Abstract

MAR-ORTIZ, Julio  and  GRACIA D., María. An Analysis of the Factors Affecting the Productivity of Berths at Container Terminals. Ing. invest. y tecnol. [online]. 2017, vol.18, n.2, pp.169-181. ISSN 2594-0732.

This paper addresses one of the main port optimization problems in the context of a container terminal: the berth allocation problem. This problem consist on assigning the arriving vessels to the berths of the terminal aiming to optimize a given cost function. Specifically, this paper describes the development of a computational study for the dynamic berth allocation problem, aiming to identify the set of operational and strategic factors that influence not only the productivity of berths, but also the computational complexity of the associated decision problem. The main motivation to develop this study arises from the assumption that when the operator of a terminal knows how certain factors affect a given performance indicator, and understand where lies the complexity of the decision problem it faces, it is able to formulate better operational strategies to maximize the competitiveness of a terminal. A full factorial design study is proposed in order to appraise the significance of factors such as demand of ships and the configuration of the arrivals on the response variables. From the statistical analysis results, this article concludes with a discussion of some practical implications for the formulation of operational strategies.

Keywords : berth allocation problem; port logistics; container terminals optimization; supply chain; statistical analysis.

        · abstract in Spanish     · text in Spanish     · Spanish ( pdf )