Inventory-based dispatching of automated guided vehicles on container terminals

This paper deals with automated guided vehicles (AGVs) which transport containers between the quay and the stack on automated container terminals. The focus is on the assignment of transportation jobs to AGVs within a terminal control system operating in real time. First, we describe a rather common problem formulation based on due times for the jobs and solve this problem both with a greedy priority rule based heuristic and with an exact algorithm. Subsequently, we present an alternative formulation of the assignment problem, which does not include due times. This formulation is based on a rough analogy to inventory management and is solved using an exact algorithm. The idea behind this alternative formulation is to avoid estimates of driving times, completion times, due times, and tardiness because such estimates are often highly unreliable in practice and do not allow for accurate planning. By means of simulation, we then analyze the different approaches. We show that the inventory-based model leads to better productivity on the terminal than the due-time-based formulation.

[1]  Carlos F. Daganzo,et al.  THE CRANE SCHEDULING PROBLEM , 1989 .

[2]  Sönke Hartmann,et al.  A general framework for scheduling equipment and manpower at container terminals , 2004, OR Spectr..

[3]  J. Munkres.  ALGORITHMS FOR THE ASSIGNMENT AND TRANSIORTATION tROBLEMS* , 1957 .

[4]  David Simchi-Levi,et al.  Dispatching vehicles in a mega container terminal , 2005, OR Spectr..

[5]  Richard J. Linn,et al.  Storage space allocation in container terminals , 2003 .

[6]  Iris F. A. Vis,et al.  Transshipment of containers at a container terminal: An overview , 2003, Eur. J. Oper. Res..

[7]  Kap Hwan Kim,et al.  A routing algorithm for a single straddle carrier to load export containers onto a containership , 1999 .

[8]  Yongpei Guan,et al.  The berth allocation problem: models and solution methods , 2004, OR Spectr..

[9]  Kap Hwan Kim,et al.  A scheduling method for Berth and Quay cranes , 2003 .

[10]  Carlos F. Daganzo,et al.  Storage space vs handling work in container terminals , 1993 .

[11]  Andrew Lim,et al.  The berth planning problem , 1998, Oper. Res. Lett..

[12]  Albert P. M. Wagelmans,et al.  Effective algorithms for integrated scheduling of handling equipment at automated container terminals , 2001 .

[13]  Stefan Voß,et al.  Container terminal operation and operations research — a classification and literature review , 2004 .

[14]  Kap Hwan Kim,et al.  Segregating space allocation models for container inventories in port container terminals , 1999 .

[15]  Kap Hwan Kim,et al.  A scheduling method for Berth and Quay cranes , 2003, OR Spectr..

[16]  Iris F. A. Vis,et al.  Comparison of vehicle types at an automated container terminal , 2004 .

[17]  Hark Hwang,et al.  Development of dispatching rules for automated guided vehicle systems , 1998 .

[18]  Akio Imai,et al.  Efficient planning of berth allocation for container terminals in Asia , 1997 .

[19]  Kap Hwan Kim,et al.  Deriving decision rules to locate export containers in container yards , 2000, Eur. J. Oper. Res..

[20]  Matthias Lehmann,et al.  Dispatching multi-load AGVs in highly automated seaport container terminals , 2004, OR Spectr..

[21]  Torsten Reiners,et al.  Vehicle dispatching at seaport container terminals using evolutionary algorithms , 2000, Proceedings of the 33rd Annual Hawaii International Conference on System Sciences.

[22]  Carlos F. Daganzo,et al.  Handling Strategies for Import Containers at Marine Terminals , 1993 .

[23]  Akio Imai,et al.  The Dynamic Berth Allocation Problem for a Container Port , 2001 .

[24]  Sönke Hartmann,et al.  Simulating Dispatching Strategies for Automated Container Terminals , 2005, OR.

[25]  Stefan Voß,et al.  Routing of straddle carriers at a container terminal with the special aspect of internal moves , 1993 .

[26]  Rommert Dekker,et al.  Operations research supports container handling , 2001 .

[27]  Colin Baker.  ALTENWERDER -- THE DETAILS , 1999 .

[28]  René de Koster,et al.  Testing and classifying vehicle dispatching rules in three real-world settings , 2004 .

[29]  Carlos F. Daganzo,et al.  A branch and bound solution method for the crane scheduling problem , 1990 .

[30]  Kap Hwan Kim,et al.  A Pooled Dispatching Strategy for Automated Guided Vehicles in Port Container Terminals , 2000 .

[31]  Iris F. A. Vis,et al.  Survey of research in the design and control of automated guided vehicle systems , 2006, Eur. J. Oper. Res..