2,331 research outputs found

    Supporting Cross-sectoral Infrastructure Investment Planning

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    An Agent-based Approach for Improving the Performance of Distributed Business Processes in Maritime Port Community

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    In the recent years, the concept of “port community” has been adopted by the maritime transport industry in order to achieve a higher degree of coordination and cooperation amongst organizations involved in the transfer of goods through the port area. The business processes of the port community supply chain form a complicated process which involves several process steps, multiple actors, and numerous information exchanges. One of the widely used applications of ICT in ports is the Port Community System (PCS) which is implemented in ports in order to reduce paperwork and to facilitate the information flow related to port operations and cargo clearance. However, existing PCSs are limited in functionalities that facilitate the management and coordination of material, financial, and information flows within the port community supply chain. This research programme addresses the use of agent technology to introduce business process management functionalities, which are vital for port communities, aiming to the enhancement of the performance of the port community supply chain. The investigation begins with an examination of the current state in view of the business perspective and the technical perspective. The business perspective focuses on understanding the nature of the port community, its main characteristics, and its problems. Accordingly, a number of requirements are identified as essential amendments to information systems in seaports. On the other hand, the technical perspective focuses on technologies that are convenient for solving problems in business process management within port communities. The research focuses on three technologies; the workflow technology, agent technology, and service orientation. An analysis of information systems across port communities enables an examination of the current PCSs with regard to their coordination and workflow management capabilities. The most important finding of this analysis is that the performance of the business processes, and in particular the performance of the port community supply chain, is not in the scope of the examined PCSs. Accordingly, the Agent-Based Middleware for Port Community Management (ABMPCM) is proposed as an approach for providing essential functionalities that would facilitate collaborative planning and business process management. As a core component of the ABMPCM, the Collaborative Planning Facility (CPF) is described in further details. A CPF prototype has been developed as an agent-based system for the domain of inland transport of containers to demonstrate its practical effectiveness. To evaluate the practical application of the CPF, a simulation environment is introduced in order to facilitate the evaluation process. The research started with the definition of a multi-agent simulation framework for port community supply chain. Then, a prototype has been implemented and employed for the evaluation of the CPF. The results of the simulation experiments demonstrate that our agent-based approach effectively enhances the performance of business process in the port community

    Disruption Response Support For Inland Waterway Transportation

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    Motivated by the critical role of the inland waterways in the United States\u27 transportation system, this dissertation research focuses on pre- and post- disruption response support when the inland waterway navigation system is disrupted by a natural or manmade event. Following a comprehensive literature review, four research contributions are achieved. The first research contribution formulates and solves a cargo prioritization and terminal allocation problem (CPTAP) that minimizes total value loss of the disrupted barge cargoes on the inland waterway transportation system. It is tailored for maritime transportation stakeholders whose disaster response plans seek to mitigate negative economic and societal impacts. A genetic algorithm (GA)-based heuristic is developed and tested to solve realistically-sized instances of CPTAP. The second research contribution develops and examines a tabu search (TS) heuristic as an improved solution approach to CPTAP. Different from GA\u27s population search approach, the TS heuristic uses the local search to find improved solutions to CPTAP in less computation time. The third research contribution assesses cargo value decreasing rates (CVDRs) through a Value-focused Thinking based methodology. The CVDR is a vital parameter to the general cargo prioritization modeling as well as specifically for the CPTAP model for inland waterways developed here. The fourth research contribution develops a multi-attribute decision model based on the Analytic Hierarchy Process that integrates tangible and intangible factors in prioritizing cargo after an inland waterway disruption. This contribution allows for consideration of subjective, qualitative attributes in addition to the pure quantitative CPTAP approach explored in the first two research contributions

    Inter-Port Competition and Inland Container Transport: A multiple Criteria Decision-Making Approach to Achieve Intermodal Transport System Development Stratergies in Taiwan.

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    Merged with duplicate record 10026.1/2833 on 10.04.2017 by CS (TIS)Inland container transport has intensified over the past thirty years in Taiwan. It is closely related to inter-port competition and port selection by container carriers. In the 1980's, large containerships only berthed at Kaohsiung port due to the limit of container terminal operation capacities of Keelung port and the carrier's regional hub port decision in the country region. The container traffic of the south-north motorways made them more crowded and increased road maintenance expenses. The purpose of this research is to study inter-port competition and inland container transport flows in Taiwan. Although Taiwan is an island, the freight transport policy has been focused on rail and motorway rather than sea transportation. Therefore, it is intended to study the contexts of inland container traffic flows and the inter-port competition model. Following from this, the main objectives are to understand the details of container ports in order to identify the major criteria and variables related to the development of the intermodal freight transport system and then to create an integrated decisionmaking process model as a framework to help the public sector make quality decisions. We designed, tested and evaluated a public involvement process that identified public values for use in the development of an intermodal transport system for the container port. The methodology of this research includes the development of a Multiple Criteria Decision-Making (MCDM) model based on the Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) and validated by the use of priority setting for the intermodal transport system at Kaohsiung port as a case study. The main idea behind mathematical programming is the optimal selection of a set of research activities given limited resource availability, decision constraints and the pursuit of multiple objectives. A final model addresses the simultaneous analysis of the selection process clearly able to be traced back by all parties. This research developed a framework that will enable the public sector to make better decisions when selecting intermodal transport system proposals and also save decision-makers time and effort

    Strategic Risk and Reliability Assessment in the Container Liner Shipping Industry Under High Uncertainties

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    The container liner shipping industry (CLSI) can be defined as one consisting of a fleet of vessels that provides a fixed service at regular intervals between ports of call. It is noteworthy that the CLSI is remarkably acting as an artery in making contributions to the growth of the global economy. However, in an era of unprecedented global changes, the CLSI faces a variety of internal and external risks. Moreover, the reliability and capability of liner shipping operators (LSOs) vary under different environmental conditions. Consequently, it is important for LSOs to ensure that the safety and reliability of their internal operations as well as external environments through proactive assessment of their reliability and capability are intact. The literature indicates that disruptive events have been assessed and investigated by many researchers and practitioners whilst the root causes arising from external risks have not yet been fully identified. The aim of this research was to develop integrated frameworks for assessing risk and reliability in the CLSI under high uncertainties. As a result, three interlocking levels of analysis have been highlighted in this research: 1) business environment-based risk (BEBR), 2) organisational reliability and capability (ORC) of LSOs, and 3) punctuality of containerships. To achieve the aim, firstly, this research employed a combination of different decision-making methods (i.e. Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP), Fuzzy Set Theory (FST) and Evidential Reasoning (ER)) for the assessment of the BEBR. The research outcomes are providing LSOs with a powerful decision-making tool to assess the risk value of a country prior to investment and strategic decisions. In addition, LSOs are also able to regularly assess the overall level of existing BEBR in a host country prior to development of mitigation strategies that can help to minimise financial losses. Secondly, this research employs the Fuzzy Bayesian Belief Network (FBBN) method for evaluating the ORC of LSOs. By exploiting the proposed FBBN model, LSOs are able to conduct a self-evaluation of their ORC prior to the selection of a strategy for enhancing their competitive advantages in the CLSI. A significant concern in container liner shipping operations is the punctuality of containerships. Therefore, thirdly, this research concentrated on analysing and predicting the arrival punctuality of a liner vessel under dynamic environments by employing a combination of Fuzzy Rule-Base (FRB) and FBBN methods. Finally, a probabilistic model for analysing and predicting the departure punctuality of a liner vessel was generated. Accordingly, from the outcomes of this research LSOs are able to forecast their vessels’ arrival and departure punctuality and, further, tactical strategies can be implemented if a vessel is expected to be delayed. In addition, both arrival and departure punctuality models are capable of helping academic researchers and industrial practitioners to comprehend the influence of uncertain environments on the service punctuality. In order to demonstrate the practicability of the proposed methodologies and models, several real test cases were conducted by choosing the Malaysian maritime industry as a focus of study. The results obtained from these test cases have provided useful information for recommending preventive measures, improvement strategies and tactical solutions. The frameworks and models that have been proposed in this research for assessing risk and reliability of the CLSI will provide managerial insights for modelling and assessing complex systems dealing with both quantitative and qualitative criteria in a rational, reliable and transparent manner. In addition, these models have been developed in a generic sense so that they can be tailored for application in other industrial sectors

    Bundling Strategies in Global Supply Chains

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    The development of logistics has offered a wide range of new business opportunities for transport operators. Shipping lines have been taking advantage of these opportunities and have expanded their business scope beyond the movement of cargo, to include, for example, coordination among transport modes, route rationalisation and even value added logistics services. Carriers offer today transportation as part of integrated global supply chain solutions in an attempt to provide a better service to their customers as well as improve their bottom lines. This appears to be a winning strategy since an increasing number of industry players are investing in logistics operations and infrastructure. The offering of products and services jointly as a package or bundle is a common marketing strategy in a variety of industries and also appears to be a successful strategy for enhancing shipping lines’ competitiveness and profitability. Only limited research is available though to better understand under what conditions such bundled sales are possible; what attitude shippers show towards this industry trend; how bundling strategies could be developed optimally; and how they could be priced. This thesis is a contribution to research in this area and provides an analysis of the viability and the benefits of bundling strategies in the container industry, and specifically with reference to the joint provision of ocean transportation and other logistics services

    European Transport / Trasporti Europei

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    Northeast Asian containerised maritime logistics: supply chain collaboration, collaborative advantage and performance

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    This thesis aims to develop and validate the dimensions of supply chain collaboration and collaborative advantage in the containerised maritime industry and explores the impact of supply chain collaboration on collaborative advantage and port performance. Additionally, this thesis tests a mediation effect of collaborative advantage on the relationship between supply chain collaboration and port performance. This thesis employs a quantitative method. A theoretical model is built based on thorough literature reviews of supply chain management and maritime studies, in-depth discussions with experts, item review and Q-sorting techniques to signify ambiguity or misunderstanding with the scales and to suggest modifications. The proposed model is empirically tested with survey data using 178 responses from terminal operators, shipping lines, inland transport companies, freight forwarders, ship management companies and third-party logistics providers involved in maritime logistics in the major containers ports of Busan, Gwangyang and Incheon for a comprehensive and balanced view by using structural equation modelling. With regard to the findings of the empirical research, three main constructs were successfully validated as multi-dimensional constructs. The structural paths support hypotheses that supply chain collaboration has a positive influence on collaborative advantage, and collaborative advantage has a strong contribution to port performance. However, the direct impact of supply chain collaboration on port performance is insignificant. A hierarchical approach of the mediation test and bootstrapping test found that the association between supply chain collaboration and port performance is fully mediated by collaborative advantage. In other words, the greater degree of supply chain collaboration between the port and port user enables them to gain a higher degree of collaborative advantage, and, in turn, this collaborative advantage can contribute to augmenting port performance. This thesis synthesises transaction cost theory, resource based theory and a relational view to explain how supply chain collaboration influences collaborative advantage and port performance. Its theoretical contribution expands the concept of supply chain collaboration and collaborative advantage into containerised maritime contexts, capturing the perspective of the ports and port users. Further, despite numerous maritime studies which extol the importance of collaboration between the ports and port users, no systematic approach has previously developed and validated those constructs and relationships. The various maritime logistics organisations would benefit from applying the results of this study to their supply chain collaboration practices when seeking greater collaborative advantage. The results heed practitioners in containerised maritime logistics organisations to focus on balancing the facets of supply chain collaboration to transport flows of containers seamlessly and efficiently from door-to-door, as supply chain management philosophy drives the maritim

    The Competitiveness of Ports in Emerging Markets : The case of Durban, South Africa

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    This report provides a synthesis of main findings from the OECD Port-Cities Programme, created in 2010 in order to assess the impact of ports on their cities and provide policy recommendations to increase the positive impacts of ports on their cities. This Programme was directed by Olaf Merk, Administrator Port-Cities within the OECD Public Governance and Territorial Development Directorate. This synthesis report was directed and written by Olaf Merk; it draws on the work of a number of other contributors: César Ducruet, Jasper Cooper, Jing Li, Ihnji Jon, Maren Larsen and Lucie Billaud. The report has benefited from comments from Bill Tompson, Nils-Axel Braathen, Jane Korinek, Nicolas Mat and Juliette Cerceau. The synthesis report is based on findings from a series of OECD Port-Cities case studies. Such case studies were conducted for Le Havre/Rouen/Paris/Caen (France), Hamburg (Germany), Helsinki (Finland), Marseille (France), Mersin (Turkey), Rotterdam/Amsterdam (the Netherlands), Antofagasta (Chile), Bratislava/Komárno/Štúrova (Slovak Republic), Durban (South Africa) and Shanghai (China). Within the framework of these studies, study visits to these port-cities were conducted, which included a series of interviews with the port-city related actors and stakeholders in these places. The OECD Port-Cities Programme also benefited from visits to the following ports and port-cities and discussion with port-related actors in the following port-cities: Hong Kong, Shenzhen, Singapore, Casablanca, Venice, Trieste, Genoa, Valparaíso, Varna, Gdansk, Koper, Vienna, Antwerp, Felixstowe, Los Angeles, Long Beach, Sydney and Newcastle (Australia). Contributions and inputs into the OECD Port-Cities case studies and related working papers were provided by César Ducruet, Elvira Haezendonck, Michael Dooms, Patrick Dubarle, Markus Hesse, Géraldine Planque, Theo Notteboom, José Tongzon, Jörg Jocker, Oguz Bagis, Angela Bergantino, Claude Comtois, Nicolas Winicki, Thai Thanh Dang, Claudio Ferrari, Alessio Tei, Anna Bottasso, Maurizio Conti, Salvador Saz, Leandro Garcia-Menéndez, Zhen Hong, Zhao Nan, Angela Xu Mingying, Xie Wenqing, Du Xufeng, Wang Jinggai, Jing Li, Matthieu Bordes, Rachel Silberstein, Xiao Wang, Jean-Paul Rodrigue, Jasper Cooper, Marten van den Bossche, Carla Jong, Christelle Larsonneur, Walter Manshanden, Martijn Dröes, Evgueny Poliakov, Olli-Pekka Hilmola, Charlotte Lafitte, Caroline Guillet, Léonie Claeyman, Suzanne Chatelier. The Programme has been enriched through the interaction with these experts. Within the framework of the Programme, three different workshops in Paris were organised and benefited from presentations by: César Ducruet, Markus Hesse, Elvira Haezendonck, Claudio Ferrari, Jan Egbertsen, Ingo Fehrs, Stijn Effting, Michael Vanderbeek, Alessio Tei, Philippe Deiss, Birgit Liodden, Johan Woxenius, Hyong Mo Jeon, Dimitrios Theologitis, Carla Jong, Lorene Grandidier, Dominique Lebreton, Claude Comtois, Marten van den Bossche, Matt Bogdan, Alice Liu, Jan Green Rebstock. Within the framework of the Programme, the Administrator has provided presentations and interventions in conferences organised by: European Committee of the Regions (COTER), European Seaport Organisation (ESPO), Moroccan Association for Logistics (Amlog), International Association of Ports and Harbors (IAPH), Port of Long Beach Board of Harbor Commissioners, City of Shenzhen, Korean Transport Institute (KOTI), Korean Maritime Institute (KMI), French Association of Town Planners (FNAU), Italian Association of Transport Economists (SIET), World Conference of Transport Research Society (WCTRS-SIG2), Maersk, Port Finance International, BSR Clean Cargo Working Group, Infrastructure Australia, International Association Cities Ports (AIVP), Inter American Committee for Ports, International Transport Forum (ITF), Florence School of Regulation, Cargo Edições Lda, Logistics Portugal, International Forum on Shipping, Ports and Airports (IFSPA), Port of Amsterdam, Port of Rotterdam, Port of Hamburg, Université du Sud Toulon-Var, Colloque Axe Seine Acte II. The Programme has benefited from the support of: the Netherlands Ministry of Economy, City of Rotterdam, City of Amsterdam, Port of Amsterdam, Çukurova Development Agency, City of Helsinki, Port of Marseille, Slovak Ministry of Transport, Construction and Regional Development, Slovak Ministry of Foreign Affairs, City of Hamburg, Transnet South Africa, Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur Region, Bouches du Rhône Department, Syndicat mixte du Schéma de Cohérence Territoriale Ouest Étang de Berre, Communauté d’agglomération Marseille Provence Métropole, City of Marseille, Chamber of Commerce and Industry Marseille Provence, the Agence d’Urbanisme de Marseille, the Union Maritime et Fluviale, l’Agence d’Urbanisme de la Région du Havre et de l’Estuaire de la Seine (AURH), l’Agence d’Études d’Urbanisme de Caen Métropole (AUCAME), l’Atelier Parisien d’Urbanisme (APUR), l’Institut d’Aménagement et d’Urbanisme de la région d’Île de France (IAU IDF), l’Agence d'Urbanisme et de Développement de la Seine Aval (AUDAS), la Ville du Havre, la Communauté d’Agglomération Havraise (CODAH), la Communauté de l’Agglomération Rouen Elbeuf Austreberthe (CREA), le Grand Port Maritime du Havre (GPMH), le Grand Port Maritime de Rouen (GPMR), Ports de Paris. The report, as well as the Port-City case studies and related thematic papers can be downloaded from the OECD website: www.oecd.org/regional/portcities Further enquiries about this work in this area should be addressed to: Olaf Merk ([email protected]) of the OECD Public Governance and Territorial Development Directorate
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