Simulation and the Fourth Industrial Revolution

Advancements in systems simulation over the past decade have propelled simulationinto a new position as a decision-making tool in Industry 4.0 applications. This paperaddresses the specific benefits of simulation which can be utilized to enable greaterflexibility in decision making in the Industry 4.0 environment. It is stressed thatboth discrete event simulation (DES) and agent-based simulation (ABS) can be usedto represent complex interactions in a fully integrated set of virtual and physicalsystems

Sea Container Terminals

Due to a rapid growth in world trade and a huge increase in containerized goods, sea container terminals play a vital role in globe-spanning supply chains. Container terminals should be able to handle large ships, with large call sizes within the shortest time possible, and at competitive rates. In response, terminal operators, shipping liners, and port authorities are investing in new technologies to improve container handling infrastructure and operational efficiency. Container terminals face challenging research problems which have received much attention from the academic community. The focus of this paper is to highlight the recent developments in the container terminals, which can be categorized into three areas: (1) innovative container terminal technologies, (2) new OR directions and models for existing research areas, and (3) emerging areas in container terminal research. By choosing this focus, we complement existing reviews on container terminal operations

The impact of Port Community Systems (PCS) characteristics on performance

The purpose of this study is to assess the effect of the port community system (PCS) and its influence on port performance. The techniques of principal component analysis and structural equation modelling are applied to 153 valid responses from a sample, obtained from Portuguese port community experts. The results identify and measure the factors that characterize the PCS and affects port performance. PCS characteristic, including service level, partner network, ship services, cargo services, logistics services and advanced services, affect port performance, defined as operational performance, effectiveness and efficiency. The primary contribution of this study is to show the mechanisms that allow ports to adjust and evolve the PCS characteristics and develop new features that affect port performance.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

The role of information technology to facilitate the movement of containers: the experience of Yara North America and their container operation

Master's thesis Business Administration BE501 - University of Agder 2017Konfidensiell til / confidential until 01.01.202

Index to NASA Tech Briefs, 1975

This index contains abstracts and four indexes--subject, personal author, originating Center, and Tech Brief number--for 1975 Tech Briefs

Integrative Approach to Online Quality Management: Process Control and Packout Verification in an Intelligent Manufacturing Workcell.

The current global competition and the economic situation in the United States and the world is forcing industries to produce quality products quickly and at a competitive price. Many industries are aiming towards world class manufacturing objectives like responsive delivery, defect free product and declining cost. Industries in the present environment can survive and produce the quality products to customer expectations only if they implement new technologies. The key element in the success of industries is using the continuous process improvement strategies like reducing process variability and reducing response time to process deviations. Achieving quality in manufacturing processes is an important part of the job description of everyone concerned with the manufacturing operation. The greatest savings can come when a quality system can immediately inform appropriate personnel when process problems occur, and can then assist in ensuring rapid response at the lowest possible level in the organization. This type of system adds not only to the bottom lux but also to the job satisfaction of all concerned [John, 1992]. The quality tools of the future are those that operate under a different scenario: the computer systems that collect the data also automatically do the analysis, interpretation, detection and correction, along with exception-based alarming and reporting. In this research, we examine the potential benefits of an integrative approach to on-line quality management. The motivation for this research comes from a field study with a printed circuit board assembly and instrumentation cluster manufacturer. The company made substantial investments in setting up elaborate systems for on-line data collection and monitoring of process status. While these modern quality control systems provided a rich database, their application in quality management was rather limited. This is partially due to the lack of appropriate methodology for quality decisions. The objective of this research is to develop an integrative approach to process control and packout verification of products. When the developed approach was implemented, it enabled the company to reduce their Problem Resolution Requests (PRRs) by 25% and was a cost avoidance of approximately $600,000 annually

An application of a simulation technique on rail container transport between Laem Chabang Port and Inland Container Depot Ladkrabang, Thailand

Since the increasing demand of container transport through Laem Chabang Port, Thailand, the port faces landside congestion due to the large share of road transport. The Inland Container Depot Ladkrabang is the dry port facility to support and increase the efficiency, and ease the congestion at the port by linking the dry port and the seaport by rail; however, the share of transport between the two facilities is largely by road. There are three modes of transport at Laem Chabang Port i.e. road, rail, and barge. The large share of a modal split by road creates severe landside congestion. Moreover, the Inland Container Depot Ladkrabang, which serves the direct rail link to Laem Chabang Port has a larger share of road transport. This causes traffic congestion from the increasing container throughput and other problems, i.e. air emissions, pollution in port and local community, excess cost of transport, and road accidents. This dissertation aims to study the reason why the modal share by rail has not increased, which hinders the growth of the rail transport between the two facilities by rail container transport data analysis. Furthermore, the research studies the effectiveness of government policies and investment into the rail transport system between Laem Chabang Port and Inland Container Depot Ladkrabang. Finally, the simulation technique is utilized using Rockwell Software Arena 14 to generate the virtual model, which is based on the real world system parameters and characteristics. The virtual simulation model allows free configurations and adjustments based on the real world applicability. Three scenarios are assumed, constructed, and quantified by the software. The results show that there are possibilities to create more efficient systems in the virtual models. The presentation of the real world application shows how the virtual model could be implemented and which measures are required to maintain the system efficiency. This also illustrates the impact of the system application to the current situation