Abstract
In designing a yard layout for a container terminal several decisions have to be made. In this paper we propose a model which provides decision support for the design of yard layouts of terminals at which straddle carrier are used. We assume that straddle carriers are used for the horizontal transport and the stacking of containers. For the proposed model we develop estimates for the expected cycle distances of straddle carriers. In this case, we distinguish between cycles to landside facilities and to the quay. Numerical results are presented for several parameter settings. For instance, we present results for a comparison of layouts where the rows in the block are orientated parallel with layouts where the rows are orientated perpendicularly to the quay.
Similar content being viewed by others
Notes
References
Bierwirth C, Meisel F (2010) A survey of berth allocation and quay crane scheduling problems in container terminals. Eur J Oper Res 202:615–627
Böse J, Reiners T, Steenken D, Voß S (2000) Vehicle dispatching at seaport container terminals using evolutionary algorithms. In: Proceedings of the 33rd annual Hawaii international conference on system sciences, vol 2, pp 1–10
Brinkmann B (2005) Seehäfen Planung und Entwurf. Springer, Berlin
Das SK, Spasovic L (2003) Scheduling material handling vehicles in a container terminal. Prod Plan Control Manag Oper 14(7):623–633
Günther H-O, Kim K-H (2006) Container terminals and terminal operations. OR Spectr 28(4):437–445
HHLA (2009) Respectable results despite serious economic crisis. http://www.hhla.de/News-Detail.269.0.html?&no_cache=1&L=1&tx_ttnews[tt_news]=563. Accessed 03.11.2009
Kim KH (1997) Evaluation of the number of rehandles in container yards. Comput Ind Eng 32(4):701–711
Kim KH, Kim KY (1999a) Routing straddle carriers for the loading operation of containers using a beam search algorithm. Comput Ind Eng 36(1):109–136
Kim KY, Kim KH (1999b) A routing algorithm for a single straddle carrier to load export containers onto a containership. Int J Prod Econ 59(1–3):425–433
Kim KH, Park Y-M, Jin M-J (2008) An optimal layout of container yards. OR Spectr 30(4):675–695
Lee BK, Kim KH (2010) Optimizing the block size in container yards. Transp Res Part E Logist Transp Rev 46(1):120–135
Liu C-I, Jula H, Vukadinovic K, Ioannou P (2004) Automated guided vehicle system for two container yard layouts. Transp Res Part C 12:349–368
Muckelberg E (2009) Hafen Hamburg sieht Krise als Chance. Logistik für Unternehmen 10:24–33
Petering MEH (2008) Parallel versus perpendicular yard layouts for seaport container transshipment terminals: an extensive simulation analysis. In: Proceedings of the international trade and freight transportation conference, Ayia Napa, Cyprus, pp 117–127
Petering MEH (2009) Effect of block width and storage yard layout on marine container terminal performance. Transp Res Part E Logist Transp Rev 45:591–610
Petering MEH, Murty KG (2009) Effect of block length and yard crane deployment systems on overall performance at a seaport container transshipment terminal. Comput Oper Res 36(5):1711–1725
Saanen Y (2009) Positive conditions for investing during the economic downturn. http://www.porttechnology.org/_4390.1.positive-conditions-for-investing-during-the-economic-downturn. Accessed 06.08.2009
Stahlbock R, Voß S (2008) Operations research at container terminals: a literature update. OR Spectr 30(1):1–52
Steenken D (1992) Fahrwegoptimierung am Containerterminal unter Echtzeitbedingungen. OR Spectr 14(3):161–168
Steenken D, Henning A, Freigang S, Voß S (1993) Routing of straddle carriers at a container terminal with the special aspect of internal moves. OR Spectr 15(3):167–172
Steenken D, Voß S, Stahlbock R (2004) Container terminal operation and operations research—a classification and literature review. OR Spectr 26:3–49
UNCTAD (2007) Review of maritime transport 2007. UNCTAD, United Nations Publication. UNCTAD/RMT/2007. http://www.unctad.org/en/docs/rmt2007_en.pdf. Accessed 14.04.2010
UNCTAD (2008) Review of maritime transport 2008. UNCTAD, United Nations Publication. UNCTAD/RMT/2008. http://www.unctad.org/en/docs/rmt2008_en.pdf. Accessed 14.04.2010
Vis IFA (2006) A comparative analysis of storage and retrieval equipment at a container terminal. Int J Prod Econ 103(2):680–693
Vis IFA, de Koster R (2003) Transshipment of containers at a container terminal: An overview. Eur J Oper Res 147(1):1–16
Vis IFA, Roodbergen KJ (2009) Scheduling of container storage and retrieval. Oper Res 57(2):456–467
Watanabe I (2006) Container terminal planning—a theoretical approach. WoldCargo News, Leatherhead
Wiese J, Kliewer N, Suhl L (2009) A survey of container terminal characteristics and equipment types. Technical report 0901, DS&OR Lab, University of Paderborn. http://dsor.upb.de/uploads/tx_dsorpublications/DSOR_WP_0901.pdf
Wiese J, Suhl L, Kliewer N (2010) Mathematical models and solution methods for optimal container terminal yard layouts. OR Spectr 32(3):427–452
Acknowledgments
The authors would like to thank the anonymous referees for their useful comments on an earlier version of the paper.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Appendices
Appendix 1: Overview of parameters and variables
The following tables summarize the used parameters (see Table 5), sets (see Table 6) and variables (see Table 7).
Appendix 2: Landside-cycle estimate for perpendicular layouts
In this section we derive estimates for the expected horizontal distance of landside cycles in a perpendicular layout. Therefore, we first consider the case where b h = 1 and b v = 1 as in Fig. 23. As with the seaside cycles we consider the distance to single rows. In case where b h = 1 and b v = 1 the expected distance using the first driving strategy can be expressed by
When r is odd we assume that the distance to the closest row is zero with a probability of \(\frac{1}{r}\). For the second driving strategy we assume for sake of brevity an additional distance similar to that in case of seaside cycle of \(\frac{AY^L}{2b_h}\) (see Sect. 4) which leads to
Figure 24 shows the horizontal distances when b h ≥ 1, b v ≥ 1, and b h is even. In this case the horizontal distances are identical for both driving strategies (see Fig. 24). We consider the travel distance from the center of the TSA to the center of the blocks and back to the TSA. The travel distance to block k (with \(k=1,\ldots, \frac{b_h}{2}\)) is \(\frac{2(k-1)AY^L+AY^L}{b_h}\) and has a probability of \(\frac{2}{b_h}\). Thus
Figure 25 shows the horizontal distances in case where b h ≥ 1, b v ≥ 1 and b h is odd. Where b h = 1 and b v > 1 the estimate \(E^{(6)}_o\) has to be extended as with estimates for the seaside cycles. The distance to the lower block (the block closer to the TSA) is \(E^{(6)}_o\) with a probability of \(\frac{1}{b_v}\), and the distance to any other block is \(\frac{2AY^L}{b_h}\) with a probability of \(\frac{b_v-1}{b_v}\). Thus
Where b h > 1 the distance to the blocks above the TSA is expressed by E (8) o with a probability of \(\frac{1}{b_h}\). The distance to the other blocks k (\(k=1,\ldots,\frac{b_h-1}{2}\)) is \(\frac{2kAY^L}{b_h}\) with a probability of \(\frac{2}{b_h}\). Hence
Please note that E (9) o reduces to E (8) o when b h = 1 and to \(E^{(6)}_o\) when b v = 1. This leads to the following expected horizontal distance for a perpendicular layout with a TSA in the middle of the yard:
Where we assume a TSA in the left corner of the yard, as in Fig. 26, we need to change the horizontal distance estimates. We first consider the case where b h = 1. In this case we consider each individual row of the block. We assume that the distance of a SC from the center of the TSA to the first row is zero. Consequently the distance to the second row is 2 × W for both driving strategies (see Fig. 26). The probability that a SC has to travel to a specific row is \(\frac{1}{r}\). Thus
The case where b h > 1 is shown in Fig. 27. We assume that the distance from the middle of the TSA to the middle of the first block (and back) is \(\frac{AY^L}{b_h}\). The distance to the second block is \(\frac{3AY^L}{b_h}\). The probability that a SC has to travel to a specific block is \(\frac{1}{b_h}\). Hence
In sum, this leads to
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Wiese, J., Suhl, L. & Kliewer, N. An analytical model for designing yard layouts of a straddle carrier based container terminal. Flex Serv Manuf J 25, 466–502 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10696-011-9132-1
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10696-011-9132-1