The impact of storage block assignment for import containers on AGV dispatching in highly automated seaport container terminals

摘要

In automated seaport container terminals, like the CTA in Hamburg or the ECT in Rotterdam, automated guided vehicles (AGV) are used to transport containers from quayside to yard and vice versa. The assignment of AGVs to transportation jobs, the so-called AGV dispatching, is one of the key problems in quayside transportation logistics. The impact of storage block assignment on AGV dispatching has been neglected so far in the literature. In this paper this impact is analyzed by means of simulation. It can be shown with the help of three storage block assignment strategies that the impact depends on congestion at the storage blocks and AGV travel time.