Performance improvement of maritime container terminals through the bottleneck mitigation cycle

Abstract

Scarcity of maritime container terminal (MCT) capacity can become a problem for global supply chains. Bottlenecks limit the capacity of these terminals and should therefore be detected and alleviated. However, there is no structured approach available in literature to mitigate the effects of bottlenecks at MCTs. Therefore, this research introduces a holistic approach called the bottleneck mitigation cycle (BMC) which consists of three steps: bottleneck classification, bottleneck detection, and bottleneck alleviation. This research provides a proof of concept of the BMC. Scientific value is added by proposing a contemporary and comprehensive classification structure of bottlenecks at MCTs which consists of infrastructural, operational, and managerial bottlenecks. Infrastructural and operational bottlenecks are the focus of this research. Furthermore, while literature often only focuses on alleviation of a single bottleneck and skips bottleneck detection, this research uses the shifting bottleneck method and thereby considers a variety of possible infrastructural and operational bottlenecks. The shifting bottleneck method originates in production networks and is adapted such that it can be applied to detect both momentary and average bottlenecks at MCTs. An empirical approach is adopted to find the cause of the detected bottleneck and to suggest suitable alleviation measures. Application of the BMC to a simulation model of the Fergusson Container Terminal in the Port of Auckland results in productivity improvements of 2-6%. Due to its generic formulation, the BMC is potentially successful in improving performance of MCTs in general which could be confirmed by future research. To make the BMC even more effective and efficient, future research directions are to improve the empirical approach used for bottleneck alleviation and to apply the BMC in real-time.