A fuzzy AHP classification of container terminals

This article proposes a methodology for the classification of container terminals aiming to identify groups of terminals with similar management characteristics. Based on physical and terminal operations data and the subjective judgment of experts in port management, we show that it is possible to identify the main factors affecting the management of container terminals and produce a classification of these facilities, allowing determination of their strengths, weaknesses, and place within their port system and in relation to their competitors. The methodology is based on the fuzzy analytic hierarchy process (F-AHP). As a case study to validate the procedure, the Spanish port system is selected, and the results are compared with other classification methods not including subjectivity criteria, namely cluster analysis. By assigning more weight to expert judgments, results differ and become more trustworthy, since expert knowledge can go beyond simple variables such as TEUs moved or number of available cranes.

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