Rescheduling of interacting machines in automated container terminals

Abstract

The current scheduling scheme of container terminals is typically determined offline. This may result in delays of the complete operation, when disturbances (e.g., the operation delays or the breakdown of a machine) appear. This paper provides a method for rescheduling interacting machines in automated container terminals. The rescheduling is carried out using the current state measurements of the machines. These measurements are used to update the processing time of ongoing operations. The effect of rescheduling on both a time-efficient schedule and for an energy-efficient schedule is illustrated in a simulation study. The delay in the container handling system is reduced both for the time-efficient schedule and the energy-efficient schedule. A simulation study illustrates that the energy-efficient schedule is more sensitive to disturbances due to delays of machines than the time-efficient schedule.