Optimising Container Terminal Operations

Terminals are designed to cope with a certain, specified situation, but reality is often difficult to grasp and does not remain static.

Container Terminal Operations Optimisation

Over time, terminals are confronted with changing process requirements, higher stack and equipment occupancies, increasing traffic and rising performance expectations from end-users. Some operational issues include:

• How does my terminal perform compared to other terminals with similar configurations? Can the current configuration be improved?
• Do the operational processes match the requirements in the best possible way and are these processes well executed?
• How can I optimise the layout of my terminal in order to achieve an increase in throughput capacity? How can I reach a higher utilisation level of the stack that allows me to maximise throughput without a decline in performance?
• How can I improve my service levels without increasing operational costs?
• Does the terminal grounding and dispatching strategy match the container flow through the terminal in the best possible way, minimising transportation distances and the number of unproductive moves?

Terminal Operational Visits

TBA performs operational visits in which the terminal performance is assessed and improvement measures are proposed. These operational visits consist of one or more of the following components:

• Operational review, in which the terminal processes are analysed to identify possible improvements;
• Terminal benchmarking, in which calculations are performed on productivity outcomes and efficiency results in order to analyse at what level the terminal is performing and if improvement potential is present;
• Layout optimisation, in which the terminal layout is fitted to maximise stack capacity and container throughput.

Operational Review

In the operational review, experts visit the terminal and analyse its different processes. Based on observations and discussions, performance issues are identified and improvement measures are proposed. These actions are ranked by performance improvement impact versus implementation effort in order to find the most effective items. The following processes are followed and assessed:

• Waterside to transport interchange, where driver skills, change over during breaks, communication with supervisors, exceptional cargo situations and equipment effectiveness are analysed;
• Transport to stack interchange, where grounding strategy, interchange between stack and transport equipment, manning flexibility, operational organisation and stack preparation for loading are discussed;
• Stack to landside interchange, where the truck gate processes, the truck interchange with stack equipment, rail planning and rail execution are taken into account.

The resulting improvement measures easily boost performance levels by a few percentage points against a low investment of money and effort, as the changes merely involve adjusting the practical operation.

Terminal Operations Performance Benchmarking

Based on past experience, TBA is able to benchmark the terminal performance against that of other terminals under similar conditions. Following this assessment, the terminal components which perform underneath their benchmark can be identified and the potential for improvement can be estimated. During the benchmarking exercise a variety of Key Performance Indicators are analysed for the following categories:

• Quay crane productivity and manning levels, quay wall productivity, berth occupancy and vessel waiting times;
• Transport equipment average and peak performances and manning levels;
• Stack equipment annual moves, average and peak performances and manning levels;
• Truck service times, rail turn around times, rail crane occupancy and manning levels.

With a good understanding of the level at which the different operations at the terminal perform, the improvement efforts can be targeted and focused on identifying the quick-wins.

Container Terminal Layout Optimisation

Many terminals are in the possession of berths that allow for higher volumes to be sent through, but are restrained by their limited stack capacity. In these situations more groundslots or higher stacking would allow for higher volume throughputs and increased utilisation of terminal equipment. TBA assists with the optimisation of the layout and the identification of implementation strategies for condensed stacking without performance decline. The following solutions are available:

• Terminal layout optimisation, where based upon both the terminal floor plan as well as flow and process discussions slack space is identified or processes are redesigned. In this way, more space is available for effective stacking, which thus increases throughputs.
• Benchmarking stack equipment, stacking height and stack throughput. Using our experience at a vast range of terminals, TBA is able to indicate the improvement potential and identify feasible grounding strategies.
• Simulation of grounding and dispatching strategies, using state-of-the-art simulation models with high accuracy and detail that allow for understanding the stack operations and fine-tuning them for the future.

The terminal layout can often by optimised in a way that results in the creation of up to 10% additional stack capacity and in the increase of volume throughputs with another 10%.