Simulation of freight traffic in the Seville inland port

The Port of Seville is an inland port located in the Guadalquivir River in the south of Spain and it is the unique Spanish inland port. Our research is focused on the simulation of the freight transport process beginning with the movement through the whole estuary of the river and finishing with the vessels arriving to the port dependencies, where the logistic operators’ load and unload processes take place. The simulation presented in the paper is carried out with Arena software and considers all the types of cargo existing in the Seville Port: containers, cereals, cements, scrap, iron and steel and fertilizers. We have simulated the navigation through the Guadalquivir estuary, the lock, the basins and the docks of the port, as well as the logistic activities in the berths. After testing several scenarios, we can state that the facilities of the Port of Seville allow to deal with the incoming logistic flows, except for momentary difficulties in the container traffic. So the improvement measures for the logistic activity must come from other alternative key actions

Análisis de la capacidad del Puerto de Sevilla mediante simulación con ARENA

El Puerto de Sevilla es el único puerto comercial interior existente en España. En este trabajo se realiza un análisis de la capacidad del Puerto de Sevilla. Én el análisis de la capacidad están implicados una gran cantidad de factores. Para su análisis se ha empleado la simulación mediante la aplicación ARENA. El ámbito de la simulación cubre: la llegada del buque; la asignación del muelle; la salida del barco; la entrada y salida de camiones; el análisis en el terminal de contenedores; el análisis en las instalaciones para cemento “L. Asland” y para cereales “Muñoz Chapuli”, así como el resto de muelles que son considerados de forma uniforme. La simulación permite medir los valores medios: tiempo medio y máximo del buque en el sistema; tiempo del barco en el muelle. Así como los valores medio y máximo de las siguientes variables: almacén Batán; almacén Centenario; almacén Tablada exterior; tinglados Tablada; cemento en silos de las instalaciones para cemento “L. Asland”; cereales en silos de las instalaciones para cereales “Muñoz Chapuli”; y contenedores para cada empresa simulada. Para ello se considera el análisis detallado de los valores de las colas de ocupación de los recursos: muelles; prácticos; amarradores; y esclusa.Ministerio de Ciencia y Tecnología DPI2001-245

Designing efficient contemporary ship recycling yards through discrete event simulation

Today, the ship recycling industry is going through a transitional phase in order to comply with the new regulations which are forcing ship recycling yard owners to invest and improve yards. One way to compensate these investments is to optimise the current process and increase the efficiency; however, in the literature there is a gap on detailed approach to optimization of ship recycling processes. This paper aims to develop a framework for the ship recycling industry in order to improve and optimise the ship recycling procedures. This aim is achieved through preparation of simulation models in the ARENA software with current and alternatives practices/processes for every step of ship recycling. The simulation framework developed has been applied for a ship recycling yard in EU as a case study. Bottlenecks in the current process were identified and through simulations alternative solutions were considered to optimise the process. Potential improvements for the yard with simulation approach were summarized in this paper

Konteyner terminallerinde lojistik süreçlerin optimizasyonu ve bir simülasyon modeli

Günümüzde işletmelerin küresel rekabette yer alabilmeleri için ulaştırma faaliyetlerini en uygun şekilde yerine getirmeleri gerekmektedir. Küresel tedarik zinciri ve lojistiğin alt bileşeni olan deniz ulaştırmasında limanlar en önemli ulaştırma altyapısıdır. Gemilerin kötü hava şartlarından etkilenmemek için limanlarda barınmasının çok ötesinde, limanlar artık temel olarak yüklerin bir taşıma modundan diğerine transfer edildiği, yükün terminal sahasında depolandığı ve yüke katma değer hizmetlerin verildiği lojistik merkezler olarak karşımıza çıkmaktadır. Ulaştırma, özellikle 1960’lı yıllarda konteynerin bir taşıma kabı olarak kullanılmaya başlamasından sonra ciddi bir evrim geçirmiştir. Dünya ticaretinde konteyner kullanımı, diğer deniz taşımacılık modlarına göre çok hızlı artmaktadır. Konteyner taşımacılığının getirdiği üstünlüklerle birlikte liman art alanları genişlemiş ve liman elleçleme miktarları çok artmıştır. Bunun yanında limanlar, lojistik hizmet vermek için en uygun alanlar olması özelliği sayesinde uluslararası taşıma zincirindeki yerini pekiştirmiştir. Tüm bunlara ek olarak lojistiğin doğru ürünü, doğru zamanda, doğru yere, zamanında ve hasarsız bir şekilde ulaştırma hedefi limanlara çok ciddi bir yükümlülük getirmektedir

Analysis of marine container terminal gate congestion, truck waiting cost, and system optimization

As world container volume continues to grow and the introduction of 12,000 TEUs plus containerships into major trade routes, the port industry is under pressure to deal with the ever increasing freight volume. Gate congestion at marine container terminal is considered a major issue facing truckers who come to the terminal for container pickup and delivery. Harbor truckers operate in a very competitive environment; they are paid by trip, not by the hours they drive. Gate congestion is not only detrimental to their economic well-being, but also causes environmental pollution. This thesis applies a multi-server queuing model to analyze marine terminal gate congestion and quantify truck waiting cost. In addition, an optimization model is developed to minimize gate system cost. Extensive data collection includes field observations and online camera observation and terminal day-to-day operation records. Comprehensive data analysis provides a solid foundation to support the development of the optimization model. The queuing analysis indicates that there is a substantial truck waiting cost incurred during peak season. Three optimization alternatives are explored. The results prove that optimization by appointment is the most effective way to reduce gate congestion and improve system efficiency. Lastly, it is the recommendation to use the combination of optimization by appointment and productivity improvement to mitigate terminal gate congestion and accommodate the ever growing container volume

INTEROPERABILITY FOR MODELING AND SIMULATION IN MARITIME EXTENDED FRAMEWORK

This thesis reports on the most relevant researches performed during the years of the Ph.D. at the Genova University and within the Simulation Team. The researches have been performed according to M&S well known recognized standards. The studies performed on interoperable simulation cover all the environments of the Extended Maritime Framework, namely Sea Surface, Underwater, Air, Coast & Land, Space and Cyber Space. The applications cover both the civil and defence domain. The aim is to demonstrate the potential of M&S applications for the Extended Maritime Framework, applied to innovative unmanned vehicles as well as to traditional assets, human personnel included. A variety of techniques and methodology have been fruitfully applied in the researches, ranging from interoperable simulation, discrete event simulation, stochastic simulation, artificial intelligence, decision support system and even human behaviour modelling

An Investigation to Evaluate the Feasibility of an Intermodal Freight Transport System.

The threat of greenhouse gases and the resulting climate change have been causing concern at international levels. This has led towards new sustainable policies towards reducing the anthropogenic effects on the environment and the population through promoting sustainable solutions for the freight industry. The research was prompted by the growing concerns that were no mode-choice tool to select as an alternative to road freight transport. There were growing concerns that a large percentage of transport related negativities, related various costs and pollution costs, losses arising from traffic accidents, delay costs from congestion and abatement costs due to climate impacts of transport, etc., were not being borne by the user. Economists have defined them as external costs. Internalising these external costs has been regarded as an efficient way to share the transport related costs. The aim of this research was to construct a freight mode choice model, based on total transport costs, as a mode choice substitution tool. This model would allow the feasibility of choosing alternative intermodal system to a primarily ‘road system’. The thesis postulates a novel model in computing total freight transport costs incurred during the total transit of goods along three North European transport corridors. The model evaluated the total costs summing the internal, external and time costs for varied mode choices from unimodal and the second level of intermodal transport systems. The research outcomes have shown the influences of total costs on the shipper and the preferred mode choices from the available mode/route options with sustainable transport solutions. The impacts of such alternatives were evaluated in this research. This will allow the embedding of intermodal infrastructures as sustainable and alternative mode choices for the freight industry