Simulation-Based Optimization of Truck Appointment Systems in Container Terminals: A Dual Transactions Approach with Improved Congestion Factor Representation

Davies K. Bett, Islam Ali, Mohamed Gheith and Amr Eltawil ()
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Davies K. Bett: Department of Industrial and Manufacturing Engineering, Egypt-Japan University of Science and Technology, New Borg El-Arab, Alexandria 21934, Egypt
Islam Ali: Department of Industrial and Manufacturing Engineering, Egypt-Japan University of Science and Technology, New Borg El-Arab, Alexandria 21934, Egypt
Mohamed Gheith: Department of Industrial and Manufacturing Engineering, Egypt-Japan University of Science and Technology, New Borg El-Arab, Alexandria 21934, Egypt
Amr Eltawil: Department of Industrial and Manufacturing Engineering, Egypt-Japan University of Science and Technology, New Borg El-Arab, Alexandria 21934, Egypt

Logistics, 2024, vol. 8, issue 3, 1-30

Abstract: Background : Container terminals (CTs) have constantly administered truck appointment systems (TASs) to effectively accomplish the planning and scheduling of drayage operations. However, since the operations in the gate and yard area of a CT are stochastic, there is a need to incorporate uncertainty during the development and execution of appointment schedules. Further, the situation is complicated by disruptions in the arrival of external trucks (ETs) during transport, which results in congestion at the port due to unbalanced arrivals. In the wake of Industry 4.0, simulation can be used to test and investigate the present CT configurations for possible improvements. Methods : This paper presents a simulation optimization (SO) and simulation-based optimization (SBO) iteration framework which adopts a dual transactions approach to minimize the gate operation costs and establish the relationship between productivity and service time while considering congestion in the yard area. It integrates the use of both the developed discrete event simulation (DES) and a mixed integer programming (MIP) model from the literature to iteratively generate an improved schedule. The key performance indicators considered include the truck turnaround time (TTT) and the average time the trucks spend at each yard block (YB). The proposed approach was verified using input parameters from the literature. Results : The findings from the SO experiments indicate that, at most, two gates were required to be opened at each time window (TW), yielding an average minimum operating cost of USD 335.31. Meanwhile, results from the SBO iteration experiment indicate an inverse relationship between productivity factor (PF) values and yard crane (YC) service time. Conclusions : Overall, the findings provided an informed understanding of the need for dynamic scheduling of available resources in the yard to cut down on the gate operating costs. Further, the presented two methodologies can be incorporated with Industry 4.0 technologies to design digital twins for use in conventional CT by planners at an operational level as a decision-support tool.

Keywords: discrete event simulation; simulation-based optimization iteration; congestion; dual transactions; external trucks; appointment scheduling (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: L8 L80 L81 L86 L87 L9 L90 L91 L92 L93 L98 L99 M1 M10 M11 M16 M19 R4 R40 R41 R49 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2024
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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