Case Study: Delays Entering a Container Port

A Logistics Bottleneck

Brian Lawrence

• Publisher: Kogan Page
• Year: 2016
• ISBN:
  9780749477066
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Commerce
• Subtopic: Gestion industrielle

Delays Entering a Container Port provides a fascinating comparison of three alternative scenarios which have been proposed for port management companies trying to resolve the bottleneck problem. The author also suggests the most suitable and offers essential guidance of best practice which will help students and practitioners working or studying in this field. Aimed at students on logistics and operations management courses, Delays Entering a Container Port demonstrates how service speed is a fundamental factor for operations in container terminals. It explains entry gate imports and entry gate exports and gives step-by-step guidance to a vital simulation technique used to construct a queuing model. The reader is presented with essential questions about useful alternatives for improvement, and with indispensable and innovative solutions which will improve business practices.Register for a Kogan Page account at check-out to access and download your PDF after purchasing. You'll also have an opportunity to sign up when receiving your purchase confirmation email.

CASE STUDY

LOGISTICS

Delays entering a container port

A logistics bottleneck

Brian Lawrence

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AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY

brian lawrence is Lecturer in the School of Management at the Assumption University in Bangkok, Thailand.

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Introduction

Service speed is a major criterion for operations in container terminals. This case is an examination of the entry-gate operation for container trucks at a shipping container yard at a port in Australia, to find out how to reduce the unacceptable queuing time. A bottleneck is caused by most trucks arriving at the terminal in the same time period, and having to endure the lengthy inspection and registration process because of inadequate staffing and too few truck lanes.

Three alternative scenarios are proposed for the port management company to solve this problem. The first emphasizes adding gates and staff. The second focuses on changing the staff lunch-break times. The third concentrates on redesigning the work flow. Significant criteria are: waiting time, resource utilization, costs and process cycle time. These criteria were used to compare the as-is situation and the three scenarios to select the most appropriate.

The company

Lozziestistics plc is the Australian subsidiary of an international container terminal operating company. It is an agent for shipping lines that handles container cargoes and operates container storage, for both outgoing exports for delivery to container ships and incoming imports from ships for delivery to customers. Lozziestistics’ core business is the management of port facilities for entry to the terminal and for temporary storage yards, consisting of:

• Gate operation: operating the checking and registration point at the entry gate for empty and full containers on trucks, and at the exit gate for trucks collecting empty and full containers to take away to customers.
• Yard operation: managing the temporary storage of empty and full containers, and providing powerful cranes for lifting and lowering containers from/to trucks within the terminal yard.

T...

Table of contents

• Delays entering a container port