Effect of the Number and Arrangement of Equipment on the Operation of Container Yard Using Enterprise Dynamics SoftwareEffect of the Number and Arrangement of Equipment on Operation of a Container Yard Using Enterprise Dynamics Software

Rapid growth of containers in number necessitates compact storage. This fact raises new research challenges in designing, planning, and optimum operation of the whole chain in a container terminal. Therefore container storage yard, which is not only used in sea ports, but also in dry ports and other types of ports, is the target of further examinations. The main purpose of this research is to study the interaction between use of different types of equipment and the function of container storage yard. Accordingly, this paper has analyzed the optimum number of equipment and proper equipment arrangement with discrete event simulation of all activities related to operation in the storage area. Results of this research are derived from models based on changes in the number of yard cranes (Transtainers) and AGVs in the range of their permissible performance from the least to the most number in the condition of keeping other parameters fixed Which relates to simulation of Sina container storage yard, located at Shahid Rajaee port (Bandar Abbas, Iran) using the Enterprise dynamics software. Thus, it is possible to identify the appropriate arrangement by consideration of two important control factors in the project, namely time and cost for the mentioned yard. Using simulation tool in this case study shows that using a suitable strategy for transferring tasks between equipment and also proper assign them to blocks will leads to improvements include reducing the average idle time of AGVs by 15% and reducing their number from 10 to 5, at the other hand improving the performance of transtainers by 12% in efficiency of working and reducing their number from 6 to 5. Also the results of simulated different models indicate that there is a quadratic relation between reducing the operation time and increasing the number of AGVs, up to a certain number of devices (Critical point). If number of AGVs exceeds a certain number, they will have no effect on reduction of time that the main reason is traffic caused by equipment and role of transtainers as operation limiters. It should be noted that using the optimum number of equipment that used in a storage yard has a great effects on the amount of initial costs including supply and installation of equipment, and also in operating costs.