Article ID: | iaor20021634 |
Country: | Netherlands |
Volume: | 133 |
Issue: | 3 |
Start Page Number: | 537 |
End Page Number: | 547 |
Publication Date: | Sep 2001 |
Journal: | European Journal of Operational Research |
Authors: | Legato Pasquale, Mazza Rina M. |
Keywords: | simulation: applications, transportation: general |
A queuing network model of the logistic activities related to the arrival, berthing, and departure processes of vessels at a container terminal is presented in this paper. Non-standard service stations, time-dependent priority mechanisms, and complex resource allocation policies prevent the use of analytical approaches to the solution. By adopting the process approach, a simulation model for the above queuing network has been developed. This requires a limited effort when using graphical objects of the Visual SLAM language for discrete-event simulation. Good validation results, against response measures on a real system, are obtained using aggregated data related to a finite time horizon. Steady-state simulation results illustrate the use of the model for a ‘what if’ optimisation approach to the berth planning problem.