Lawrence Henesey

Agent-Based Approaches to Transport Logistics

This paper provides a survey of existing research on agent-based approaches to transportation and traffic management. A framework for describing and assessing this work will be presented and systematically applied. We are mainly adopting a logistical perspective, thus focusing on freight transportation. However, when relevant, work of traffic and transport of people will be considered. A general conclusion from our study is that agent-based approaches seem very suitable for this domain, but that this still needs to be verified by more deployed system.

Evaluation of Automated Guided Vehicle Systems for Container Terminals Using Multi Agent Based Simulation

Due to globalization and the growth of international trade, many container terminals are trying to improve performance in order to keep up with demand. One technology that has been proposed is the use of Automated Guided Vehicles (AGVs) in the handling of containers within terminals. Recently, a new generation of AGVs has been developed which makes use of cassettes that can be detached from the AGV. We have developed an agent-based simulator for evaluating the cassette-based system and comparing it to a more traditional AGV system. In addition, a number of different configurations of container terminal equipment, e.g., number of AGVs and cassettes, have been studied in order to find the most efficient configuration. The simulation results suggest that there are configurations in which the cassette-based system is more cost efficient than a traditional AGV system, as well as confirming that multi agent based simulation is a promising approach to this type of applications.

Agent based simulation architecture for evaluating operational policies in transshipping containers

An agent based simulator for evaluating operational policies in the transshipment of containers in a container terminal is described. The simulation tool, called SimPort, is a decentralized approach to simulating managers and entities in a container terminal. We use real data from a container terminal, for evaluating eight transshipment policies. The simulation results indicate that good choices of yard stacking and berthing position polices can lead to faster ship turn-around times, for instance, the Overall Time Shortening policy offers a lower cost and when combined with a Shortest Job First sequencing of arriving ships on average yielded a faster ship turn around time. The results also indicated, with respect to the studied performance measures that Stacking by Destination is a good choice of policy.

Enemy at the gates : Introduction of Multi-Agents in a Terminal Information Community.

Container terminals in Europe play a significant role as nodes within logistics chains. The management of container transportation system is a decentralized, often poorly structured, complex, and changeable problem domain, Therefore we propose that a Multi-Agent System (MAS) approach would offer port and terminal actors (e.g. rail operators), a suitable means of control, coordination, and management in the container terminal domain, Ports, as nodes, accept and deliver freight from various modes of transport and offer services that ald value to the freight. In order to plan the activities in the terminals, continuous and reliable information on the cargos’ physical status (e.g. position, condition) is paramount to other activities. Integrating the information flows from the various transport providers and actors would improve the planning for the terminals and benefit planning and scheduling for the others in the chain. Through the

Freight transport prediction using electronic waybills and machine learning

A waybill is a document that accompanies the freight during transportation. The document contains essential information such as, origin and destination of the freight, involved actors, and the type of freight being transported. We believe, the information from a waybill, when presented in an electronic format, can be utilized for building knowledge about the freight movement. The knowledge may be helpful for decision makers, e.g., freight transport companies and public authorities. In this paper, the results from a study of a Swedish transport company are presented using order data from a customer ordering database, which is, to a larger extent, similar to the information present in paper waybills. We have used the order data for predicting the type of freight moving between a particular origin and destination. Additionally, we have evaluated a number of different machine learning algorithms based on their prediction performances. The evaluation was based on their weighted average true-positive and false-positive rate, weighted average area under the curve, and weighted average recall values. We conclude, from the results, that the data from a waybill, when available in an electronic format, can be used to improve knowledge about freight transport. Additionally, we conclude that among the algorithms IBk, SMO, and LMT, IBk performed better by predicting the highest number of classes with higher weighted average values for true-positive and false-positive, and recall.

Developing a Strategy for Liquefied Natural Gas Powered Transport Corridors in the Baltic Sea Region

An extended number of international and/or national policies/regulations call for major improvements in contemporary energy consumption patterns (energy efficiency). A faster transition to sustainable energy production, as well as the introduction of various measures to improve the maritime industry’s environmental performance is also included in similar high level policy initiatives, with the establishment of Sulphur Emission Control Areas (SECAs) by the International Maritime Organization (IMO). One of the most prominent ways forward to achieve a more “environmental-friendly footprint” for those vessels engaged in maritime transport activities is to expand the use of Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG). Despite being of fossil origin, LNG is considered to be an important step toward cleaner shipping, given the better properties of the related exhaust gases when it is used as a marine fuel of internal combustion engines. The analysis at hand will discuss the development of a strategy for smoother and more efficient use of LNG as a fuel for transport needs in the Baltic Sea Region (BSR), with the aim of enabling “blue transport corridors”. This will be accomplished by investigating the related transport flows and LNG infrastructure developments; the creation of a wider in scope value chain that incorporates all transport modalities and industries that use natural gas today is also envisioned as the next step of research. This activity is a deliverable of the “Go LNG project”. Another important task within the same project is to provide stakeholders and other interested parties with a knowledge base of the most influential policies/regulations and technological standards in relation to LNG applications, including the cataloguing and short description of well-functioning business models and solutions already available.

A Simulation Study of the Electronic Waybill Service

We present results from a simulation study, which was designed for investigating the potential positive impacts, i.e., The invoicing and processing time, and financial savings, when using an electronic waybill instead of paper waybills for road-based freight transportation. The simulation model is implemented in an experiment for three different scenarios, where the processing time for waybills at the freight loading and unloading locations in a particular scenario differs from other scenarios. The results indicate that a saving of 65% -- 99% in the invoicing time can be achieved when using an electronic waybill instead of paper waybills. Our study can be helpful to decision makers, e.g., Managers and staff dealing with paper waybills, to estimate the potential benefits when making decisions concerning the implementation of an electronic waybill solution for replacing paper waybills.

Tools for faster turn-around times in RoRo terminals: Case studies from Europe: Karlshamn-Klaipeda short sea shipping link

The purpose of this study is to develop an optimization model that can select handling equipment and ships from a strategic level. This model can help when investing in systems for handling unitized cargo at port terminals in the context of Short Sea Shipping (SSS). Initial model results indicate that a LoLo vessel with a capacity between (500 and 1000 TEU) capable of completing a SSS voyage, when handling is completed in 48 hours will be less costly than a RoRo, which may have multiple voyages for TEU volumes greater than 1000. Copyright 2010 ASCE.