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A simulation study of the performance of twin automated stacking cranes at a seaport container terminal

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  • Gharehgozli, Amir Hossein
  • Vernooij, Floris Gerardus
  • Zaerpour, Nima

Abstract

This paper studies the effect of a handshake area on the performance of twin automated stacking cranes (ASCs) operating on top of a stack with transfer zones at both seaside and landside. The handshake area is a temporary storage location so that one crane can start a request and leave the container there for the other crane to complete the request. By testing settings with and without such a handshake area, the goal is to find robust rules which result in the best performance, measured as (1) the makespan to finish all requests and (2) the total waiting time of the cranes due to interference or nonconsecutive delivery of containers in the handshake area (blocking time). The effect of five decision variables on the performance are tested. The decision variables are (1) the way the requests are handled by the cranes (scheduling), (2) the storage location of the containers in the handshake area, (3) the location of the handshake area in the stack, (4) the size of the handshake area and (5) the number of handshake areas in the stack. For each decision variable, multiple heuristics are developed. The results indicate that settings without a handshake area outperform settings with a handshake area for virtually all instances tested when using the same scheduling heuristic. For both types of settings, the choice for a scheduling heuristic impacts the final performance the most. In this study, we opt for simple heuristics since container terminal operators prefer to avoid any complexity in coordinating and scheduling two ASCs for safety and simplicity reasons.

Suggested Citation

  • Gharehgozli, Amir Hossein & Vernooij, Floris Gerardus & Zaerpour, Nima, 2017. "A simulation study of the performance of twin automated stacking cranes at a seaport container terminal," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 261(1), pages 108-128.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:ejores:v:261:y:2017:i:1:p:108-128
    DOI: 10.1016/j.ejor.2017.01.037
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    Cited by:

    1. Lennart Zey & Dirk Briskorn & Nils Boysen, 2022. "Twin-crane scheduling during seaside workload peaks with a dedicated handshake area," Journal of Scheduling, Springer, vol. 25(1), pages 3-34, February.
    2. Hang Yu & Yiyun Deng & Leijie Zhang & Xin Xiao & Caimao Tan, 2022. "Yard Operations and Management in Automated Container Terminals: A Review," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(6), pages 1-24, March.
    3. Amir Gharehgozli & Debjit Roy & Suruchika Saini & Jan-Kees Ommeren, 2023. "Loading and unloading trains at the landside of container terminals," Maritime Economics & Logistics, Palgrave Macmillan;International Association of Maritime Economists (IAME), vol. 25(3), pages 549-575, September.
    4. Gharehgozli, Amir & Xu, Chao & Zhang, Wenda, 2021. "High multiplicity asymmetric traveling salesman problem with feedback vertex set and its application to storage/retrieval system," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 289(2), pages 495-507.
    5. Zhou, Chenhao & Lee, Byung Kwon & Li, Haobin, 2020. "Integrated optimization on yard crane scheduling and vehicle positioning at container yards," Transportation Research Part E: Logistics and Transportation Review, Elsevier, vol. 138(C).
    6. Krüger, Stephan & Schwientek, Anne Kathrina & Jahn, Carlos, 2021. "Evaluation of an integrated planning and simulation tool," Chapters from the Proceedings of the Hamburg International Conference of Logistics (HICL), in: Jahn, Carlos & Kersten, Wolfgang & Ringle, Christian M. (ed.), Adapting to the Future: Maritime and City Logistics in the Context of Digitalization and Sustainability. Proceedings of the Hamburg International Conf, volume 32, pages 351-371, Hamburg University of Technology (TUHH), Institute of Business Logistics and General Management.
    7. Sumin Chen & Qingcheng Zeng & Yushan Hu, 2022. "Scheduling optimization for two crossover automated stacking cranes considering relocation," Operational Research, Springer, vol. 22(3), pages 2099-2120, July.
    8. Amelie Eilken, 2019. "A decomposition-based approach to the scheduling of identical automated yard cranes at container terminals," Journal of Scheduling, Springer, vol. 22(5), pages 517-541, October.
    9. Wang, Mengyao & Zhou, Chenhao & Wang, Aihu, 2022. "A cluster-based yard template design integrated with yard crane deployment using a placement heuristic," Transportation Research Part E: Logistics and Transportation Review, Elsevier, vol. 160(C).
    10. Kress, Dominik & Dornseifer, Jan & Jaehn, Florian, 2019. "An exact solution approach for scheduling cooperative gantry cranes," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 273(1), pages 82-101.
    11. Damla Kizilay & Deniz Türsel Eliiyi, 2021. "A comprehensive review of quay crane scheduling, yard operations and integrations thereof in container terminals," Flexible Services and Manufacturing Journal, Springer, vol. 33(1), pages 1-42, March.
    12. Buddhi A. Weerasinghe & H. Niles Perera & Xiwen Bai, 2024. "Optimizing container terminal operations: a systematic review of operations research applications," Maritime Economics & Logistics, Palgrave Macmillan;International Association of Maritime Economists (IAME), vol. 26(2), pages 307-341, June.
    13. Gharehgozli, Amir & Zaerpour, Nima, 2018. "Stacking outbound barge containers in an automated deep-sea terminal," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 267(3), pages 977-995.
    14. Nima Zaerpour & Amir Gharehgozli & René De Koster, 2019. "Vertical Expansion: A Solution for Future Container Terminals," Transportation Science, INFORMS, vol. 53(5), pages 1235-1251, September.
    15. Caldeira dos Santos, Murillo & Pereira, Fábio Henrique, 2021. "Development and application of a dynamic model for road port access and its impacts on port-city relationship indicators," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 96(C).
    16. Gharehgozli, Amir & Yu, Yugang & de Koster, René & Du, Shaofu, 2019. "Sequencing storage and retrieval requests in a container block with multiple open locations," Transportation Research Part E: Logistics and Transportation Review, Elsevier, vol. 125(C), pages 261-284.
    17. Amir Gharehgozli & Nima Zaerpour & Rene Koster, 2020. "Container terminal layout design: transition and future," Maritime Economics & Logistics, Palgrave Macmillan;International Association of Maritime Economists (IAME), vol. 22(4), pages 610-639, December.
    18. Xiaojun Li & Ran Zhou & Lequn Zhu, 2022. "The Influence of Operation Platform on the Energy Consumption of Container Handling," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(1), pages 1-13, December.
    19. Raeesi, Ramin & Sahebjamnia, Navid & Mansouri, S. Afshin, 2023. "The synergistic effect of operational research and big data analytics in greening container terminal operations: A review and future directions," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 310(3), pages 943-973.
    20. Coen H. H. Battum & Bart Wiegmans & Bilge Atasoy & Erwin Wingerden & Arjen Waal & Lóránt A. Tavasszy, 2023. "Performance improvements in container terminals through the bottleneck mitigation cycle," Maritime Economics & Logistics, Palgrave Macmillan;International Association of Maritime Economists (IAME), vol. 25(1), pages 174-195, March.
    21. Facchini, F. & Digiesi, S. & Mossa, G., 2020. "Optimal dry port configuration for container terminals: A non-linear model for sustainable decision making," International Journal of Production Economics, Elsevier, vol. 219(C), pages 164-178.
    22. Anne Ehleiter & Florian Jaehn, 2018. "Scheduling crossover cranes at container terminals during seaside peak times," Journal of Heuristics, Springer, vol. 24(6), pages 899-932, December.

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