Design of the input and output cargo flows for a Fast-Track at Amsterdam Airport Schiphol

148 Pages·2016·10.83 MB·English

Design of the input and
output cargo flows for a
Fast-Track at Amsterdam
Airport Schiphol
Master Thesis
K.M. Schuppener

Design of the input and output
cargo flows for a Fast-Track at
Amsterdam Airport Schiphol
Master Thesis
by
K.M. Schuppener
inpartialfulfillmenttoobtainthedegreeofMasterofScience
inTransport,InfrastructureandLogistics
attheDelftUniversityofTechnology,
MondayDecember12,2016
Author: KatherinMarieSchuppener
StudentNumber: 4406192
E-Mail: [email protected]
GraduationCommittee: Prof.dr.ir.A.Verbraeck TUDelft,FormalChair
Dr.J.Rezaei TUDelft,FirstSupervisor
Ir.M.B.Duinkerken TUDelft,SecondSupervisor
Ir.H.Ritsema SchipholGroup,ExternalSupervisor

Graduation Committee
FormalChair
Prof.Dr.ir.A.Verbraeck
ProfessorsSystemsandSimulation
DelftUniversityofTechnology
FacultyofTechnology,PolicyandManagement
Section:SystemsEngineering
[email protected]
FirstSupervisor
Dr.JafarRezaei
AssistantProfessor
DelftUniversityofTechnology
FacultyofTechnology,PolicyandManagement
Section:TransportandLogistics
[email protected]
SecondSupervisor
Ir.M.B.Duinkerken
DelftUniversityofTechnology
FacultyofMechanical,MaritimeandMaterialsEngineering
DepartmentofMaritimeandTransportTechnology
Section:Transport,EngineeringandLogistics(TEL)
[email protected]
ExternalSupervisor
Ir.H.Ritsema
DirectorStrategicDevelopmentCargo
SchipholGroup
[email protected]

Preface
ThisthesisisthefinalstepforthedegreeofMasterofScienceinTransport,InfrastructureandLogistics(TIL)
atDelftUniversityofTechnology. Thepurposeofthemasterthesisprojectistoapplythetheoryandknowl-
edgegainedinthetwoyearprogrammetoareallifeproblem. Atthemomentofchoosingacompanyand
topic there was little doubt: It needed to be at a key logistics hub. Having moved from Costa Rica to the
Netherlandstocompletemymasterstudiespreciselybecauseofitsleadingroleinlogistics,Ifeelextremely
blessedandgratefultohavehadtheopportunitytoperformmyresearchatAmsterdamAirportSchiphol.
ThisresearchhasbeenconductedfortheCargoDepartmentofSchipholGroupfromMarchuntilDecember
of2016.Duringthisperiod,theairsideandlandsidedistributionprocesseswerestudiedinordertopropose
asetofdesignsthatwouldfacilitateaseamlessflowforaFastTrack. Thesedesignsweretestedmakinguse
ofasimulationmodelanditsresultsanalysed.Asastrategicproject,therewereseveraldifficultiesregarding
dataavailabilityandinparticular,designingforsuchuncertainscenarios. Additionally,thelearningcurve
ofthesimulationsoftwareprovedtobechallengingandtestedmypatience. Ibelievethesechallengeswere
successfullyovercomeandasaconsequence,Iamnowabetterengineer.Iamproudofthefinishedproduct
andbelievethat,bytestingthedifferentvariablesandoptimalpointbetweenapushandpullsystem,valu-
ableknowledgehasbeencreatedforSchipholbutalsoforotherpartiesinthesupplychain.
IwouldliketospeciallythankmysupervisoratSchiphol,HendrienaRitsema,forhersupportandtrustin
thisperiod. Sheallowedmetofigureoutmywaywhilealwaysprovidingvaluableadviceandguidance. The
Cargoteamalsomademyinternshiptimeextremelypleasantandwithoutrealizingit,allowedmetolearn
fromtheDutchcultureaswell. Iamalsothankfultomycommitteeandthehelpeachoneofitsmembers
provided. Alexander,forteachingmehowaskingtherightquestioncanchangeeverything;Jafarforhisen-
thusiasmandadvicesandfinally, Markforhiscommitmentandthoroughfeedback. Thisworkcouldnot
havebeencompletedwithoutyou.
ThishastrulybeenanamazingexperienceandIappreciateeverysinglepersonwhotookthetimetoanswer
myextensiveandfrequentquestions,givemeatourorsimply,allowmetogiveintomycuriosity.Havingan
airsidetour,walkingnexttothebaggageconveyorsystem,exploringacargohandler’swarehouseandbeing
allowedonafreighteraremomentsIwillneverforget.
Lastly,Iwouldliketothankmyfamilywhoinspiteofbeingfar,arealwayspresentinmylifethroughtheir
messages, prayers and love. This achievement is for you and your unconditional support throughout the
difficulttimesandyoursincerejoyinthegoodones. Therearenowordsthatcanexpressmygratitudeand
debttoyou.Christian,forbeingtherealways,enduringthelongnightsandintenseweekends.Thankyoufor
encouragingmetotheendandbeingpartofthisadventurewithme. Andmyfriends,forbeingmyfamily
awayfromhomeandgivingmemoresanitythanyouwilleverknow.
K.M.Schuppener
Schiphol,December2016
iii

Executive Summary
TheeconomyintheNetherlandsisshapedbylogisticsandspecifically,twomajorhubs:thePortofRotterdam
andAmsterdamAirportSchiphol. Assuch,Schipholisofvitalimportancebothonanationalandregional
level. WiththeambitionofbecomingEurope’scargopreferredairport, theairportisfocusedonachieving
operationalexcellenceonground. However, pastresearchhasshownthattherearekeyissuespreventing
itfromreachingthisgoal. Someofthesearetruckwaitingtimes,longthroughputtimesforshipmentsand
warehousingefficiencyatthe1stline. Inadditiontothese,theneedtohavesparecapacityforfuturegrowth
compelsSchipholCargotorevisethecurrentbusinessmodel.TheconceptofaFastTrack(FT)orcrossdock
facilityisoneoftheresearchtopics,however,certainknowledgegapsremain. Thesearerelatedtohowthe
transportprocessandactorconfigurationatairsideandthetruckschedulingandplanningatlandsidecan
contributetoahigherthroughput.Currentresearchgoesintothespecificsofeachfactor,notgoingindepth
intheinter-dependenciesamongthese.Thisleadstothefollowingresearchquestion:
Howcantheinputandoutputdistributionprocessesofafasttrack(FT)atAmsterdamAirportSchiphol
facilitateaseamlessflowinthecontextofamulti-actorenvironment?
ThescopeisthatofimportcargoflowsthatarriveasBuild-Up-Pallets(BUP)andconfigurationvariables
pertainingtothedistributionsandtheFTinterface.First,adistributionprocessanalysisisperformedforthe
threemainprocesses:airside,handlingandlandside.Throughit,thecriticalcharacteristicsoftheprocesses
aredefinedandabetterunderstandingofthesystemanditsinter-dependenciesreached. Subsequently,a
literaturereviewisconductedinordertodefinethecriticaldesignvariables. Theseare: arrivalanddepar-
turepatternatairsideandlandside, thenumberofdockdoors, temporarystorageandairsidehandlercon-
figuration.Havingcompletedthepreviousassessment,thetheoreticallyviablealternativesarecreatedand
assessed.AsTable1showsthereare4designsbasedontheexistenceofstorageandsystemconfiguration.In
additiontothis,theairsideconfigurationisconsideredinitstwoalternatives: Multiplehandlersandsingle
3rdpartyhandler. Itisatthispointthatthedeparturepatternislinkedtothepush/pullconfigurationandto
theabilityoftheFTtoperformthetruckallocation.Inthisway,aFTwithanon-restricteddeparturepattern
willbehaveinapushway, creatingtruckshipmentsbasedondestinationgroupsandoptimizingthusthe
truckload.Onthecontrary,arestrictedonewillbehaveasapullsystem,respectingtheoriginalshipmentsof
theRoadFeederNetwork(RFN)evenincasesofLow-Truck-Loads(LTL).
Table1:ExperimentalPlan-FTdesigns
TheperformanceevaluationofthedifferentFTdesignscanbeaccomplishedthroughtheuseofaverified
andvalidatedsimulationmodel. Theconfigurationvariablesare: AirsideandLandsidedockdoors,storage
size,storagesizeutilization,handlerconfigurationandtheTruckNoticeTime(TNT).Theseareusedinorder
tocreatethedifferentdesignswhiletheKPIsserveasameasureofthesuccessinmeetingtherequirementsof
thedesign.TheKPIsaresplitintoairside,FTandlandside.AirsidecriterionisAirsideLeadTime,whereasfor
theFTitisThroughput(TP)andLeadTime(LT).Atlandsidethecriteriaare:TruckLoadFactor,Turnaround
time,WaitingtimeandTruckreduction. Thoroughverificationandvalidationtestsareperformedtoensure
thatthemodelisabletoabletorespondtoreallifequestions.
Thesimulationisexecutedwitharunlengthof672hoursand25replicationsinordertoensureunique
statisticalresults.Theconfigurationofthevariablesthatarefixedacrossthedesignsis:10airsidedockdoors,
5landsidedockdoorsand2hoursTNT.TheexperimentalplanpresentedinTable1willbefollowedwiththe
goalofunderstandingwhetherdifferentdesignsarestatisticallyequivalentornot. Inadditiontothis,itis
v
vi ExecutiveSummary
necessarytounderstandhowlargethedifferencestrulyaresince"findingthataneffectissignificantdoesnot
tellyouabouthowlargeorimportanttheeffectis"(Lane,2015).Inordertodoso,hypothesistestingisusedas
partofanextensivestatisticalanalysis. Inallcases,thenullhypothesisH isthatmeansareequalandthere
0
isnoeffectofthedesignsontheKPIs.
1)HandlerConfigurationatAirside
DesignAisselectedasthe"basecase"andtestedinbothhandlerconfigurationsforthethreedemandscenar-
ios(i.e. currentdemand,conservativeandoptimisticgrowth). Intotal,6runsareperformedandahandler
configurationisselected. TheanalysisshowsthatLeadTime(LT)resultsasoneofthecriticalKPIs,improv-
ingbetween0.32and0.65hoursandreducingthevariabilitysignificantly.TheeffectontheotherKPIsisnot
relevantornon-existentatworse.Basedonthis,theconfigurationthatyieldsbetterresultsanddrawsnearer
tothepremiseoffacilitatingaseamlessflowtotheFTisthatofamultiplehandlerconfiguration.
2)FastTrack(FT)DesignAlternatives
The remaining FT designs are run (i.e. B, C and D) on the
conservativedemandscenario. The resultsshowthatLTandLT Figure1:LTAnova
Airsideareaffectedbytheexistenceofstorage.Bothdesignswith
storage(AandB)arestatisticallyequivalent. AsFigure1shows,
theexistenceofstoragegreatlyreducesvariability. Anothertake
awayisthefactthatthecurrentsystemconfiguration(i.e.storage
size75)isnotabletocopewitha50%increaseindemand. Asa
matteroffact,theLTincreasesfromapproximately1.6hoursfor
thebasedemandtoaround4.Throughput(TP)alsoshowedthat
storageisanassetsinceitincreasestheoutputbyatleast10BUPs
perhour.Thepush/pullconfigurationdoesnotaffecttheTP.
Thelandsideindicatorsshowthatthetruckturnaroundtime
increasesasthetruckloaddecreases.Thisisexpectedsincemore
trucksneedtobecalledinordertoexpeditethesameBUPs.The
pullconfigurationgeneratessmallertruckloadsthantheirpushcounterparts, whichislogicalsincetruck
loadingisnotmaximized. Thisprovestoberelatedwiththestoragesizeaswell,astheresultsfromDesign
Ashow. Inthiscase,whenthesystemmovestopush,thenumberoftrucksrequiredtoexpeditetheexist-
ingcargogeneratescongestionandincreasesthusturnaroundtime. Alldesignsachieveareductioninthe
amountoftrucksofatleast50%.Thedockdoorsalsoshowastatisticallysignificantdifferencebetweenstor-
ageconfigurations. ThedockutilizationvariabilityforFTdesignswithstorageisconsiderablylower. Based
onthis, thedistributionalternativethatisrecommendedisFTDesignB.Thebenefitsofthisdesignare
relatedtoanoverallreductioninvariability,anincreasedthroughputandtheimprovementonlandsideop-
erations. Theshortcomingsarerelatedtosomeofthemodelassumptionsandthefactthatitisnotableto
copewithasubstantialdemandincrease.
Inconclusion,theinputanddistributionprocessesofaFTneedtobedesignedinawaythatvariability
isreducedandissuesordisturbancesarisinginoneendofthechaindonotpermeateinotherareas.Infact,
airsideoperationsprovedtostronglymodulateLT,whichiswhyastorageareaisconsideredamust. Air-
sideoperationsneedtobeasfast,leanandstableaspossible. Itisconsideringthisthatamultiplehandler
configurationisadvised. Nonetheless,iftheengagementofthecargohandlersisnotsubstantial,a3rdparty
configurationshouldbeimplemented.Onthelandsideprocess,itisvitaltoensurethatthetimetrucksspend
atthedockiscomposedonlyofloadingtime.Aslimitedresources,dockdoorsserveasthelastregulatorsof
flow,whichiswhytheircapacityoughttobespentonlyonvalueaddedactivities. Currently,cargohandlers
havemostlynosayinthetruckallocation,however,fortheFTtobesuccessfulthatneedstochange. The
decision-makingpowerneedstorestintheFToperatorsothatthedynamismofthepush/pulllogiccanbe
sustained.Inthisway,thestorageutilizationlimitcanbefinetunedaccordingtotheneedsoftheoperation.
Thisadjustmentdeterminestheensuingperformanceintermsoftruckloadandturnaroundtimes.Forlarger
storageareas,thisthresholdshouldbelowerinordertopreventcongestionduetoalargenumberoftrucks
beingcalledinthese"peak"moments.Theseimprovementswouldcontributenotonlytoaseamlessflowbut
alsotothesustainabilityofthecargooperationsatSchiphol. ItisrecommendedforSchipholCargotoim-
plementthisconceptbyengagingwiththerelevantstakeholdersandusingthisresearchasavalidationofthe
possiblegainsofapush/pullFTwithcollaborativetrucking. Thiscanleadtheconversationandnegotiation
withthepartiestowardstheplanningandimplementationofapilot.