Container Terminals and Automated Transport Systems: Logistics Control Issues and Quantitative Decision Support

378 Pages·2005·4.674 MB·English

by  Dirk Steenken, Stefan Voß, Robert Stahlbock (auth.), Professor Dr. Hans-Otto Günther, Professor Kap Hwan Kim (eds.)

Container Terminals and Automated Transport Systems
Hans-Otto Günther
Kap Hwan Kim
Editors
Container Terminals
and Automated
Transport Systems
Logistics Control Issues
and Quantitative Decision Support
123
Professor Dr.Hans-Otto Günther
TU Berlin
Department ofProduction Management
Wilmersdorfer Straße 148
10585 Berlin
Germany
Email:[e-mail]
Professor Kap Hwan Kim
Pusan National University
Department ofIndustrial Engineering
Jangjeon-dong,Kumjeong-ku
Pusan 609-735
Korea
Email:[e-mail]
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Preface
Logistics control issues of container terminals
and automated transportation systems
Hans-OttoGu¨nther1andKapHwanKim2
1 DepartmentofProductionManagement,TechnicalUniversityBerlin,
WilmersdorferStr.148,10585Berlin,Germany (e-mail:[e-mail])
2 DeptartmentofIndustrialEngineering,PusanNationalUniversity,Jangjeon-dong,
Kumjeong-ku,Busan,609-735,Korea (e-mail:[e-mail])
Marinecontainerindustryhasgrowndramaticallyinthelast30years.Asaresult,
containertransportationhasbecomeapredominantmodeofinter-continentalcargo
traffic.Containerterminalshavebeenplayinganimportantroleasmulti-modalin-
terfacesbetweenseaandlandtransport.Inordertobenefitfromtheeconomyof
scale,thesizeofcontainershipshassignificantlyincreasedduringthelastdecade.
Frequently, a large container ship requires thousands of container lifts in a port
terminalduringonecall.Sinceacontainershipinvolvesamajorcapitalinvestment
and significant daily operating costs, customer service has become an important
issueforcontainerportterminalsandmanycontainerterminalsareattemptingto
improve their throughput and to reduce the turnaround times of vessels and cus-
tomers’trucks.Withgrowingcontainerization,thenumberofcontainerterminals
worldwide increased considerably and the competition among them got stronger
andstronger.Intheacademicworld,issuesrelatedtocontainerterminaloperations
havebeenneglectedforquitealongtime.Onlyrecently,duetotheever-increasing
importance of inter-continental cargo traffic and higher competition among con-
tainerterminals,theseissueshaveattractedtheattentionoftheacademiccommu-
nity.
Inmostexistingcontainerterminals,computersareemployedtoscheduleand
controldifferentkindsofhandlingoperations.Acontainerterminalisacomplex
systemwithvariousinterrelatedcomponents.Hence,therearemanydifficultde-
cisionsthatoperatorsandplannershavetomake.Becausecomputersystemshave
capabilitiestomaintainalargevolumeofdataandanalyzetheminashorttime,
theyhavebeenutilizedtoassisthumanexpertsinmakingdecisionsonthedesign
of a container terminal, in developing operational plans and supporting real time
decisions,forinstance.
Furthermore,thereisanongoingtrendinthedevelopmentofseaportcontainer
terminal configurations to use automated container handling and transportation
VI H.-O.Gu¨ntherandK.H.Kim
technology,particularly,incountrieswithhighlabourcosts.Thisinturnrequires
a much more sophisticated control strategy in order to meet the desired perfor-
mancemeasures.Asaresult,quantitativemethodologyhasreceivedconsiderable
attentiontoanalyzeandsupportthedesign,operations,andcontrolissuesarisingin
automatedcontainerterminals.Clearly,containerterminallogisticsisachallenging
fieldformanyresearchdisciplines,e.g.industrialengineering,automation,opera-
tionsresearch,andmanagement.Yet,giventherecentdevelopmentsininformation
technology,automatedhandlingandtransportationequipment,optimizationalgo-
rithmsandmodellingtools,theoverallproductivityofcontainerterminalscanbe
significantlyincreased.
Handlingoperationsandequipmentinseaportcontainerterminals
Seaportcontainerterminalsusuallyemployfourdifferenttypesofyard-sideequip-
ment: the on-chassis system, the carrier-direct system, the combined system of
straddlecarriersandyardtrucks(straddle-carrier-relaysystem),andthecombined
system of yard cranes and prime movers. For the latter one, either yard trucks
or automated guided vehicles (AGVs) could be used (yard-crane-relay system).
Accordingtothedifferenttypesofyard-sideequipment,handlingsystemscanbe
classifiedintotwogroups.Oneiscalled“directtransfersystem”,whichincludesthe
on-chassissystemandthecarrier-directsystem,andtheotheroneisthe“indirect
transfersystem”,whichincludesthestraddle-carrier-relayandtheyard-crane-relay
systems.Thesetwogroupsofsystemsareexplainedinmoredetailbelow.
Indirecttransfersystems,noyardcranesareneeded.Thesameequipmentis
usedtopickup(putdown)acontainerfrom(into)themarshallingyard,deliverit
to(from)theapron,andtransferitto(from)aquaycrane.Inanon-chassissystem
whichisillustratedinFigure1,everycontainerisstackedonachassisandatractor
pulls the chassis between the apron and the marshalling yard. In a carrier-direct
systemwhichisillustratedinFigure2,containersarestackedinmultipletiersand
straddle carriers pick up (put down) containers from (into) the yard and deliver
thembetweentheapronandthemarshallingyard.
In indirect transfer systems, a prime mover delivers a container between the
apronandthemarshallingyard.Straddlecarriersoryardcranestransfercontainers
between prime movers and yard stacks in the marshalling yard. In the straddle-
carrier-relay system, straddle carriers are used to transfer containers, while yard
SHIP QUAY CRANE TRUCK & CHASSIS STORAGE TRUCK
Fig. 1.Containerflowsinanon-chassissystem
Preface VII
SHIP QUAY CRANE STRADDLE STORAGE STRADDLE TRUCK
CARRIER CARRIER
Fig. 2.Containerflowsinacarrier-directsystem
YARD
QUAY YARD YARD
SHIP TRUCK STORAGE TRUCK
CRANE CRANE CRANE
(AGV)
Fig. 3.Containerflowsinayard-crane-relaysystem
cranesdosointheyard-crane-relaysystemwhichisillustratedinFigure3.Through-
out the world all automated container terminals adopted this type of yard-side
equipment.IntheECTterminalofRotterdamandtheCTAterminalinHamburg,
automated guided vehicles (AGVs) are being used as prime movers. The type of
yardcranesemployedareautomatedstackingcranes,doublerail-mountedgantry
cranes (RMGC), and overhead bridge cranes in ECT, CTA, and Parsir Panjang
terminalinSingapore,respectively.
Fromtheperspectiveofoperationaldecisions,themostdifficultdecisionshave
tobemadeinthecaseoftheyard-crane-relaysystembecauseofitshigherstacksof
containerscomparedtotheotherhandlingsystems.Inthefollowingexplanationof
theoperationofcontainerterminals,wewillassumetheyard-crane-relaysystem,
unlessanothertypeofhandlingsystemisindicatedexplicitly.
The handling operations in container terminals comprise three types of op-
erations: vessel operations associated with container ships, receiving / delivery
operations for outside trucks, and container handling and storage operations in a
yard.Vesseloperationsincludethedischargingoperation,duringwhichcontainers
inavesselareunloadedfromthevesselandstackedinamarshallingyard,andthe
loadingoperation,duringwhichcontainersarehandledinthereversedirectionof
thedischargingoperation.Duringthedischargingoperations,quaycranestransfer
containers from a ship to a prime mover which can be a yard truck or an AGV.
Then,theprimemoverdeliverstheinbound(import/discharging)containertoa
yardcranethatpicksitupandstacksitintoapositioninamarshallingyard.For
theloadingoperation,theprocessiscarriedoutintheoppositedirection.
During receiving and delivery operations, when a container arrives at a con-
tainerterminalbyanoutsidetruck,thecontainerisinspectedatagatewhetherall
documentsarereadyandthecontainerisundamaged.Also,atthegate,information
VIII H.-O.Gu¨ntherandK.H.Kim
regardingwhereanexportcontaineristobestoredandwhereanimportcontainer
is located, is provided to the outside truck. When the outside truck arrives at a
transferpointoftheyard,eitheryardcranesorstraddlecarriersreceiveacontainer
fromthetruck(“receivingoperation”)ordeliveracontainertothetruck(“delivery
operation”),respectively.
Decisionproblemsincontainerterminals
Therearethreedifferenttypesofdecisionproblemsincontainerterminals,which
callforquantitativedecisionsupport:designproblems,operationalplanningprob-
lems,andrealtimecontrolproblems.Designproblemshavetobesolvedbyfacility
plannersintheinitialplanningstageofdevelopingterminalconfigurations.Most
of the problems are related to investment in construction and facilities. Because
resources in container terminals are very expensive and limited, the usage of the
resourcesandtheimpactoftheoperationalplanningsystemshavetobecarefully
evaluatedinordertomaximizetheperformanceoftheentireterminalconfigura-
tion.Duringtheactualhandlingoperation,decisionsonmatchinghandlingtasks
withtherequiredresourcesmustbemadeinrealtime.Theseissuesarereferredto
asrealtimecontrolproblems.
ThefirstchapterofthisbookbyDirkSteenken,StefanVoßandRobertStahlbock
providesanoverviewandclassificationofcontainerterminaloperationsandrelated
decisionproblemsaswellasacomprehensivereviewoftherelevantliterature.The
authorsnotonlydescribetheconfigurationofmoderncontainerportterminalsand
thedifferenttypesofhandlingequipmentemployed,butanalyzethecorresponding
logisticsprocessesandpresentasurveyofmethodsfortheiroptimization.Thisis
complementedbyanextensivelistofreferences.
Designproblems
Designproblemsincludethedeterminationofthetypeofhandlingequipmentinthe
yard,thenumberofberths,quaycranes,yardtrucks,yardcranes,storageslots,and
humanoperators,theyardlayout,andthedegreeofautomationoftransportationand
handlingequipment.Arelatedissueofconsiderableimportanceistheestimation
ofvariousperformancemeasuresoftheintendedterminalconfiguration.Queuing
theoryandsimulationhavebeenwidelyusedtosupportdesignproblems.
This book includes two studies which address the selection of transportation
equipment.IrisF.A.VisandIsmaelHarikapresentadetailedcomparisonandsensi-
tivityanalysisofdifferenttypesofautomatedtransportvehicles.Theyexaminethe
effectsofusingautomatedguidedvehicles(AGVs)andautomatedliftingvehicles
(ALVs)onunloadingtimesofavesselbymeansofasimulationstudy.Incontrast
to AGVs, ALVs are capable of lifting a container from the ground by itself. The
studysupportsthechoiceforacertaintypeofequipmentandthedeterminationof
thenumberofvehiclesrequired.
AnothersimulationstudyofcontainerterminaloperationsisprovidedbyChang
HoYang,YongSeokChoi,andTaeYoungHa.TheyalsoevaluateAGVsandALVs
Preface IX
as two competitive types of automated transport systems in automated container
terminals. From the results of a detailed simulation analysis, they determine the
comparativeeffectbycycletimeandtherequirednumberofvehicles.Thestudy
demonstrates that the ALV is superior to the AGV in terms of productivity and
efficiency.
ThecontributionbySo¨nkeHartmannisthedevelopmentofapracticaltoolfor
generating scenarios of sea port container terminals. The scenarios can be used
as input data for the development of simulation models as well as for testing the
efficiency of optimization algorithms for different problems of container termi-
nal operations. The scenario generator has been successfully applied in a major
simulationprojectforthedesignofanewcontainerterminal.
Anotherdesignissue,investigatedbyPyungHoiKoo,WoonSeekLee,andDong
WonJangreferstotheproblemoffleetsizingandvehicleroutingforcontainersto
bemovedbytrucksbetweencontainerterminalsandoff-the-dockcontaineryards.
Their study is motivated by the situation in Busan where several small container
yardsarescatteredinthecityandrelocatingcontainerscausestremendoustraffic
problems. The approach suggested employs an optimization model to produce a
lowerboundontherequiredfleetsizeandatabusearchbasedheuristictogenerate
vehicleroutes.
Operationalplanningproblems
Beforehandlingoperationsincontainerterminalsactuallyhappen,humanplanners
or computerized control systems usually schedule them in advance to maximize
the efficiency of the operations. Typically, target resources are in limited supply
andthusprioritiesamonghandlingactivitiesthatrequiretheresourcesatthesame
timemustbedetermined.Keyresourcesincludeberths,handlingequipmentsuch
asquaycranes,yardcranes,yardspace,andhumanoperators.
Shipoperationplansrepresentoneofthemostimportantoperationalplans.The
correspondingplanningprocessconsistsofberthscheduling,quaycranescheduling
(inpractice,calledworkscheduling),anddischargeandloadsequencingofcon-
tainers.Intheinitialstageofberthscheduling,theberthingtimeandtheposition
ofacontainershiparedetermined.
The problem of allocating berth space for vessels in container terminals is
examinedinthebookchapterbyYongpeiGuanandRaymondK.Cheung.Motivated
by such a problem arising in the port of Hong Kong, they develop models and
solution methods which aim at minimizing the waiting and operating time of a
vessel.Computationalexperimentsarereportedwhichdemonstratetheefficiency
ofthesuggestedmethods.
Throughthequaycraneschedulingprocess,thesequenceofship-baysthateach
quaycranewillserveandthetimeschedulefortheservicearespecified.Forquay
cranescheduling,relevantinformation,suchasastowageplanoftheshipandthe
timeintervalinwhicheachquaycraneisavailable,areusuallygiven.Thestowage
planconsistsofmultiplecross-sectionalviews,eachcorrespondingtoaship-bay.
Eachcross-sectionalviewshowsslotsthataspecificgroupofcontainersmustbe
loadedintoorpickedupfrom.
X H.-O.Gu¨ntherandK.H.Kim
Young-Man Park and Kap Hwan Kim discuss a method for simultaneously
scheduling berth and quay cranes, which are critical resources in port container
terminals.IncontrasttothestudybyGuanandCheung,theyconsiderthefactthat
the berthing time of a vessel can be reduced by assigning more quay cranes to
the vessel. An integer programming model is formulated by considering various
practicalconstraints.Atwo-phasesolutionprocedureissuggestedforsolvingthe
mathematicalmodel.
After constructing the quay crane schedule, the sequence of containers for
dischargingandloadingoperationsaswellasthecorrespondingstoragelocations
havetobedetermined.Inpractice,heuristicrulesarecommonlyusedtoconstruct
the unloading and loading sequence. Superior solutions to the load sequencing
problem,however,canoftenbeobtainedbyusingnumericalsearchalgorithms.
In the chapter by Kap Hwan Kim, Jin Soo Kang, and Kwang Ryel Ryu, the
authors address the load sequencing of outbound containers. The solution to this
complexdecisionproblemrequiresthedeterminationofthetravelroutesoftransfer
cranesandthenumberofcontainerstobepickedupateachyard-bayaswellasthe
determinationoftheloadsequenceforindividualcontainers.Abeamsearchbased
solutionapproachisproposedwhichconsidersmanypracticalconstraints.
In addition to berth and quay cranes, storage space may be pre-assigned for
containersarrivingatthemarshallingyardinfuturesothattheloading/discharge
operation can be performed efficiently. In general, in order to expedite the load-
ing operation, space for containers bound for the same ship should be assigned
to locations close to each other. Storage space for inbound containers is usually
determinedinrealtimeatthemomentofdischarge.Also,otherresourcessuchas
yardcranes,manpower,andprimemoverscanbepre-assignedtoaspecifictypeof
operation.
Realtimecontrolproblems
Actual commitment of resource assignment is performed in real time and trig-
gered by certain events or specific conditions. For resources, such as the berths,
quay cranes, and storage space, the allocation of the resources has already been
completedintheprecedingplanningstage,butthefinalcommitmentanddetailed
decisions on the assignment of resources are usually made in real time. For re-
sources, such as prime movers, yard cranes, and manpower, detailed operational
schedulescanonlybedevelopedforaveryshort-termplanninghorizon,mostoften
onlyforafewminutes,becausethedynamicnatureoftheterminaloperationsand
frequently occurring disturbances do not allow for comprehensive scheduling of
futureoperations.Therefore,theassignmentofresourcestotasksmustbemadein
realtime.
In his contribution, So¨nke Hartmann proposes a general model for various
schedulingproblemsthatoccurincontainerterminals,e.g.schedulingcranesand
vehicles.Thismodelconsiderstheassignmentofjobstoresourcesandthetemporal
arrangementofthejobssubjecttoprecedenceconstraintsandsequence-dependent
setuptimes.Tosupportreal-worldschedulingproblems,priorityrulebasedheuris-
ticsandageneticalgorithmarediscussed.
Preface XI
The chapter by Martin Grunow, Hans-Otto Gu¨nther, and Matthias Lehmann
presentsanefficientpriorityrulebaseddispatchingalgorithmformulti-loadAGVs
inhighlyautomatedseaportcontainerterminals.Thisapproachiswellsuitedfor
practical application within an online logistics control system. The performance
of the proposed heuristic is evaluated against an MILP model formulation with
respecttototallatenessoftheAGVs.Numericalresultsalsorevealthesuperiority
ofmulti-loadcomparedtosingle-loadcarriers.
Automatedtransportationsystems
Apartfromseaportcontainerterminals,automatedtechnologyisbeingappliedto
othertypesoftransportationsystemsandterminals,suchasfreightterminalsinair
portsorrailstations.Thisbookcomprisesadditionalchapterswhichpresentcase
studiesandapplicationsofquantitativemethodologyforautomatedtransportation
systems.
In the chapter by Matthieu van der Heijden, Mark Ebben, Noud Gademann,
andAartvanHarten,motivatedbyaDutchpilotprojectonanundergroundcargo
transportation system in Amsterdam Airport Schiphol using AGVs, the authors
addressemptyvehiclemanagementinlarge-scaleautomatedtransportationsystems
withtheobjectiveofminimizingcargowaitingtimes.Theyproposeseveralheuristic
rules and algorithms for empty vehicle management, varying from trivial First-
Come,First-Served(FCFS)vialook-aheadrulestointegralplanning.
MarkEbben,MatthieuvanderHeijden,JohannHurink,andMarcoSchutten
address a scheduling problem for an underground cargo transportation system in
whichthefinitecapacityofresources(suchasvehicles,docks,parkingplaces)are
considered as critical resources. They propose a flexible modeling methodology
whichallowstoconstruct,evaluate,andimprovefeasiblesolutions.
KnutAlickeproposesamethodforschedulingtransshipmenttasksinaninter-
modal transport terminal. The approach handles sequence-dependent duration of
empty moves, alternative assignments of containers to cranes and a sequence-
dependent number of operations in a rail terminal. An optimization model based
onconstraintsatisfactiontechniqueisformulatedandheuristicsforthesearchpro-
cedure,especiallyvalueandvariableordering,aredeveloped.
Jae Kook Lim, Kap Hwan Kim, Kazuho Yoshimoto, Jun Ho Lee, and Teruo
Takahashisuggestadispatchingmethodforautomatedguidedvehiclesbyusingan
auctionalgorithm.Thedispatchingmethodinthisstudyisdistributedinthesense
that the dispatching decisions are made through communication among related
vehiclesandequipment.Thetheoreticalrationalebehindthedistributeddispatching
methodisbasedontheauctionalgorithmforsolvingtheassignmentproblem.
InthechapterbyPeterBrucker,SilviaHeitmann,andSigridKnust,theproblem
ofreschedulingtrainsisaddressedinthecasewhereonetrackofarailwaysection
consistingoftwotracksinoppositedirectionsisclosedduetoconstructionactiv-
ities. A polynomial algorithm is suggested for finding an optimal schedule with
minimallateness.Basedonthisalgorithm,alocalsearchprocedureisproposedfor
thegeneralproblemoffindinggoodschedules.