DFG Research Project – Logistic Operating Curves for Ship-to-Shore Cranes (BetCoB)

Container terminals are the hubs of world trade and therefore an essential part of the flow of goods supply chains. Global container transport has more than doubled over the past twenty years. Fast, reliable and efficient handling of ships is therefore of great importance.

The centerpiece of container terminals is the ship-to-shore crane (STS crane), which, in conjunction with terminal trucks for the horizontal transport, loads and unloads the ships and handles the containers between the quayside and the storage area.

The demands on the efficiency and stability of ship handling are high due to the intense competition with other port operators, while at the same time there are major uncertainties regarding the arrival times of ships.

The aim of the DFG research project is, on the one hand, to model the interdependencies betweenthe target variables of the container terminal and their main influencing variables with the aid of logistic operating curves. On the other hand, suitable procedures for designing the number of terminal trucks and for the important allocation of transport orders to terminal trucks are to bedeveloped on the basis of these models.

To implement the project, logistic operating curves for STS cranes and terminal trucks are beingdeveloped. The coupling of these logistic operating curves is intended to show how terminal operators can coordinate the processes between STS crane and tractor units even better in order to ensure high utilization of the vehicle fleet and short ship handling times at the same time.

The logistic operating curves also form the basis for developing the procedures for designing the transport capacities and order organization. Finally, these are systematically evaluated using a simulation environment.

The Institute of Maritime Logistics (MLS) and the IPMT - Institute of Production Management and Technology (IPMT) are working closely together as part of the interdisciplinary DFG research project "Logistic operating curves for container STS cranes" (BetCoB). This project is funded by the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - German Research Foundation - project number 508626914.