround time, cargo dwell time congestion which are determinants of port productivity and competitiveness. The study concluded that Western Ports have still not reaped gains of containerization and lacking in competitiveness when compared with other developed ports of the world.

The research objective is to determine the integration between waiting times for dwelling time and loading unloading container of container terminals at Tanjung Priok Port. The research method used in this study was qualitative descriptive. The five container terminals studied at Tanjung Priok port are the Jakarta International Container Terminal, Koja, NIPCT1 container terminal, Mustika Alam Lestari and Terminal 1 New Port Container. The research problem is whether the reduction in Dwelling Time will be able to increase loading unloading Container capacity at container terminals at Tanjung Priok Portor not. The result shows that there is a positive integration of Dwelling Time specifically for loading and unloading imported containers in Tanjung Priok Port and is categorized as very high, with an average duration of seven years was 5.5 days. The results of this study are expected to be able to recommend how the decline in Dwelling Time could increase loading and unloading container capacity of container terminals at Tanjung Priok Port.

The research objective is to determine the integration between waiting times for dwelling time and loading unloading container of container terminals at Tanjung Priok Port. The research method used in this study was qualitative descriptive. The five container terminals studied at Tanjung Priok port are the Jakarta International Container Terminal, Koja, NIPCT1 container terminal, Mustika Alam Lestari and Terminal 1 New Port Container. The research problem is whether the reduction in Dwelling Time will be able to increase loading unloading Container capacity at container terminals at Tanjung Priok Portor not. The result shows that there is a positive integration of Dwelling Time specifically for loading and unloading imported containers in Tanjung Priok Port and is categorized as very high, with an average duration of seven years was 5.5 days. The results of this study are expected to be able to recommend how the decline in Dwelling Time could increase loading and unloading container capacity of container terminals at Tanjung Priok Port.

Container terminal performance is largely determined by its design decisions, which include the number and type of quay cranes, stack cranes, transport vehicles, vehicle travel path and stack layout. We investigate the orientation of the stack layout (parallel or perpendicular to the quayside) on the throughput time performance of the terminals. Previous studies in this area typically use deterministic optimisation, and a few studies use probabilistic travel times and simulation to analyse the effect of stack layout on terminal throughput times. In this research, we capture the stochasticity with an integrated queuing network modelling approach to analyse the performance of container terminals with parallel stack layout using automated lifting vehicles. Using this analytical model, we investigate 1008 parallel stack layout configurations on throughput times and determine the optimal stack layout configuration. We find that, assuming an identical width of the internal transport area, container terminals with parallel stack layout perform better (from 4–12% in terms of container throughput times) than terminals with a perpendicular stack layout.

Railway container terminals, where gantry cranes are responsible for loading and unloading containers between freight trains and yards, are important hubs of hinterland logistics transportation. Terminal managers confront the challenge in improving the efficiency of their service. As the most expensive equipment in a terminal, the operational performance of gantry cranes is a crucial factor. In this paper, the gantry crane scheduling problem of railway container terminals is investigated. A mixed integer programming model which considers the effect of dwelling position dependent processing times is formulated. In addition, the safety distances, the travel times and the non-crossing requirement of cranes are incorporated in the mathematical model. A novel discrete artificial bee colony algorithm is presented to solve the intractable scheduling problem. Computational experiments are conducted to evaluate the proposed algorithm on some randomly constructed instances based on typical terminal operati...