Smart container stacking in the yard

Abstract

The workloads at seaport container terminals are increasing; thus, to enhance performance, the focus on improving container stacking is argued to be an integral factor that should be studied. The main problem is the number of unproductive moves of handling containers. A well-planned stacking area is argued to be a key requirement in order to increase the performance of the terminal operations and assist in maximum utilization of existing resources. In this work, we investigated and then propose the best possible solution by evaluating GAs in order to minimize the unproductive moves often witnessed in terminal operations. A discrete-event simulation CSS model has been developed to study the inbound container stacking that considers in the model the following: the working of the yard crane, Automated Guided Vehicles, delivery trucks and obtain the simulation-based results of GA. We propose a mathematical model to minimize the container handling costs during stacking and retrieval operations in the container terminal yard.

Roll-on/roll-off terminals and truck freight : improving competitiveness in a motorways of the sea context

“…In fact, the desired optimal performance is only achieved globally when all parts (subsystems) work adequately. Most authors (Henesey et al, 2003) consider that the operation of a terminal can be divided into four or five main subsystems which roughly correspond to distinct physical areas in the terminal: Loading/Unloading from/to ship to/from shore, Transfer (from berth to the storage area), Storage, and Delivery and Receipt, all depending on the kind of traffic/terminal being dealt with. For this thesis purposes, RoPax terminals (and RoRo for extension), have been considered to be made of three subsystems since Transfer time when Loading/Unloading is highly affected by the Storage configuration as well, making it difficult to approach separately the three subsystems on their own.…”