Resolving interferences of triple‐crossover‐cranes by determining paths in networks

Abstract

AbstractIn order to reduce waiting times of trucks or other container transport vehicles in terminals storage blocks in seaport container terminals may be equipped with three stacking cranes. With an increasing number of cranes, however, the determination of conflict‐free schedules not only becomes more challenging but also is a key factor for the overall productivity of the cranes. In this article we develop a heuristic algorithm that provides conflict‐free routings for a triple‐crossover‐stacking‐crane setting minimizing the makespan for a given assignment of container jobs to cranes and a given sequence of jobs for each crane. We tackle this problem by developing a graphical model allowing us to construct a network of paths. Each path represents a conflict‐free schedule and we can determine a very good routing by finding the shortest path in the network. We demonstrate the method's effectiveness as well as its efficiency by means of a computational study.