Thesis no: MSCS-2016-03
How a Discrete event simulation model can relieve congestion at a
RORO terminal gate system
Case study: RORO port terminal in the Port of Karlshamn.
JITHIN CHAND VADLAMUDI
Faculty of Computing
Blekinge Institute of Technology SE–371 79 Karlskrona, Sweden
This thesis is submitted to the Faculty of Computing at Blekinge Institute of Technology in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science in Computer Science.
The thesis is equivalent to 20 weeks of full time studies.
Contact Information:
Author(s):Jithin chand vadlamudi E-mail: jiva14@student.bth.se
University advisor:Lawrence Henesey Department of Computer Science and Com- puter Systems Engineering.
Faculty of Computing Internet : www.bth.se
Blekinge Institute of Technology Phone : +46 455 38 50 00
SE–371 79 Karlskrona, Sweden Fax : +46 455 38 50 57
Abstract
Context. Due to increase in demand for RORO shipping services, the RORO terminal gate system need to handle more number of vehi- cles for every RORO vessel departure. Therefore, various congestion problems can occur; so, to address all possible congestion related prob- lems at RORO terminal, terminal gate systems are implemented with advanced technologies and updated to full or partial functioning au- tomated gate systems.
Objectives. In this research study considering the future increase in demand for wheeled cargo shipping, we attempt to propose a solution for reducing congestion and investigating optimal positions for each automated gate system service at RORO port terminal.
Methods. In this Master thesis, as part of qualitative study we con- duct a literature review and case study to know about the existing related work on this research problem and know about the real world system operation and behaviour of a RORO terminal gate system.
Later, applying the adequate knowledge acquired from above men- tioned qualitative studies, we perform a discrete event simulation ex- periment using Anylogic® professional 7.02 simulation software to address defined research objectives.
Results. Considering the peak and low periods of present and future estimated demand volumes as different scenarios,various simulation experiment results are generated for different key performance indi- cators. The result values of these key performance indicators address various research objectives.
Conclusions. This research study finally concludes that, the average queue length values at each automated gate system service implicates optimal position for each service and directly address the congestion problem. We also conclude that in every estimated increase in vehicles attending the RORO terminal, assigning optimal arrival time windows for respective vehicle types minimizes the congestion problem at au- tomated gate system.
Keywords: RORO port terminal, Automated gate systems, Conges-
tion, Discrete event simulation modelling.
Acknowledgments
In the phase of life, where a Master thesis with a research motive has turned into an important and responsible journey, I have experienced the meaning of many real things that enhanced me as a better human being. So, I feel responsible for thanking all the people who made a contribution in this challenging journey.
Starting with the best, I would like to thank Amma and Nana for their uncon- ditional love, patience, caring, support, motivation, energy and instilling my soul with much positivity. I would like to pay my gratitude towards my other family members, who shower their care, affection and for taking my side every time.
I pay my sincere gratitude to my professor Dr.Lawrence Henesey for his immense support, motivation, patience, sharing precious ideas and just being a call away from all my problems incurred in this journey. I would like to thank the assis- tance of the Port of Karlshamn and DFDS Company, and its RORO Terminal and Railway head Mr.Peter Samuelsson. I appreciate the support of my external supervisor Gideon Mbiydzenyuy from the Netport science park AB.
I would be thankful to all those beloved persons who acted as a driving force throughout my journey and make this travel more responsible with their unflag- ging love and inspiration. As part of my last gratitude, I would like to thank my roommates, best friends and a long list of interesting people for baring me, motivating me, questioning me, and always lending a shoulder for my cries and hands for my balance.
ii
List of Figures
3.1 Research structure . . . . 14
4.1 An example of OCR Portal [1]. . . . 29
4.2 An outer look of a CAMCO self-servicing kiosk [2]. . . . 32
5.1 Aerial View of the RORO Terminal in Port of Karlshamn. . . . . 37
5.2 The operational workflow of Vehicle Booking System at RORO terminal,Port of Karlshamn . . . . 39
5.3 Operational flowchart of present day RORO terminal - For Outgo- ing traffic flows (IN-Gate System). . . . 40
5.4 Operational flowchart of present day RORO terminal - For Incom- ing traffic flows (OUT-Gate System). . . . 41
9.1 DES model for In-Gate system. . . . 57
9.2 DES model for Out-Gate System. . . . 57
9.3 Classification of different Scenarios at an RORO terminal gate sys- tem. . . . 58
11.1 System utilization rates at an In-Gate System in Scenarios 1 and 4.2. . . . 76
11.2 Average Queue lengths at an In-Gate System in Scenarios 1, 4.1, and 4.2. . . . 76
11.3 Maximum Queue lengths at an In-Gate System in Scenarios 1, 4.1 and 4.2. . . . 77
11.4 Gate System throughput of Gate lanes at an In-Gate system in scenarios 1 and 4.2. . . . 78
11.5 System utilization rates at an Out-Gate system in scenarios 1 and 4. 80 11.6 Average queue lengths at an Out-Gate system in scenarios 1 and 4. 81 11.7 Maximum queue lengths at an Out-Gate system in scenarios 1 and 4. . . . 81
11.8 Gate system throughput of Trailers and Truck units. . . . 82
iii
List of Tables
10.1 Simulation experiment results for In-Gate Scenario 1 . . . . 61
10.2 Simulation experiment results for In-Gate Scenario 1 . . . . 62
10.3 Simulation experiment results for In-Gate Scenario 2 . . . . 63
10.4 Simulation experiment results for In-Gate Scenario 3 . . . . 64
10.5 Simulation experiment results for In-Gate Scenario 4.1 . . . . 65
10.6 Simulation experiment results for In-Gate Scenario 4.2 . . . . 66
10.7 Simulation experiment results for In-Gate Scenario 4.2 . . . . 67
10.8 Simulation experiment results of Out-Gate Scenario 1 . . . . 68
10.9 Simulation experiment results of Out-Gate Scenario 1 . . . . 69
10.10Simulation experiment results for Out-Gate Scenario 2 . . . . 70
10.11Simulation experiment results for Out-Gate Scenario 3 . . . . 71
10.12Simulation experiment results for Out-Gate Scenario 4 . . . . 72
10.13Simulation experiment results for Out-Gate Scenario 4 . . . . 73
11.1 T-Test results for System utilization and Gate throughput at an In-Gate System . . . . 74
11.2 T-Test results for Average and Maximum Queue lengths at an In- Gate System . . . . 75
11.3 T-Test results for System Utilization and Gate throughput at an Out-Gate system . . . . 79
11.4 T-Test results for Average and Maximum Queue lengths at an Out- Gate system . . . . 79
iv
Contents
Abstract i
Acknowledgments ii
1 Introduction 1
1.1 Background of the study . . . . 1
1.1.1 What is a RORO or ROPAX Terminal? . . . . 1
1.1.2 RORO Terminal Gate system . . . . 2
1.1.3 Trucks used for Freight transport . . . . 4
1.2 Layout of thesis . . . . 8
2 Problem Identification 9 2.1 Problem Identification . . . . 9
2.2 Scope of the study . . . . 10
2.3 Purpose of the study . . . . 10
2.4 Research Questions . . . . 11
3 Research Methodology 13 3.1 Research Overview . . . . 13
3.2 Research Structure . . . . 13
3.3 Literature Review . . . . 14
3.4 Related Work . . . . 15
3.5 Data collection . . . . 24
3.6 Experimental Design . . . . 24
3.7 Research Evaluation . . . . 25
3.7.1 Validation . . . . 25
3.7.2 Reliability . . . . 26
4 Automated Gate system at Sea Port terminals 27 4.1 Current trend in Automated Gate systems . . . . 27
4.1.1 Optimal character recognition (OCR) Portals . . . . 27
4.1.2 Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) Technology . . . . 30
4.1.3 Self-service Kiosk . . . . 31
4.2 Terminal Operating Systems . . . . 33
v
5 Port of Karlshamn-Case Study 35
5.1 The Case Study . . . . 35
5.2 Port of Karlshamn-Sweden . . . . 36
5.2.1 General description . . . . 36
5.2.2 Vehicle Booking system . . . . 38
5.3 Terminal Gate system . . . . 39
5.3.1 Current operational design . . . . 39
5.3.2 Future design plan . . . . 41
6 Simulation Model 43 6.1 What is Simulation and modelling? . . . . 43
6.2 Classification of Simulation models . . . . 43
7 Multi-Agent system 45 7.1 What is an agent? . . . . 45
7.1.1 Software Agents vs. Object oriented programming . . . . . 45
7.2 What is a Multi-agent system? . . . . 46
7.2.1 Multi-Agent system approach for an automated gate system in RORO port terminal . . . . 46
8 Anylogic® simulation software 48 8.1 Professional Version 7.02 features . . . . 48
8.2 Simulation Modeling Methodologies supported by Anylogic® . . 49
8.3 Why DES modelling is preferred? . . . . 50
9 Simulation experimental design 52 9.1 Input Data . . . . 52
9.2 Model Assumptions . . . . 53
9.3 Performance indicators . . . . 54
9.4 Agents in Simulation model . . . . 55
9.4.1 Entity types . . . . 55
9.4.2 Resource types . . . . 55
9.5 Parameters . . . . 56
9.6 Design of DES model . . . . 57
9.7 Scenarios . . . . 57
10 Simulation Experiment Results 60 10.1 In-Gate system . . . . 60
10.2 Out-Gate system . . . . 67
11 Result Analysis 74 11.1 In-Gate system . . . . 74
11.2 Out-Gate system . . . . 79
11.3 Verification and Validation . . . . 82
vi
11.3.1 Verification . . . . 82 11.3.2 Validation . . . . 83 11.4 Research Limitations . . . . 83
12 Conclusion and Future work 84
12.1 Conclusion . . . . 84 12.2 Future Work . . . . 85
References 86
vii
Chapter 1
Introduction
1.1 Background of the study
1.1.1 What is a RORO or ROPAX Terminal?
A sea port terminal that operates only Roll-on/ Roll-off (RORO) vessels are pop- ularly known as RORO port terminals. RORO vessels are specially designed to transport automobiles, trucks, trailers and few other types of wheeled cargo. The various types of wheeled cargo are driven in and out the RORO vessel on their wheels or using any stevedoring vehicles to carry trailers etcetera. Most of the RORO vessels used for Short-Sea Shipping or as a Ferry have built-in ramps to support the boarding and dropping functions of the wheeled cargo at the ter- minal [3]. The other type of the RORO vessel is Roll-on/ Roll-off passenger (ROPAX), this type of vessels are technically known as Ferries that is designed in a way to carry the wheeled cargo along with vehicles of passengers, and provide full facilities for more than 500 passengers. These RORO vessels are totally in contrast with Lift-on/ Lift-off (LOLO) vessels, where quay cranes are used to carry the cargo on and off the vessel. In a sea port terminal both type of vessels are operated independently, the terminal handling LOLO vessels are known as LOLO terminals. In case of freight transportation, RORO and LOLO vessels share their own advantages and disadvantages over each other, but the choice is always based on the shipper and factors like delivery time and transportation cost [3][4]. Comparatively, RORO vessels are more advantages for shippers who prefer faster delivery with slightly high transportation cost. In modern times, many shipping companies are attracted towards the RORO terminals and investing in RORO vessels due to few unique advantages such as faster delivery times, more reliable ships and simplified logistic chain.
The design of the RORO port terminals plays an important role to justify the choice of preferring RORO vessels and use the advantages of RORO high-speed shipping services. The RORO terminal design will be dependent on the number of RORO vessels attending the port terminal every day. The RORO port ter- minals should be planned to minimize the ship waiting times at maritime nodes
1
Chapter 1. Introduction 2 by speeding up the loading and unloading operations [4]. The minimization of these operation times is the significant factor to maintain the RORO high speed shipping services. The boarding area of the RORO terminal has to be designed according to the RORO or ROPAX vessels attending the port and their loading and unloading patterns. The RORO vessels are designed mostly in two ways: 1.
Loading and unloading the wheeled cargo through one ramp, i.e., in one direction of the RORO vessel and gets arranged in respective decks and allocated patterns inside the ship. 2. The wheeled cargo is loaded in one direction and gets unloaded in other direction of the ship. This type of RORO or ROPAX vessels needs an extra side ramp placed at the front end of the ship to unload the vehicles, and inside the ship vehicles are arranged according to their allocated positions.
The land side design of the RORO terminal depends upon the traffic flows and the inbound and outbound volumes of freight transferred every day at the port terminal. The design of the RORO terminal land side operations is based upon the number of vehicles attending the port to satisfy the particular demand volume and the type of freight the terminal is handling [4]. The RORO terminal should ensure safe conditions like maintaining warehouses, freezers, etc. to handle special types of freight like paper, forest products, and few explosive, dangerous goods.
During the boarding or unloading function, these types of freight can be steve- dored on and off the vessel with the help of terminal vehicles and trailers to carry them. In addition to all the services provided by RORO terminal, the ROPAX port terminal should maintain a passenger terminal enabling all the facilities for passengers and provide a car parking space connected with the boarding area.
In the container yard of an RORO terminal, all the export cargo is arranged into allocated stacks. The cargo is arranged on the vessel, destination points of cargo and various properties of the container such as size, weight and any special requirement such as hazardous or refrigerated cargo. Unloading the import cargo from the vessel, the relevant information about imported cargo such as container size, yard location and size of the container is checked at the RORO terminal information system. The imported cargo is then organized into their allocated locations at the container yard of RORO port terminal [5]. The truckers to collect the imported cargo has to process through the In-Gate service system and leaves the terminal with the cargo through the Out-Gate system. The imported wheeled cargo has to go through the custom check, paper check and physical condition check at the Out-Gate system to leave the Terminal.
1.1.2 RORO Terminal Gate system
The vital part of RORO terminal land side operations is the Gate system. The
Gate system is a stage at the terminal, where the transfer of legal responsibilities
and liabilities are done from one party to another [6]. The Gate system acts as
Chapter 1. Introduction 3 an operational channel and performs many important functions to enable freight movement in and out of the container yard at RORO port terminal. The RORO vessels directly transport the wheeled cargo from one location to other, so the gate check function of vehicles is more crucial. The gate system processes impor- tant shipping information by performing a crucial check on every container and truck attending the terminal [7]. The collected shipping information is stored in the Terminal computer system which consists of particulars like length of the container, width of the container, physical condition of the container, container number, owner of the container/ truck, type of cargo, weight of the container, destination of the truck/ trailer in the terminal, identification of the truck or trailer trucks and physical condition of the containers carrying hazardous and refrigerated cargo.
An optimal planning of the Gate system is essential to enhance the service qual- ity of Port and handle the traffic flow at rush hours of the RORO port terminal.
Feasible planning of the Gate system not only reduces the construction cost but also influence the service performance of the whole RORO terminal [8]. The Gate system is placed at two locations in the RORO port terminal, to process the inbound and outbound traffic flow. The services implemented at RORO ter- minal gate system to satisfy the gate operational requirements are mentioned in following sections.
Type of Services
The Gate system is divided into two types based upon their locations i.e., the entrance and exit areas of the Port terminal. In-Gate system is placed at the entrance of the port terminal and the out-gate system is at the exit of the Port terminal. The services at different Gate systems in a RORO terminal is men- tioned below:
In-Gate system:
1. Vehicle identification.
2. Damage detection for containers.
3. Investigate length, width and height of the containers (Vehicle profiling).
4. Find the container door direction.
5. Perform Terminal check-in.
6. Verify the weight of container.
7. Advice parking slot/pickup slot.
Chapter 1. Introduction 4 8. Container number identification (ISO code).
9. Manual checking of relevant documents.
10. Dangerous cargo label recognition.
Out-Gate system:
1. Vehicle identification
2. Damage detection for import containers 3. Perform customs check
4. Manual checking of official documents and relevant papers 5. Container number identification
1.1.3 Trucks used for Freight transport
Due the increasing trend towards RORO shipping services, the need for more wheeled cargo and more trucks to transport the freight is expanding rapidly.
As mentioned in the before sections, the number of trucks or vehicles attending the port plays an important role in designing various areas of the RORO port terminal. In this study, the vehicle types used for the freight transportation at the RORO terminal is classified by their body structures and cargo handling properties. Mostly, the truck itself become a wheeled cargo to get shipped through the RORO vessel. There exist other types of vehicles, which are just used to transport the cargo to and from the Port terminal. In this study, the various types of vehicles considered for freight transportation at the RORO port terminal are mentioned below:
Container trucks (CT)
In the RORO port terminal, container trucks are considered as the major source
to transport freight among all types of wheeled cargo. The container trucks are
normal vehicles with containers attached to it. The selection of container trucks
with specific physical dimensions as wheeled cargo is based on the handling ca-
pacities of the RORO vessels attending the Port. According to the regulations of
European modular system (EMS), the physical dimensions of the containers are
predefined for European countries. Considering these predefined regulations, the
length of the container should be 13.6 m for all modes of transport. The width
of the container can be around 2.55 m [9]. The height of the container cannot be
specified exactly due to the limitations like tunnels, road and rail infrastructures
and different RORO vessel dimensions, but the European Union (EU) directive
has a limit to 4 m which many countries don’t follow [9]. The limits on the
Chapter 1. Introduction 5 truck mass can be classified into many types based on the factors like gross vehi- cle weight, gross combinational weight, and each country has its regulations for cargo weight. In the RORO terminal, the container trucks initially get processed at the Gate system to enter the terminal. The container trucks should go through many services at the Terminal Gate system to enter or exit the Port terminal.
The container trucks should undergo the following services at the RORO terminal Gate system:
In-Gate system:
1. Vehicle identification.
2. Container number identification (ISO code).
3. Investigate length, height and width of the container (Vehicle profiling).
4. Find the container door direction.
5. Damage detection for the container.
6. Verify the weight of the container.
7. Perform Terminal check-in.
8. Advice parking slot in the terminal.
Out-Gate system:
1. Perform customs check.
2. Manual checking of official documents and relevant papers.
3. Container number identification. (if necessary).
Trailer trucks (TT)
Accompanied trailer trucks (AT)
In the RORO port terminal, Trailer trucks are used for transporting the con-
tainers from source to the destination. There are two types of trailer trucks at
the RORO port terminals- Accompanied trailer trucks, Unaccompanied trailer
trucks. The Accompanied trailer trucks are trucks with an attached semi-trailer
carrying the cargo. The specific trailer dimensions selected for shipping, are based
on the handling capacities of the RORO vessel and the resources available at the
RORO port terminal for the stevedoring process. According to the regulations by
the European modular system, the trailer dimensions are predefined for freight
transport. The length of the trailer can be 20’ i.e., 6.05 m and 40’ i.e., 12.1 m.
Chapter 1. Introduction 6 The width of the trailer can be around 8’ i.e., 2.42 m and can vary a little with the vessel dimensions and road width. The height of the trailer cannot be speci- fied exactly due to many infrastructural limits of roadway [9]. The specifications about the trailer mass change with regulations in the country of destination. In the RORO terminal, the Accompanied trailer trucks initially get processed at the Gate system to enter the Port terminal. In the trailer parking location, the truck leaves the attached semi-trailer and turn into an Un-accompanied trailer truck. Finally, this Un-accompanied truck should get processed at the terminal Out-Gate system to leave the Port terminal.
The services utilized by the Accompanied trailer trucks at the RORO terminal gate system (in and out-gate system) are mentioned below:
In-Gate system:
1. Vehicle identification.
2. Container number identification (ISO code).
3. Investigate length, height and width of the container (Vehicle profiling).
4. Find the container door direction.
5. Damage detection for the container.
6. Verify the weight of the container.
7. Perform Terminal check-in.
8. Advice drops slot in the terminal.
Out-Gate system-for Unaccompanied trailer trucks:
1. Vehicle identification. (If necessary).
Unaccompanied trailer trucks (UT)
The trucks that are used to carry import trailers from container yard of a Port terminal to the destination are known as Unaccompanied trailer trucks. Initially, the Unaccompanied trailer trucks don’t have a semi-trailer attached to it and the type of truck changes with the physical dimensions of the import container it is handling at the Terminal. In the RORO terminal, after collecting its respective import container, the Unaccompanied trailer truck changes into an Accompanied trailer truck and goes through the Out-Gate system to exit the Terminal.
The services utilized by the Unaccompanied trailer trucks at the RORO terminal
Chapter 1. Introduction 7
gate system (In and Out-Gate system) are mentioned below:
In-Gate system:
1. Vehicle identification.
2. Perform Terminal check-in.
3. Advice pickup slot at Terminal yard.
Out-Gate system-for Accompanied trailer trucks:
1. Vehicle identification.
2. Damage detection for import containers.
3. Perform customs check.
4. Container number identification.
Dangerous Goods Carrying Trucks (DG)
Similar to container trucks, the special cargo handling trucks are used as wheeled cargo in RORO freight transportation. These trucks handle various types of spe- cial cargo such as flammable, explosive or refrigerated cargo from source to the country of destination. The EMS regulations on physical dimensions of the truck change with the type of cargo and the country of destination. Factors like RORO vessel dimensions and availability of special facilities at the RORO port terminal to handle particular type of cargo also plays an important role in the selection of these vehicles for freight transportation. The relevant papers for special cargo handling trucks should be checked manually at the Terminal Gate systems to enter or exit the RORO Port terminal.
The services utilized by the special cargo handling truck at the RORO termi- nal gate system (In and Out-Gate system) are mentioned below:
In-Gate system:
1. Vehicle identification (e.g. License plate recognition).
2. Damage detection for containers.
3. Investigate length, height, and width of the containers (Vehicle profiling).
4. Find the container door direction.
5. Verify the weight of the container.
Chapter 1. Introduction 8 6. Advice location for storing the special cargo.
7. Manual checking of relevant documents.
8. Dangerous cargo label recognition.
9. Container number identification (ISO code).
Out-Gate system:
1. Vehicle identification (e.g. License plate recognition).
2. Damage detection for import containers.
3. Perform customs check.
4. Manual checking of official documents and relevant papers.
5. Container number identification.
6. Dangerous cargo label recognition.
In addition to this information about various vehicle types used for transhipping, different vehicle sizes that are considered by the port of Karlshamn (POK) are mentioned below [10]:
1. 16 meters (m) vehicle sets for trucks with trailers and type vehicle-long platform service (LPs).
2. 19 m vehicle sets for trucks with attached trailer and type vehicle- long platform special (LpSpec).
3. 25.2 m vehicle sets for trucks with trailer and dolly and type vehicle long modifiable (Lmod)
1.2 Layout of thesis
In this thesis, Chapter 2 consists of research questions, scope and purpose of this
study. While Chapter 3 describes the research methodology preferred for this
study. Chapter 4 presents the existing advanced technologies, and terminal op-
erating services relevant to an automated gate system. In Chapter 5, the case
study performed at an RORO terminal in the port of Karlshamn is described
briefly. While in chapter 6 and chapter 7, the basic concepts of simulation and
multi-agent system related to our research problem are mentioned. As Chap-
ter 8 describes the efficiency and advantages of Anylogic® simulation software,
chapter 9 unveils various things involved in developing a discrete event simula-
tion experiment for this research study. Finally, Chapter 10 evinces the results
and relevant analysis to address various defined research objectives of this study
followed by conclusion and future work in chapter 11.
Chapter 2
Problem Identification
2.1 Problem Identification
Due to the increased demand for RORO shipping services and freight traffic in the Baltic Sea, all the port terminals situated in the Baltic Sea region has to be well designed and scheduled to handle the demand volume changes. In RORO port terminal with the increase in demand for wheeled cargo, more vehicles are expected to attend the port. So, the RORO terminal gate system has to be well optimized and designed efficiently to handle all the transport vehicles attending the port terminal. The port of Karlshamn currently deals with RORO vessels, container ships, and loose cargo and maintains a separate RORO port terminal.
In the present situation, the RORO terminal at the port of Karlshamn has fully functioning terminal gate system. But in future, it has plans to build an auto- mated gate system within available land at the entrance of port terminal, which offer more gate system services than present terminal gate system. This study deeply focuses on operations of this automated gate system on incoming and out- going vehicle flows at the port of Karlshamn.
In a scenario where double the demand volume is transported, terminal man- agers don’t always need to increase critical infrastructure to handle the increased vehicle flow at the terminal gate system. The present vehicle flow of Karlshamn RORO port terminal causes congestion problems at the terminal gate system. So, an efficient operational flow and optimized positioning of service systems have to be maintained to reduce the truck queue lengths and improve the terminal gate system throughput. At the present RORO terminal of Karlshamn port, allocated land and the service systems implemented at the terminal gate system is very limited. To satisfy the increasing demand for RORO freight shipping services, efficient planning and placing of various service systems within the available land is required. This strategy efficiently helps to minimize the overall waiting times of trucks. A high level of coordination between all service systems and efficiency control of each service system are the key factors to maintaining a fast terminal check-in process at RORO terminal gate system. Keeping in mind about the increasing demand, this research is focused on reducing waiting times of trucks
9
Chapter 2. Problem Identification 10 and propose an optimal position for each service system at the future RORO automated gate system.
In the investigation about many RORO port terminals, it has been noticed that congestion and bottlenecks occur mostly because various (number of) vehicles arrivals at terminal gate system in the same time period [7].Next the problem of estimating the maximum number of lanes also needs to be well planned. Effi- cient allocation of lanes for each gate system depends on different types of trucks appearing at that service system in a particular time period. The appropriate allocation of gate lanes with proper lane restriction policies helps to reduce queue lengths of the trucks. The lane restriction policies applied at the terminal gate system can be based on many factors like available land space, number of trucks and type of the trucks attending the port at that particular time period.
2.2 Scope of the study
The study is pointed to terminal operators involved in redesigning of the RORO port terminals. We try to boost their decision-making skills in positioning se- lected service systems for an automated gate system in RORO port terminals.
This helps to enhance their understanding about the effects of vehicles, demand levels, gate operating hours on the different service systems employed at the gate system. In the context of case study this study specifically focuses on the port of Karlshamn, located on the west of the Baltic Sea, southeast Sweden.
Besides conducting a literature review on terminal gate systems, gate opera- tion strategies and automated gate system technologies, the goal of the study is to design an optimal strategy with use of suitable simulation modeling tool and optimization techniques that support the decisions in a "real life" problem.
While developing the model, relevant assumptions have been made to make these techniques applicable to the problems in physical reality [11].
2.3 Purpose of the study
The purpose of the study is to design a simulation model that can be consolidated
into a decision support system tool for selecting optimal positions for each auto-
mated gate system service existing at RORO port terminals. Generally, the type
of technologies selected for operation of automated gate system is based on the
invested cost and compatibility with the service systems implemented at the gate
system. This study considers different vehicle types and evaluates their average
queue lengths based on the demand volume and land capacity at terminal gate
system. The main focus of the study is to perform simulation modeling using a
Chapter 2. Problem Identification 11 reliable simulation software, evaluate the results and analyze them to present op- timal positions for each service system considering different vehicle types that are used to satisfy the demand volume at the sea port terminal (Port of Karlshamn).
In this research, the main aim of simulation modeling is to evaluate the utility of service systems based on different vehicle types, demand volumes. Therefore, considering utility values of each service system, we estimate the average queue lengths of trucks over a particular time period. Additionally, we can suggest the optimal positions for each service system with respect to the available land at the terminal gate system. As the important research objective is to develop a deci- sion support system tool based on the simulation model that address all problems mentioned in section 2.1. The decision support tool should also support the deci- sions of terminal operators in selecting the positions for each service system while implementing a new automated gate system at RORO port terminal.
2.4 Research Questions
RQ.1. What are the various services and their relevant technologies existing for an automated gate system at a sea port terminal?
This research question is formulated to investigate the state of the art services in a terminal gate system at sea ports and know about the technologies used in each service system. The answer to this question helps to get an idea about the whole (complete) gate operation process at sea port terminals. In this research study, we perform a Literature review to address this research question.
RQ.2. What are the existing gate operation strategies to reduce congestion and prevent various bottlenecks at a terminal gate system of RORO sea port terminal?
After acquiring the knowledge about the whole gate operation process from the above question, this research question helps us to investigate about the present strategies and solution approaches to address bottlenecks at gate system in sea port terminals. The question helps us to get an insight view about the practition- ers/researchers approach in considering their decision variables, key performance indicators and model selection to solve the various bottleneck problems at termi- nal gate system. We perform a Literature review to answer this research question.
RQ.3. How do different demand levels, allocated terminal land and traffic flows in a real time RORO port terminal affect the decisions related to positioning of various service systems at a terminal gate system?
As an extension to the qualitative study, this research question is formulated
Chapter 2. Problem Identification 12 to acquire knowledge about gate operation system in a real world scenario. This question helps to gain knowledge about vehicle types and how the demand vol- ume changes with time period in a real sea port terminal. In addition, we can get an insight view of a decision makers on how they base their decisions regarding allocation of positions for various gate system services to prevent the bottlenecks and congestion. In this research study, we conduct a Case study at RORO ter- minal of Port of Karlshamn to answer this research question.
RQ.4. Which simulation model is suitable for designating optimal positions for different automated gate system services to reduce congestion and minimize the average queue lengths with respect to different demand levels at a real time RORO port terminal?
After acquiring adequate knowledge through the qualitative study, this research
question helps us to enquire which simulation model is much suitable to efficiently
design a solution approach to this problem and get incorporated into a decision
support system. This research question reveals about the simulation experimen-
tal design selected for this study. This simulation experiment aims to reduce the
average queue lengths and waiting times of trucks at each service system with
respect to the data containing different demand levels at real RORO port ter-
minal (Port of Karlshamn) scenario. Specifying about the research method, We
perform a simulation experiment and scenario analysis to address this question.
Chapter 3
Research Methodology
3.1 Research Overview
The whole research design is developed based on system thinking about the real world RORO port terminal gate system and its functionality behavior. At the beginning of this study, we conducted a literature review to know about the cur- rent research on Gate system operations and existing Gate operational strategies to prevent the bottlenecks. In addition to this, literature review helps to un- derstand about various factors involved in the occurrence of bottlenecks at the terminal gate system and get an idea on how the terminal operators decide about gate system services. Next applying the real world statistical data, we develop a simulation model in the context of case study to support the decisions of terminal operators regarding the traffic flows and Gate system services. In the next step of this research, after successful implementation of simulation model design close to the real world system (Port of Karlshamn), the model is performed iteratively under different scenarios that can occur at the real time RORO port terminal.
Later the observed results are analyzed based on different key performance in- dicators selected to address the formulated research objectives. This process is repeated until the model results closely represent the functional behavior of real world system.
3.2 Research Structure
This section describes the order of implementing the research work in order to answer the formulated research questions. The following research methodology architecture exhibits everything that leads to the formulation, definition and so- lutions for all research questions. As shown in the below figure, the research structure of this study is divided into various phases respectively. In the fig- ure 3.1, different phases of research methodology that lead to the formulation of research questions are research domain identification, context knowledge and research problem identification. In the next phase, the identified research prob- lem is studied or applied with a detailed qualitative study about that particular research problem area. After this phase with adequate knowledge in the problem
13
Chapter 3. Research Methodology 14 context, a solution is proposed to specified research problem. The proposed solu- tion can be in the form of a model, tool, design or any type of solution based on the nature of the problem. With the addition of relevant data from the sources, this solution should be able to extract appropriate answers for all the questions.
Figure 3.1: Research structure
The detailed specification about various phases involved in this Research method- ology is mentioned below: The first phase of this research determines the selec- tion of proper research domain and extract the required knowledge about selected research domain. In the next phase, the problem in the research domain is iden- tified and through this identified problem we evaluate the appropriate research gap. According to the research gap, in the next phase we formulate a few relevant research objectives to solve the problem. In the same phase, we formulate a few research questions addressing the formulated research objectives. Some of these research questions are broken down into sub-questions, which directly get mapped with the research objectives. In the next phase, we develop appropriate strategies to answer every research question or sub-questions. In this context, a strategy can be anything that specifies how a research objective is achieved. In the last phase of the research, facial credibility assessment is performed to ensure validity and reliability of the proposed solution approach and its results. Every phase in the research methodology is executed systematically and considered equally important to meet the final research aim.
3.3 Literature Review
The literature review is a final analysis report, which describes, evaluate and
summarize the present literature related to selected context of the study. This
scientific process provides a strong theoretical base and qualitative knowledge,
to describe the nature of research. The literature review also helps to enquire
about the past literature published by the renowned researchers and scholars. In
Chapter 3. Research Methodology 15 this research, many journal articles, conference papers, dissertations, thesis and PhD papers related to context of the research are selected from various reliable sources and a thorough review of the documents is performed. in this research, the selection of this review methodology helps to identify various issues regard- ing system functioning, operations, work flows, methods and different entities involved in the system and refine the author’s thought process concerning various identified issues of the research. While conducting a literature review, the most common complication encountered by various researchers is evaluating the cred- ibility of selected sources. Therefore, in this research study only reliable sources are preferred to extract each research paper and a detailed description about the selected documents related to this research area is present in below section.
3.4 Related Work
In this section, the research work related to this research study is presented in
a single table. The contents of this table specifies name of the document, pub-
lished year, specifies problem area referred by the document, selection of research
questions (if any), research method preferred, type of simulation (if simulation is
preferred) and presentation style of results selected by the author. The papers
addressed in this whole table are [[12], [13] [14], [15], [16], [17], [5] [18], [19], [20],
[21], [22] [23], [24], [25], [26], [6] [7], [27], [28], [29], [30], [1]] respectively.
Title of Document
Year of Publi cation
Type of Docume
nt
Problem area
Research Questions focused on
Research Method
Type of Simulati
on
Presentati on of results Optimal
planning on gate system of container terminals based on simulation optimizati on method and case study [12].
2006 Confere nce paper
Gate system in container terminals
Optimal planning of gate system.
Reducing cost of construction and minimize truck service times at gate.
Mathematic al model.
Simulation optimizatio n method using Genetic algorithms.
Case study.
Sensitivity analysis.
Discrete event simulatio n model.
Simulatio n using visual simulatio n software ARENA.
Comparing the optimal results with the traditional one, the advantage of the method is presented.
Quality indicators and capacity calculation for RoRo terminals [13].
2010 Journal article
RORO terminals, Systemati c analysis of stevedori ng operation s. Quality of service.
Estimate the capacity of terminal.
Estimate some quality indicators that support investment strategies.
Simulation model.
Computatio nal
experiment . Case study.
Discrete event simulatio n model.
Simulatio n using WITNESS system simulatio n modellin g software
Evaluation of LOS standards provided by the terminal under certain operationa l
constraint s.
Identifying terminals unused capacity, its cause, and concluding whether investment s are necessary or not.
Relieving Congestion at
Intermodal Marine Container Terminals:
Review of Tactical/O perational Strategies [14].
2010 Researc h paper
Gate operation strategies, RORO terminals.
Published literature about the gate operation strategies.
Which strategy is considered optimal to relieve the impacts of congestion and delay at port terminals
Literature review.
Case study.
Summarizi ng the lessons learnt from state of practice and Case study.
Introducin g Level of service (LOS) for intermodal freight terminals [15].
2003 Confere nce paper
Quality of service issue in design and operation of intermod al freight terminal.
Revealing the need and usefulness of LOS in the Intermodal terminal design area.
To introduce a set of LOS standards based on quantifiable indicators.
State of practice.
LOS standards that can provide reference Value for investment strategies and terminal design studies/res earches.
Gate strategies impact on container terminal access networks using simulation [16].
2013 Confere nce paper
Gate side operation s, operation s
strategies at a Gate system.
Finding the impacts of different gate
strategies on truck travel times and truck delays.
Determining most efficient parameters of each gate strategy at peak periods for future years.
Literature review.
Case study.
Simulation experiment for
Scenario analysis.
Dynamic system simulatio n using VISSIM software.
Scenario analysis of port (year wise) when implement ed with new gate operation strategies and comparing their impacts to know the best suitable strategy for reducing truck turnaroun d times and truck delays.
Developme nt of non- stop automated gate system [17].
2007 Confere nce paper
Automate d gate system, RFID, Wireless communic ation.
Building a nonstop automated gate system to support truck and container recognition, job order transmission and identity confirmation.
State of Practice.
Designing of digital media and communica tion Model.
Performa nce test on the improved work processes and existing work processes is
conducted based on a quantitativ e basis.
A
simulation model for decision support in
2013 Journal article
Avoiding various bottleneck s and to plan
Identifying bottlenecks for efficient operations at
Literature review.
Simulation model.
Discrete event simulati on model
Utilisation ratios of truck import and export
RORO terminal operations [6].
resource allocation s
efficiently at RORO terminals.
RORO terminals.
To foresee the effect of changes, if made to the terminal area.
Model testing.
using ARENA v11.
process are produced, which helps in investment strategies.
Determini ng queue values at Gates.
An
automated gate system using RFID technology [18].
2006 Confere nce paper
Automate d gate system using RFID technolog y.
Designing a RFID based automated gate system through analysing existing technologies.
State of practice.
Design plan of
Automated gate system.
Analysis of marine container terminal gate congestion , truck waiting cost, and system optimizati on [19].
2009 Dissertat ion
Gate system optimizati on.
Analysing Gate congestio n at marine container terminal.
The analysis of congestion behaviour at Gate system.
The
quantificatio n of
Economic cost of Gate congestion on Harbour truckers.
Alternatives of Gate system optimization.
Literature review.
Optimizatio n model.
Simulation model of marine container terminal.
Case study.
Simulation experiment s.
No specific type of simulatio n model is mentione d.
Average waiting times and queue lengths at gate is analysed with respect to system utilization rates and changing volumes.
Optimal number of gate booths are proposed with respect to traffic arrival rates per hour and changing volumes.
Truck waiting times are analysed with change in daily truck volumes and appointme
nt
strategies.
Applying Distribute d
Simulation for
Analysing Port Extension [20].
2005 Universi ty research paper
Planning truck arrivals at Gate and intermoda l port terminals.
Achieving a model for efficient handling of trucks at the future container terminals.
Develop a model to maintain interoperabil ity between various terminal operations.
Case study.
Design plan of
Simulation model and Interoperab ility.
Distribut e simulatio n model using FAMAS middlew are. Multi agent based scheduli ng system.
Macrosc opic traffic delay simulatio n model.
Implement ation of gate and crane OCR systems for container terminal automatio n and security [21].
2003 Confere nce paper
OCR services, technologi es for an Automate d gate system.
Applications of OCR services in automated gate system and various container terminals operations.
State of practice.
Case study.
Classificati on of OCR services application in various areas of container terminal.
Benefits of a truck appointme nt system on the service quality of inland transport modes at a multimoda l container terminal [22].
2013 Journal paper
Truck appointm ent system for multimod al container terminal.
Evaluating the impact of truck arrival system on truck delays at
multimodal container terminal.
Determining the
combination of truck appointment s and straddle carrier allocation problem.
Backgroun d study.
Mixed integer linear programmi ng model.
Validation of results using Simulation model.
Discrete event simulatio n model.
Compariso n of Truck delays with and without implement ing truck appointme nt system.
Integrating simulation and optimizati on to
2008 Journal paper
Schedulin g loading and unloading of
Developing a model to efficiently schedule loading and
Mathematic al model.
Simulation optimizatio n model.
Simulati on optimiza tion model
Compariso n of results obtained by different
schedule loading operations in
container terminals [23]
container s in container terminals.
unloading container operations.
Making the model to run faster in searching an optimal result.
Simulation experiment to generate results.
using hybrid algorith ms.
NN- surrogat e model used.
ARENA 7.0 simulatio n software is used.
simulation optimizatio n methods.
Compariso n of loading/un loading times obtained by different methods.
AnyLogic based Simulation Analysis of Queuing System at Container Terminals [24].
2010 Journal article
Queuing service systems in container terminals.
Container terminals service process.
Analysing container terminals service process using operational research queueing theory.
Case analysis.
Simulation modelling.
Operation analysis.
Discrete event simulati on model using Anylogic softwar e.
Networ k modelli ng is designe d.
Calculatio ns of various key indicators and comparing traditional model results with proposed simulation model Results gives the list of advant ages/d isadva ntages of simula tion model.
Applicatio n of Agent- Based Approache s to Enhance Container Terminal Operation s [25].
2013 Master thesis
Gate congestio n. Yard crane schedulin g
problem.
Storage space allocation at marine container terminals.
Designing a decision making framework for the truck dispatchers that would produce steady demand at the Marine terminal gate and also minimize waiting time for all trucks.
Literature review.
Experiment ation for managing gate congestion.
Implementa tion of experiment ation results for yard crane scheduling problem.
Experiment ation for enhancing storage
Multi agent simulati on framew ork is used to support discrete event simulati on model using Netlogo simulati on software .
Effects of mean transaction time, interval length, and tolerance on the truck wait time.
Show how the mean wait time, maximum Waiting time and completio n time
space allocation.
vary over different tolerance levels, respective ly.
Evaluating strategies to improve access to marine container terminals and streamline gate operations [26].
2014 Confere nce paper
Intratermi nal and Gate operation s, port support activities and related operation s as well as port access network traffic operation s.
Evaluating the best operational strategies/
scenarios resulting in less truck delays at Gate system of marine container terminal.
Literature review.
Experiment ation with simulation model.
Scenario analysis.
Dynamic traffic simulatio n model using PARAMI CS traffic simulatio n
software.
Scenario results compariso n of different gate operation strategies for multiple objectives such as delays, travel times.
Managing truck arrivals with time windows to alleviate gate congestion at
container terminals [7].
2012 Journal article
Relieving terminal Gate congestio n at container terminals, reduction of truck waiting times.
Designing an optimization model to Optimize time windows, predict truck arrivals and estimate truck queue lengths at entrance gate system.
Literature review.
Optimizatio n model.
Case study.
Scenario analysis.
Discrete event simulatio n modellin g.
Compariso n of queue length estimation s between real and optimized ones.
Determini ng the change rate of cost factors.
Evaluating time window assignmen t in both real and optimized cases.
Simulating gate strategies at
intermodal marine container terminals [8].
2012 Master thesis
Impact of Gate strategies such as extended gate hours, appointm ent scenarios at
intermoda l marine container terminals.
Designing a model to evaluate the best gate operational strategy to minimize the congestion at terminal in/out gate system and inland terminal.
Literature review.
Case study.
Simulation models.
Scenario analysis and experiment ation.
Dynamic traffic Simulatio n model using PARAMI CS simulatio n
software.
Comparing the impact of
operationa l strategies in reducing congestion at gate system, with respect to 10 percent to 50 percent demand
trucks following that operationa l strategy.
Using time varying tolls to optimize truck arrivals at ports [27].
2011 Journal article
Time dependen t truck queuing processes with stochastic service time distributi on s at gates and yards of a port terminal.
Designing an approach to compute system optimal truck arrival pattern.
Finding desirable pattern of time varying tolls that leads to the optimal arrival pattern.
Backgroun d study.
Optimizatio n model.
Evaluating solution results using simulation model.
Monte- Carlo simulatio n method is used to generate results for various optimiza tion models.
Compariso n of queue lengths at gate system with designated /optimal time windows.
Evaluating the truck demand and truck turn time in a day with designated /optimal arrival patterns.
Negotiatin g truck arrivals with trucking companies and container terminals [28].
2014 Journal article
Gate congestio n, Decision making process for smoothin g truck arrivals at Gate system.
Selecting optimal decision making process to manage truck arrivals at peak hours of the terminal.
Mathematic al model for designating optimal truck arrival time windows.
Designing a distributive decision making model.
Validate the numerical experiment s.
- Compariso n of experimen tal results between centralized and distributiv e decision making models, considerin g their objective terms and cost terms.
An optimizati on model for sea port equipment configurati on [29].
2007 Master thesis
Terminal handling equipmen ts in port terminals.
Cost minimizat ion analysis.
Developing a Decision Support System that can be used in selecting handling equipments, at different demand levels, in a port terminal involved in SSS.
Backgroun d study.
Case study.
Mathematic al model optimizatio n model.
Sensitivity analysis.
Optimiza tion model is solved using CPLEX solver.
No specific simulatio n model is used.
Evaluating total costs incurred for different time windows, demand volumes, equipment s selected for handling.
Microsimu lation modelling
2009 Master thesis
Gate congestio n. Truck
Designing a model to evaluate
Backgroun d study.
Dynamic microsi mulation
Visually present the change in
of gate appointme nt
strategies at
intermoda l rail terminal.
[30].
appointm ent strategy at terminal gate system.
existing vehicle demand and expected number of trucks from future demand.
Impact of Gate
appointment strategy in reducing network congestion, when tested on increased vehicular demand.
State of practice.
Case study.
Related work.
Simulation model.
Scenario Analysis.
model using PARAMI CS microsco pic simulatio n
software.
number of vehicle types during peak periods in a day.
Evaluating LOS when Gate system is implement ed with Gate appointme nt system strategy for triple the demand of terminal.
OCR in Ports and Terminals [1].
2013 PEMA informat ion paper
OCR technolog y, OCR system functionin g and Portals.
Detailed descriptio n about OCR technology , its implement ation, modules and applicatio ns.
Table 1: Classification of collected Research Papers
