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Rethinking Container Management Systems

Deliverables

Qualitative comparison of RCMS with other technologies

As a deliverable of SubWP 5.1, HPC will provide quantitative analysis as for the RCMS and other considered container handling systems. This will include figures and criteria that can hardly be measured, but are nevertheless of great relevance for the selection of container handling systems, including: flexibility, technical reliability, complexity, exception handling, infrastructure requirements, susceptibility to errors, etc. The output will be advantages and disadvantages of RCMS as judged by qualitative and process-related criteria.

AGV Testing and performance document

The modelling of the AGV and its control (i.e. speed control, directional control, lifting control, In-Cell-Fine-Positioning Control etc.), as one of the deliverables of SubWP 3.1, will be established by IAI using the ADAMS software tool, and difference scenarios will evaluate the AGV performance and output a set of AGV specifications. Such testing scenarios may be for example: Entering into the elevator while moving between two uneven surfaces, changing 90 degree direction for fully loaded and empty vehicles, time to accelerate for various speed requirements etc.

RCMS 3 Alternative designs (standard, innovative & optimised standard)

Within SubWP 4.3, Sellhorn will provide technical design for the RCMS based on the standard construction solutions known to the industry, mainly concrete or steel profiles, or a combination of both. First step is to establish a series of criteria that will form the basis for the technical design of the RCMS building, The Design Criteria Document will contain parameters such as loads, load cases, dimensions, technical standards to be used, etc. that will be taken into account. The technical design will consist of: • Design concept of the building (type of beams, connections, foundation type, utilities requirements) • Structural calculation of the building • Structural calculation of the foundation • General drawings of the building (cross sections, plan view, relevant details) • Electrical concept for the building with concept drawing Design will comply with main European building guidelines

Impact assessment

SubWP1.4 foresees the Impact Assessment by IAI. More specifically, The overall impacts assessment will mainly be derived from the outcomes of all the core technical WPs where a specific internal impact assessment of the related outcomes are already planned, namely: - the comparison between RCMS and existing Container Terminal handling technologies from the terminal point of view (operational simulation / KPI and financial analysis) in two EU container terminals - the comparison between RCMS and existing Container Terminal handling technologies from the port community point of view (cost benefit analysis) in two EU ports - the impacts of RCMS on the transport network at micro (port) and macro (regional network) level Furthermore, the target area specific impact estimates create the basis for regional and European-wide impact estimates that will summarise the possible EU impacts of an extensive use of RCMS in Container Terminals

Terminal general layout including drawings for standard solution

As a deliverable of SubWP 4.1, Sellhorn will illustrate HPC’s planning for each of the terminals regarding required civil engineering works (quay walls, reclamation, dredging, utilities, foundations, etc.) and based on inputs from the terminals taking into account the local conditions and constraints (e.g. bathymetry, environmental conditions, soil conditions, etc.). Two state-of-the-art container handling technologies will be considered for each terminal: Rail Mounted Gantry (RMG) and Rubber Tyred Gantry (RTG). To start working on the layouts, a Design Criteria Document will be elaborated. This document determines design requirements according to the conditions of the terminal, equipment to be used, etc. and forms the basis for the further development of the layout. The work process will be iterative. Sellhorn, in constant coordination with HPC, will explore different layouts according to the planning by HPC towards a final optimum design for the terminals. Input for this WP is the static planning and preliminary layouts (two terminals) from SubWP 5.2. At the end of this Subwork package a general layout of the terminals will be delivered, which will allow for the further civil engineering costs assessment The outputs of this sub work package [deliverables 4.1] will use as an input the following project internal documents created by Sellhorn: - Design Criteria Document for the standard state-of-the-art solution

Final dissemination and communication activities

RCMS events will consist of: - RCMS Presentation in conferences and fairs – RCMS will be presented at least in 4 maritime and logistic projects. Moreover an RCMS booth will be set up in two big fairs targeting port authorities and container terminals (Transport and Logistic and TOC 2016). - 2 technical webinars - 2 web streaming events on RCMS comparison with state of the art technology and on RCMS presentation of the generic tools. - Final Conference – held in Brussels, targeting 100 delegates, backed up by a web on line streaming. The webinars and the final conference will make use of the CIMNE Multimedia Channel www.cimnemultimediachannel.com providing live radio and television through audio and video broadcasting via web using video and audio streaming technologies. The RCMS events can be disseminated in real time via web and recorded to be uploaded into the platform for later references

Terminal Description and Requirements (Per each terminal)

Within SubWP2.1, HPC will develop documents (per each terminal ) which will describe the service requirements of the terminals. Data will include complete terminal traffic statistics (import-export-transshipment, seasonal effects etc.). The approach for integrating these demands are that HPC as a leading port consultancy firm will integrate the relevant data from the terminals while the other team members will provide HPC with review and comments reflecting their expertise’s related to the WPs they are responsible of.

Mid-term dissemination and communication activities

The project is going to use different media in the promotion activities to target different groups as already indicated in 2.2.2. - RCMS brochure – 1 at the beginning and 1 version at the end of the project lifetime (initially 2000 for each version) - Project Web site - The target is to achieve 10.000 visits since the launch of the web site. - Social media activities in Linkedin – objective is to have at least 150 members and to deliver contents throughout project lifecycle (at least 2 new posts per month). - Short RCMS Movie - 4 minutes – Target is to have 2000 views on the web channels in which the video will be placed. - Specific content placed on www.onthemosway.eu portal – One news every month will be published on the portal in order to reach a wider audience. Moreover a dedicated RCMS session will be opened in order to make available multimedia RCMS content. - Scientific publications – the target is to produce at least 3 scientific publications;

Traffic Model Description (including performance indicators and algorithms for statistical analysis)

The goal of this deliverable consists of designing two models for traffic evaluation at local and network level, taking also into account the private (passenger) vehicles flows, which usually interact with the freight flows. In particular, stat-of-the-art model will be considered as the starting point of this task, and will be integrated and enhanced whenever necessary for better modelling specific and particular phenomena occurring in the considered transportation system. INPUTS: no specific inputs from other WPs.

RCMS civil works driving factors for success and RCMS Financial sensitivity of civil engineering costs analysis document

There are several factors that may dramatically effect on the civil engineering and infrastructure costs for the construction of a new container terminal based on standard state of the art technologies, and thus, on the cost savings when introducing RCMS technology. Sellhorn will investigate three different real scenarios with different environmental characteristics and demonstrate what are the driving factors for the successful implementation and cost advantage of the RCMS making it superior over other standard state of the art technologies.

Final report

Within SubWP1.1, CIRCLE will carry out the Final Report which consists of the full description of the project in its technical, functional and organizational features at the end of its implementation. This stage represents a key process in order to verify the correspondence between what stated and what put into effect.

Terminal general layout including drawings for RCMS option

Within SubWP 4.2, Sellhorn will represent terminals layouts with the RCMS container handling system. The outputs of this sub work package [deliverables 4.2] will use as an input the following project internal documents created by Sellhorn: - Design Criteria Document for the RCMS solution

Cost Benefit Analysis including policy options for future growth potential of the city

University of UNIGE will perform a detailed economic analysis evaluating the benefits of the RCMS. Objective: - Address the impact of the system on the efficiency of the external supporting resources of the hosting city (example – city space used for other purposes, etc.); - Assess pros and cons integration of the system in the context of social effects for the implementation of the system In order to obtain the described objectives the approach chosen is a Cost-Benefit Analysis (CBA); this methodological approach allows to obtain a comparison between different options, in this case RCMS towards state-of-the-art container handling technologies and to achieve a sound result based on actual data and information. The assessment will be applied in two selected ports that have different characteristics, in terms of traffic throughput, management, physical structures, etc. The CBA is a technique used for analysing and comparing different alternatives in a specific field of intervention and with a defined objective. The CBA allows to compare the social benefit towards the social costs deriving from a specific alternative. A project or an action is judged desired if the sum of the benefit is prevailing on the total costs, this means that the benefits generated for the society are higher than the costs produced. In case there are more options, as in this case, the preferred option is the one that scores better, more benefits, comparing costs and benefits. In the case presented in this project, the options are two. The new RCMS technology and the status quo, represented by the traditional technologies, currently used on the port’s terminals. The CBA assumes a well-defined methodological approach that comprises several consecutive steps that will be hereafter presented, detailing the partners involved and their contribution.

Project Handbook

Within SubWP1.1, CIRCLE will develop a Project Handbook, the document describing all key features of RCMS project

Dissemination and communication strategy: CIRCLE - 3

Within the framework of the target groups already defined, the dissemination plan identifies the specific target groups within the basic categories of users, public and private actors. As it is not feasible to address the whole range of stakeholders out of one project, a selection will be necessary. Criteria are for example a complementary coverage to already existing projects and their communication channels, a high impact for deployment of a specific group or region, and the effort and expenses needed to reach the intended communication goals. The target group selection will be made by exploring the project’s network and by additional research about expectations and needs that involved groups may have. The dissemination and communication plan will precisely identify the target for each tool / channel planned in WP8 and describing all the different activities to match targets and tools (mapping exercise of the different stakeholders categories in order to identify the best interlocutors).

Simulation results report document : RCMS Operational Performance for Gdansk and Koper

As a deliverable of SubWP 5.4, HPC will carry out a Simulation Analysis, using the simulation model library and the previously implemented RCMS components, the planned terminal layouts and equipment quantities for the different ports/terminals and container handling systems will be modelled in Plant Simulation. The models will then be used to conduct simulation experiments, that provide information on the feasibility of the terminal layout, equipment productivities under the relevant framework conditions and resulting operating costs. The output will be the identified bottlenecks and/or confirmed effectiveness and efficiency of planned terminal design, the verified equipment productivity per different framework conditions and the verified working hours and/or distances travelled per equipment unit both used to update the Static Planning (Equipment requirements energy consumption and emissions). The outputs of the simulation analysis will be six implemented simulation models (i.e., one model per layout alternative and investigated terminal) and various operational performance figures yielded from hundreds of simulation experiments, including equipment productivities, utilization rates, stacking efficiency, and many more. IAI will partially participate, reviewing simulation running and results and provide feedback for HPC.

Traffic Models Implementation

Aiming at assessing the effects of RCMS on traffic, it is necessary to consider that the traffic flows directed to, or generated by, a terminal share the use of the same transportation infrastructure, or part of it, with private traffic flows. Moreover, each terminal and each urban area (near to or gathering the terminal) has a unique structure. Therefore, to perform a reliable analysis, it is necessary to concentrate the effort on a specific case study, collect the relevant data, and perform a simulation study that takes into account the relevant specificity. The aim of WP 7.2 is two folded: 1. Collecting/integrating/elaborating field data of freight/private traffic flows for a chosen case study. The traffic flow data used will be the output of the generic tool developed by HPC in SubWP 6.1, from which the tool will deliver the number of vehicles moved in and out of the facility, i.e. traffic generation. Additional real traffic flow data may be provided by the Municipality of La Spezia (some more data will be obtained via specific measuring campaigns); 2. Implementing the models designed and verified in WP 7.1 via commercial traffic simulation software. These activities can be performed partially in parallel, since the model and data specification have been defined in WP 7.1. INPUTS: model and data specification from WP 7.1. RCMS and state-of-the-art freight flows at the gates OUTPUTS: WP 7.2 will provide traffic data for each link of the considered network (local or global) and the performance and impacts values.

Sensitivity Analysis and Result analysis

As a deliverable of SubWP 7.3, UNIGE will 1. Elaborate the output data provided by the local traffic simulation for determining the Level of Service (LoS) of the local transportation network and the impacts on the urban area in terms of noise and pollution. 2. Elaborate the output data provided by the global traffic simulation for determining the potential modal shift towards rail transportation, and the relevant potential benefits for European citizens. In such discussions, particular attention will be devoted to the comparison of the effects of terminals equipped with RCMS on the performance of the whole network, and on the traffic in the seaport surroundings., with respect to the state-of-the-art scenarios. It is expected that the capability of RCMS of automatically operating during the all 24 hours per day, and its structure, that practically constitutes a container buffer, can help distributing the trucks arrivals and departures in particular hours of the day. These characteristics are expected to be able to reduce the interactions between the freight flows and the private flows during the morning and afternoon rush hours. Simple hypotheses and control schemes aiming at exploiting this potentiality will be also discussed. INPUT: The Input data for the result analysis will be provided by WP 7.2 OUTPUT: WP 7.3 will provide aggregate indicators for assessing the effect of RCMS on the transportation infrastructure and individuating the reference seaports.

Publications

On modeling the interactions between freight terminal gates and road traffic flows

Author(s): Davide Giglio, Chiara Ridella, Francesco Rebora, Nicola Sacco
Published in: 2016 IEEE 19th International Conference on Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITSC), 2016, Page(s) 1622-1627, ISBN 978-1-5090-1889-5
Publisher: IEEE
DOI: 10.1109/ITSC.2016.7795775

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