Port Supply Research Articles

Supply Chain Integration Barriers to Port-Centric Logistics—An Emerging Economy Perspective

Abstract Despite the growing interest in supply chain integration and port performance in the maritime literature, there is a lack of detailed studies into the barriers to integration in port-centric logistics. This study explores the barriers to port-centric supply chain integration from an emerging economy and multistakeholder perspective by using the DEMATEL (Decision Making-Trial and Evaluation Laboratory) analysis technique. The findings indicate that institutional requirements, lack of awareness by stakeholders, and port-centric supply chain integration all significantly impact supply chain projects that have been designed to offer maximum value to customers at a low cost. Other crucial barriers include the absence of benchmarking standards and lack of an innovation culture. The policy and managerial implications are explained.

Information Sharing Platform of Port Supply Chain Enterprises

Qian, C., 2020. Information sharing platform of port supply chain enterprises. In: Yang, Y.; Mi, C.; Zhao, L., and Lam, S. (eds.), Global Topics and New Trends in Coastal Research: Port, Coastal and Ocean Engineering. Journal of Coastal Research, Special Issue No. 103, pp. 722–725. Coconut Creek (Florida), ISSN 0749-0208.The traditional port supply chain information sharing is not timely, which leads to the problem that the optimal allocation of resources cannot be realized. Then the information sharing platform of port supply chain enterprises is proposed. According to the difference of resource nature, it can be divided into different sharing modules to ensure the real-time scheduling of resources and establish a multi-Agent model of supply chain collaboration. Combining the actual situation, the factors of environment and node enterprises are considered in adoption of the integration scheme of web service technology, to realize the real-time sharing of information and complete the research on the information sharing platform of port supply chain enterprises. The contrast experiment is designed so as to analyze and compare the difference of information sharing effect between the designed platform and the traditional platform. It proves to be faster, shorter time-consuming, and better allocation of the supply chain resources through optimization result of the designed platform.

Construction of the knowledge service model of a port supply chain enterprise in a big data environment

In the context of the rapid development of big data and artificial intelligence, knowledge service theory and big data technology are applied to build a smart port supply chain knowledge service model. This model provides a personalized, intelligent, and diversified knowledge-based service system platform solution to port supply chain enterprises, helping to realize port supply chain transformation and upgrading and intelligent integrated operations. This paper analyses and summarizes the research status on knowledge service demand and port supply chain knowledge service during the development and operation of the port supply chain and applies big data and artificial intelligence technologies such as knowledge matching, knowledge fusion, and natural language processing. A port supply chain knowledge service model including knowledge acquisition, knowledge organization and knowledge service modules is constructed. The ontology method is used to construct the ontology knowledge base of the port supply chain, and based on this, computational reasoning experiments are performed. The experiments show that ontology technology demonstrates effectiveness and superiority in constructing a knowledge service system model for the port supply chain in terms of knowledge representation and knowledge reasoning.

Knowledge Service Model of Port Supply Chain Enterprise Based on Ontology

Under the background of the development of port industry and information age, with the help of the knowledge service theory system and ontology technology to build a smart port supply chain knowledge service model to provide a personalized, intelligent, and diversified knowledge-based service system platform solution to port supply chain enterprises, which is of great significance to realization of port supply chain transformation and upgrading and intelligent integrated operation. Based on the analysis of the demand for knowledge service and the research status of knowledge service in port supply chain during the development and operation of port supply chain, this paper uses ontology technology to build domain ontology knowledge base, which is used to dismantle and integrate the massive digital resources in port supply chain, integrate various multi-source heterogeneous data resources, and standardize the form of knowledge sharing organization. On the basis of this, the paper carries on the calculation and reasoning experiment to the port supply chain ontology. The experiment shows that the ontology technology has good effectiveness and superiority in the knowledge representation and knowledge reasoning of constructing the port supply chain knowledge service system model.

Research on the Construction of Knowledge Service Model of Port Supply Chain Enterprise in Big Data Environment

In the context of the rapid development of big data and artificial intelligence, with the help of the knowledge service theory system and big data technology to build a smart port supply chain knowledge service model to provide a personalized, intelligent, and diversified knowledge-based service system platform solution to port supply chain enterprises, which is of great significance to realization of port supply chain transformation and upgrading and intelligent integrated operation. This paper analyzes and summarizes the research status of knowledge service demand and port supply chain knowledge service during the development and operation of port supply chain, and applies big data and artificial intelligence technologies such as knowledge matching, knowledge fusion, and natural language processing. The port supply chain knowledge service model including knowledge acquisition, knowledge organization and knowledge service modules is constructed. Ontology method is used to construct the ontology knowledge base of port supply chain, and based on this, computational reasoning experiments are performed. The experiments show that the ontology technology shows good effectiveness and superiority in constructing the knowledge service system model of the port supply chain in terms of knowledge representation and knowledge reasoning.

A Novel Sliding Mode Control with Low-Pass Filter for Nonlinear Handling Chain System in Container Ports

Nonlinearities in a container port handling chain include mainly nonnegative arrive rate of container cargoes, limited container handling completion rate, and nonnegative unsatisfied freight requirement constraints. The nonlinearity influences the operation resources availability and consequently the planned container port handling strategies. Developments presented in this work are devoted to a novel design of sliding mode control with low-pass filter (SMC-LPF) to nonlinear handling chain system (HCS) in container ports. The SMC-LPF can effectively reduce unsatisfied freight requirement of the HCS and make chattering decrease significantly. To illustrate the effectiveness and accuracy of the proposed SMC-LPF, an application to a real container port in China is outlined. The performances of the SMC-LPF for the nonlinear HCS in container ports outperform those of the traditional method, particle swarm optimization algorithm, and slide mode control under simulations with a unit step signal and a sinusoidal signal with offset as the freight requirements. The contributions herein demonstrate the proposed control strategy in weakening chattering, reducing the unsatisfied freight requirements to 0 as close as possible in the HCS, maximizing the operation resilience and robustness of port and shipping supply chain against parametric perturbation, external disturbances, and fluctuant handling abilities.

Optimal Sizing of Small Scale Liquefied Natural Gas Storage using Numerical Cascade Pinch Analysis

Increasing demand for liquefied natural gas (LNG) at the inaccessible area through pipeline has provided a solid platform for the emergence of new small scale LNG (ssLNG). The key challenges related to the ssLNG business are relatively expensive supply chain due to the diseconomy of small scale and meeting the security of supply and demand with limited supply alternatives available. Nevertheless, the market has increasingly become the preferred delivery method for natural gas (NG) because LNG can be produced at remote locations and distributed to end-users conveniently. To date, extensive works with a variety of objectives have been developed in an attempt to optimise the ssLNG supply chain in terms of conversion, transportation, and utilisation yet an optimal synthesis of LNG for small scale market has not been adequately investigated. The activity of loading and unloading of LNG in supply port terminals needs sufficient capacity of LNG storage tank. Designing an adequate capacity is necessary in order to secure reliable supplies of LNG as well as to offset fluctuations in the supply and demand of LNG. This work aims to ease industrial planner to design an optimal capacity of ssLNG storage by implementing a well established numerical cascade approach based on Pinch Analysis technique and proposed a new numerical approach of small scale LNG-Storage Cascade Analysis (ssLNG-SCA). Based on the proposed tool, the minimum amount of LNG supply for operation has been reduced from 2,100 m3 to 1,400 m3 due to the stored amount of excess LNG supply (700 m3) during start-up with the existence of ssLNG storage tank. The developed ssLNG-SCA in this work shows a significantly reduced storage capacity from 24,000 m3 to 6,300 m3 thus eliminate the need to provide for a larger and higher price of LNG storage tank. The storage offers delivery of NG to virtual trading hubs to meet end-user demand which inaccessible to the high-pressure pipeline.

The Impact of Information Systems on Port Performance: The Case of Morocco's Agadir Port

The objective of this research paper is therefore to examine the role of information systems in improving the port performance of Agadir. This study highlights how the port supply chain deploying information systems can improve performance by stimulating collaboration between multiple port operators. This research adopted a descriptive survey design. To achieve the objectives of the study, primary data was collected using a semi-structured questionnaire. The study concludes that the use of information systems reduce vessels stays and improves the productivity of ships at berths. Based on these results, the study concludes that the capacity to use and manage information systems in a much more effective and efficient way can improve the performance of the kingdom's port.

Blockchain Ready Port Supply Chain Using Distributed Ledger

Blockchain technology, as a bedrock for distributed ledgers, offers a platform for innovation for a new decentralized and transparent transaction machinery in industries and businesses, and the port is not an exception. The inbuilt features of this technology enrich trust through transparency and traceability within any transaction of data, goods, services, and financial resources. Notwithstanding initial doubts about this technology, lately government and large corporations have offered to adopt and enhance this technology in various fields of applications, from social and legal industries, and finance to design, maritime and port networks. In this paper, the authors review the current status of the Blockchain technology and some of its applications. The potential benefit of such a technology in port and maritime supply chain is then discussed, and a vision for the future Blockchain ready port and maritime supply chain are proposed. The importation of containerized vehicles is used as an example to demonstrate how such technology can be deployed in a global port industry. Finally, the requirements and challenges to adopt this technology in the future in relation to, port and maritime systems are discussed.

On the Design of Energy-Saving Fluid Power Converter

The high energy efficiency and lightweight are recent trends in mobile hydraulics. In this paper, a new energy-saving fluid power converter (FPC) is designed to solve the problem of low energy conversion efficiency in hydraulic systems with variable load. The FPC is a kind of hydraulic transformer, it is similar to the DC transformer in working principle. Pulse width modulation (PWM) signal is used to control the high-speed on-off valves, and the high-speed on-off valve can switch supply ports between different pressure oil sources to achieve the adjustment of the FPC’s output. The FPC’s mathematical principle is analyzed in this paper, the influence of the friction between the inertial mass and the conversion cylinder on the system efficiency is studied. The influence of the PWM signal frequency, conversion cylinder cross-sectional area and inertial mass on the characteristics of FPC system is deduced. The results of the analysis are validated by Matlab/Simulink, and suggestions of selecting the design parameters of FPC are provided.

Port Supply-Chain Benefit Distribution Model and Algorithm in a Cloud Environment

Huo, H. and Wang, Z., 2019. Port supply-chain benefit distribution model and algorithm in a cloud environment. In: Li, L.; Wan, X., and Huang, X. (eds.), Recent Developments in Practices and Research on Coastal Regions: Transportation, Environment and Economy. Journal of Coastal Research, Special Issue No. 98, pp. 58–61. Coconut Creek (Florida), ISSN 0749-0208.On the basis of the cloud environment, through mathematical analysis, the port supply-chain interest coordination model is established. According to the construction goals and principles of the port supply-chain benefit distribution based on the cloud environment, the technical model and member structure constructed under the cloud environment are described. The overall process of operation describes the port supply; at the same time, we focus on the pre-evaluation and evaluation of the process, and the mathematical model is established and solved by cloud genetic algorithm. Finally, the increased profit of the port supply chain under the cloud environment is rationally distributed to promote the stability of the port supply chain. At the same time, the risk assessment model of port supply chain based on support vector machine is established, and compared with back propagation neural network and radial basis neural network evaluation models. At the same time, considering the error of data acquisition, the fault-tolerant value is introduced into the collected data to form a fault-tolerant interval. The data of the port supply-chain risk assessment model are analyzed by the rough neural network method. The error-tolerant values are evaluated. The model provides a reference for the establishment and development of the port supply-chain risk assessment model.

Diagnosis of Port Supply Chain Based on Supply Chain Operations Reference Model

Wang, Y. and Du, W., 2019. Diagnosis of port supply chain based on supply chain operations reference model. In: Li, L.; Wan, X., and Huang, X. (eds.), Recent Developments in Practices and Research on Coastal Regions: Transportation, Environment and Economy. Journal of Coastal Research, Special Issue No. 98, pp. 117–120. Coconut Creek (Florida), ISSN 0749-0208.The boom in cross border trade has intensified competition among ports. To gain competitive advantage, many ports have introduced supply chain management to port operations, giving birth to the port supply chain (PSC). Thus, it is very meaningful to evaluate the overall operation of the PSC, identify PSC problems, and put forward effective countermeasures. In this paper, an index system is set up for PSC diagnosis, and a PSC diagnosis model is constructed, drawing on the supply chain operations reference (SCOR) model and the existing studies. The index system contains four indices, reliability, r, agility, and cost, while the model covers several steps, like index weighing, benchmark setting, evaluation, and result analysis. The proposed model was verified through an example analysis. The research findings shed new light on PSC operation and management.

El papel de las TIC en la cadena de suministro portuaria: el caso del puerto de Manzanillo, México

The aim of this research is to identify and analyze the role of information and communications technologies (ICT) in the port supply chain of Manzanillo, Mexico, specifically in the customs clearance procedures of containerized cargo. The research provides important elements for further analysis on the effect of ICT in the entire supply chain. Through the application of a survey of customs agencies, shipping lines, transport carrier companies and in-bond facilities, using stratified sampling, it was possible to identify and analyze that ICT are relevant in the customs clearance procedures of containerized cargo in the port of Manzanillo being important electronic connectivity systems and identification and traceability systems.

Empirical Study on the Benefit Distribution Model of Port Supply Chain under Cloud Environment

Wei, M., 2019. Empirical study on the benefit distribution model of port supply chain under cloud environment. In: Gong, D.; Zhu, H., and Liu, R. (eds.), Selected Topics in Coastal Research: Engineering, Industry, Economy, and Sustainable Development. Journal of Coastal Research, Special Issue No. 94, pp. 793–797. Coconut Creek (Florida), ISSN 0749-0208.Based on cloud computing technology and collaborative management as the theoretical support, this paper constructs a theoretical research framework of port group logistics linkage mode in supply chain environment, and discusses the connotation of port supply chain coordination and the synergy strategy of port supply chain in practice. The motivation, coordination conditions and partner selection of the cooperation of the port supply chain are analysed, and the organizational mechanism, incentive mechanism and operation coordination mechanism of the port supply chain coordination are proposed. Established a contractual design model for port supply chain collaboration, including a centralized supply chain contract design model for the impact of horizontal cooperation pricing among multiple port companies on port supply chain and related enterprise operational benefits, and horizontal cooperative pricing between multiple liner companies. A decentralized supply chain contract design model is for the impact of port supply chain and related enterprise operations. The empirical research results show that the port supply chain benefit distribution model has a positive and important impact.

Choice of technology for emission control in port areas: A supply chain perspective

Abstract This study explores choice of technology for sustainable operations in a port supply chain that consists of one port and one shipping company under a cap-and-trade scheme. To control emissions, the port supply chain can implement either shore power (SP) or low sulfur fuel oil (LSFO). The performances of the port supply chain when either SP or LSFO is adopted are compared in this paper. More specifically, according to relative bargaining power between the port and the shipping company, three different game models are constructed to analyze the effects of channel power on equilibrium results when either SP or LSFO is implemented. Results show that both profits and carbon emissions of supply chain using SP are lower than those using LSFO when carbon price is low, but are higher when carbon price is high. However, from the perspective of the social welfare, when both the carbon price and environmental concern are low, or both the carbon price and environmental concern are high, LSFO should be adopted. Otherwise, SP may be more attractive. Compared with the two Stackelberg games, the Nash game leads to higher profits and less emissions. The Nash game also leads to higher social welfare when environmental concern is small, but lower social welfare when environmental concern is large. These findings can provide insights for governments in formulating emission reduction strategies in port supply chain under different scenarios.

Effect of strategic alliance based on port characteristic and integrated global supply chain for enhancing industrial port performance

This study investigates the effect of integrated global supply chains and port characteristics toward a strategic alliance, strategic Alliance on port strategies such as maritime accessibility, phy...

Mediating role of port supply chain integration between involvement of human resource practices and port performance in Kingdom of Saudi Arabia

Mediating role of port supply chain integration between involvement of human resource practices and port performance in Kingdom of Saudi Arabia

Analysis of the elimination of electromagnetic interference in railways security systems

The article presents the study of conducted disturbance emission, which was subjected to the alarm control panel on the (+, -) 24V DC power supply ports and the method of elimination of electromagnetic interferences. The measurements were carried out in an accredited testing laboratory on a measurement stand with a standardized configuration of equipment in accordance with the applicable standards in the field of electromagnetic compatibility. During the measurements, exceedances of the limit value at the power terminals were observed. Appropriate steps have been taken to reduce the interference levels by using an appropriate anti-interference filter inside the control panel. Installing the filter in accordance with the manufacturer's instructions allowed to obtain the expected results. The article presents the effects of research in the form of electro-magnetic characteristics of conductive disturbances as a function of frequencies recorded on the measuring device.

Port integration in a region with multiport gateways in the context of industrial transformation and upgrading of the port

Port integration in a region with multiport gateways (R-MPG) is studied in the case when port supply surpasses shipping demand. First, the feasible paths for ports with overcapacity to transform and upgrade their industry are analyzed. Second, a method for determining the optimal scale of port clusters is put forth based on a continuous approximation approach. Then, a multi-period integration decision model and port integration method is proposed. Finally, two typical R-MPGs in China are used for empirical studies.

Impact of IT Capability on the Performance of Port Operation

Based on the resource‐based view (RBV) and the transaction cost economics (TCE) theories, we study the impact of IT capability on the performance of port supply chain using an IT‐enabled transaction cost frontier model where the IT capability is modeled as a unique production input and as an endogenous transaction attribute as well. By examining the optimal levels of IT capability for different port systems from the viewpoint of production cost and transaction cost, we find theoretical evidence to explain why a port system with a horizontal competitive governance mode is less successful at integrating a port IT system in practice. Moreover, we find that the optimal IT capability of an individual port operator is lower than the IT capability in an integrated heterogeneous system. We further investigate how to improve IT capability to the desired system level through different forms of an incentive system that includes a subsidy offered by the port authority to coordinate the entire port system. The fixed subsidy is found to be the most cost‐effective and the easiest to implement. In addition, considering that information about effort cost for IT capability can be private under a market or hybrid governance mode, we study the performance of a direct revelation mechanism when revealing the port operator's private information and true cost to the port authority.