Balancing connectivity and reliability in the schedule design of airlines by buffer scheduling: a Proof of Concept: Research on how to trade off passenger connections and delays in hub-and-spoke airline schedules

In the last decades, the environmental impact of aviation has been an emerging topic of discussion worldwide. With an expected CO2 emission increase of 21% by 2040 for air traffic, there is an urgency to reduce the negative impact on the environment. On top of that, the number of passengers is expected to double within the next 20 years. This...

Using an Automated Model to Develop Conceptual Designs: Improving an Existing Model for the Conceptual Design of Baggage Handling Systems

Baggage handling systems (BHS) are unknown to most people, but play a vital role at airports. A BHS is a system that consists of different subsystems, each with its own functions. It is important to make well-informed decisions about the BHS as early as the conceptual design phase, which is the part of the design where the basic solution, such...

Strategic usage of Real-time data for Dynamic Data Driven Simulation: A Sensitivity Analysis

The relation between stochasticity and terminal stacking performance of import containers: A simulation study

With an increase in amount of container terminals competition between terminals has risen. Therefore it has become more and more important for terminal operators to conduct their work as efficient as possible. Efficient terminal operations are hindered by stochasticity, which is defined as random variation in parameter values. Due to missing...

Safety through Machine Learning Applications: A Safety Case Analysis

Machine learning applications are increasingly being implemented in socio-technical safety-critical systems, but the safety of these applications is not well understood. This thesis used a mixed-method design and applied four methods to explore the field of machine learning and safety. With the results of these four methods, a framework was...

Robust Decision Support Methods: A Comparative Analysis

Methods for decision support in the context of deep uncertainty have been gaining interest in the context of complex and adaptive problems that are characterized by “tipping point” behaviours. Unlike a traditional “predict-then-act” methods, which determine policies based on specific predictions of future behaviour, these decision support...

Managing Knowledge in the Era of Serious Games and Simulations: An exploratory study on the elicitation of serious games' requirements for the generation and reuse of knowledge

The extensive amount of knowledge possessed by an organization represents one of its most valuable resources. Nonetheless, it is not always easy to pinpoint, arrange and reuse such knowledge in an effective and productive manner. Moreover, in the last two decades companies have been increasingly using serious games and simulations for the most...

Proving the potential impact of data sharing among actors in the port call process through data analyses and discrete event simulation

About 85 percent of all volume trade goes by marine traffic nowadays which is not expected to get any less soon. In marine operations there are different operations with each having their own characteristic. Different trades for example include containers, tankers, bulk, or passenger vessels. But in the end, all of them have to enter a port,...

Analysis of the performance of the order picking process in an e-fulfilment centre: seasonal influences on regular versus peak periods: An application to an e-commerce company

The order picking process is done item by item, and therefore it is a labour-intensive process. According to Dukic & Oluic (2005), 50% of the total order picking time is spent on unproductive traveling. The operations that need to be performed in warehouses are highly dependent on the customer demand. The customer demand shows seasonal...

Scenarios for the natural gas market: An outlook to 2050

Towards the design of an effective and robust multi-robot parcel sorting system

In the Netherlands, PostNL and Prime Vision are working together on the development of a new sorting system, using a multi-robot approach. This master thesis takes place within this ambitious project. The objective of this dissertation is the design of an effective and robust multi-robot parcel-sorting system, in which robots need to sort and...

Measuring Freight Transport Network Criticality: A Case Study in Bangladesh