Increasingly specialised logistic services are triggering the disaggregation of supply chain functions and fostering the generation of information silos. This is perceived by European customs as a threat, since it affects the reliability of the import risk assessments and cargo inspections. In parallel, the rise of data sharing platforms based on blockchain technology (BCT) are fostering collaboration and accelerating the verification of trade finance documents in the logistics industry. The cross-organisational trust achieved in these platforms has driven the digitisation the documents from which import declaration data is extracted and shared with European customs. The latter see combining data from multiple platforms an opportunity to automate the cross-validation of declaration data, which is still performed manually to a large extent. This would improve supply chain visibility, turn declarations more agile and risk assessments more effective. However, it remains unclear how to integrate declaration procedures in these data ecosystems. There are two major barriers to overcome. Firstly, the lack of interoperability solutions to make data exchanges with multiple platforms compatible for the aggregation of declaration data. Secondly, the need to adapt available identity management solutions to the distributed architecture of these platforms to promote trust between declarants and their partners. To tackle this, a peer-to-peer data collection architecture is presented as a novel solution to migrate from import declarations based on data duplication towards information sharing based on links to the original and trusted shipping data stored in BCT platforms.

With the increasing amount of container freight transport and the increasing size of container vessels, for the Port of Antwerp, the second largest container port in Europe, a critical task is port planning. A simulation model provides the means to gain proper insight in the effect of future expansions. Macomi, a company specialized in simulation and optimisation, has been working on a simulation model to aid the Port of Antwerp in their port planning. One important issue in this simulation model is how the berth allocation of vessels is handled. Berth allocation is the problem of assigning vessels a time and location at the quay wall where the vessel can be loaded and unloaded. In this thesis, the aim is to develop decision models for both the preliminary berth planning and the real-time recovery of this plan during simulation. For the first part, a cyclic baseline berth allocation plan is created which takes into account the tidal dependencies vessels have when entering the port of Antwerp. This preliminary berth plan is used as a basis for the simulation model as the arrival times are based on this plan. However, during the simulation disruptions might occur; vessels can arrive earlier or later or take longer to load and unload. To deal with these disruptions a real-time disruption management decision model is proposed which aims to solve all disruptions while staying as close to the theoretical berth plan as possible. Using the proposed models, several experiments have been conducted regarding the influence of uncertainty, occupation and robustness on the quality of the solutions that the decision models found. Regarding occupancy rates, results show that a tipping point exists where the recovery model has more difficulty to find a good solution. Results also show that when the expected occupation of a terminal is higher, adding robustness has more effect and is therefore more important. The decision models presented in this thesis have been implemented in the Macomi port simulation model and have been demonstrated to the Port of Antwerp. Both parties have expressed their satisfaction with the models.

The size of container ships is constantly growing over recent decades due to a continuous search for economies of scale by shipping lines. The growth of the container ships has necessitated ports to adapt, e.g. by increasing the water depth requirements. Many of the conventional onshore ports cannot receive larger ships without dredging activities due to depth restrictions. A considerable amount of dredging is necessary to create an access channel to reach deep waters. The development of offshore-onshore port systems can be a huge opportunity for coastal zones with an extensive shallow foreshore to limit the channel dredging costs. However, the methodology for evaluating the design of innovative solutions, like offshore-onshore port systems, is limited compared to the evaluation of conventional onshore port designs. A framework, including the cost-based evaluations, could serve as a reference to make more deliberate and integral choices between various types of port systems. Therefore, the objective of this research is to evaluate the major logistical trade-offs regarding various types of port systems based on costs. Three port system alternatives, including the associated characteristics, are introduced: i) an onshore port system, ii) an offshore-onshore port system with a waterway transport link and iii) an offshore-onshore port system with a fixed infrastructure link. Next, two characteristic design variables are identified to specify the design scenarios: i) the capacity of the design vessel and ii) the distance between the offshore and onshore terminal. The developed model comprises two parts. The first part is developed to determine the required port system elements and to make the corresponding cost estimates for the specified design scenarios, for all three port system alternatives. The second part is developed to address the logistics of the offshore-onshore port system with a waterway transport link. The results show that the cost estimates of offshore-onshore port systems can be less costly compared to the cost estimates for the onshore port system for specific design scenarios. Hence both offshore-onshore port systems offer less costly alternatives compared to the onshore port system for specific design scenarios. From this, we can conclude that offshore-onshore port systems will be considered more frequently in the future, as the size of container ships is still growing. The framework - a collection of concepts - results in a better understanding of the logistical trade-offs between different type of port systems for container transport and handling. The major logistical trade-offs are framed based on the evaluation of the characteristic design variables, the results of the sensitivity analyses and the assessment of the relationship between the operational reliability of the waterway transport link and the required storage capacities. The logistical simulation is the first method to relate the container ship and shuttle barge transport with the terminal operations using agent-based discrete-event simulations. These logistical simulations evaluate the cost related to the shuttle barge downtime. Depending on the frequency and length of the periods of downtime, the most cost-effective solutions are found for specific downtime scenarios.

Due to its archipelagic nature, Indonesia enforces to make substantial investments in its maritime sector, especially port infrastructure, in order to promote trade, economic growth, and ease disparity among Indonesia’s island regions. The challenge, of course, is that Indonesia has many ports to invest in and a limited budget; it must prioritize among various port development projects. The government, therefore, needs to choose wisely in order to avoid wasting money by constructing shipping network plans. One of the most important aspects in shipping network planning in Indonesia is designating which ports are to become international container gateways as these ports will play an important role in connecting Indonesia with foreign markets and therefore have a strong impact on its economy. To improve the current state of policy decision-making for the Indonesian shipping network, we hereby develop adaptive policy decision pathways focused on Indonesian containerized exports. The objective of this study is to build adaptive policy decision pathways that can cope with dynamic future uncertainties and results to help the government develop a robust network investment plan that helps the Indonesian government achieve its objective of improving connectivity and value-added exports through lower logistics costs. The main general finding is that flow pattern is very sensitive to demand volumes. Moreover, Minimum Cost-Flow (MCF) model used in this study is able to identify the flow pattern so that is very useful to analyze the potential of gateways. By applying this approach, we can analyze how the flow pattern changes from period to period and therefore may lead to different policy decisions. Having this approach in shipping network planning will help policymaker to have several predictive pathways and thus can support policy decision-making.

The term last-mile delivery refers to the final leg of a business-to-customer service, in which a product is shipped from a depot to a final destination point by means of land transportation, such as vans and small trucks. Although they provide a common and easy way to consign products, companies are striving for new transport technologies to reduce congestion problems, infrastructure limitations and air pollution. Recently, a valid alternative to road-bounded vehicles that is has gained attention is the adoption of drones in the delivery fleet. Drone applications range from military training, surveillance, path recognition and shipment of perishable products in emergency situations. Research on drones as delivery vehicles is still on its early stages, with some practical trials carried out by leader companies such as Google and Amazon. However, the application of drones in the pharmaceutical sector, and specifically for home deliveries of medical products, has not been investigated yet. To gain new insights into the feasibility of introducing drones in the delivery fleet composition, drone applications were studied for the delivery operations of the pharmacy BENU t Slag, in Rotterdam. Two scenario alternatives were tested using the Vehicle Routing Problem (VRP) formulation and a Large- scale Neighbourhood Search (LNS) algorithm was implemented to estimate the performance indicators associated with each scenario. Performances were then analysed through a comparative analysis. Conclusively, indicators were found to improve the delivery performance when drones are included in the fleet composition, with gains in environmental aspects, service time and delivery costs. Results provide important information for further research on the implications of using drones in the pharmaceutical sector. Moreover, results are also useful for BENU t Slag, providing a valid feasibility assessment of using drones for their home delivery operations.

Global containerised cargo volumes are increasing at a high rate, requiring ports to increase their throughput. Containers are transported to the hinterland by truck, train, or barge. In the ports of Rotterdam and Antwerp, container barges have high in-port times, of which they spend a lot of time ineffectively. This affects these ports’ connectivity with the hinterland. The goal of this research, therefore, is to identify the main causes for, and most promising measures against, high barge in-port times. These causes and measures were gathered by desk research, using scientific literature, technical reports, and interviews with stakeholders.
To assess the importance of different causes and compare different measures, a simulation model was built, based on Rotterdam. Because there are many deep-sea terminals and barges that each make their own planning, and many aspects of the in-port operations are subject to stochastics, Simio was used to make an agent-based simulation model. Although many factors contributing to high in-port times were found in the literature, the majority of them contribute to two overarching causes: there is insufficient barge handling capacity at deep-sea terminals, and coordination problems result in inefficient utilisation of the available capacity. Therefore, many measures that are suggested in the literature aim to mitigate the negative effects of the two main causes.
The current state of the system was replicated in the model, in order to understand the response of in-port times to various system changes. Experiments evaluated changes to terminals’ barge handling capacity by increasing the capacity, or by changing how current capacity is distributed over time. The number of calls barges make on average was changed. Additionally, the effects of market mechanics on the in-port times of barges with different levels of willingness-to-pay were assessed, by auctioning timeslots or allowing barges to submit priority requests. Finally, increased information sharing and instantaneous reservations were implemented as an experiment.
The findings indicate that increasing handling capacity at terminals can strongly improve barge in-port times. Without increasing capacity the system can also be improved by increasing the information that is exchanged between agents, thereby influencing the way agents interact. Finally, implementing a priority system can reliably reduce in-port time for barges willing to pay for that service, without negatively impacting the average in-port times of the whole system.

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 patterns spread over the year caused by so-called seasonal influences. The objective of this research was to investigate and identify the opportunities and possibilities regarding the order picking process to react to the seasonal impact that influences the productivity of order picking. Order picking can be described as a warehouse process of retrieving products from storage in response to specific customer request and bringing them to an area dedicated for collecting the assembled customer orders. Order picking can be performed in a variety of Order Picking Systems (OPS). This study focusses on the lower automatization level of pick-and-sort batch picking using a picker-to-parts system. An insight of demand profiles in certain time series and order characteristics have been obtained by using a decomposition model with multiplicative seasonal-adjustment. Patterns in number of orders, items/order, weight/item and volume/item were determined for setting up design alternatives. The alternatives are based on some primary interdependent policies proposed in the study of Wascher (2004): storage policy, routing policy, zoning policy, and order consolidation policy. The three design alternatives in this study are: class-based randomized storage, volume-based randomized storage, and zone decomposition. These alternatives are tested in a model with discrete event simulation for both regular and peak periods, compared to a base alternative. The KPIs are cycle picking time and the variable order picking (labour) costs and both need to be minimized. All three design alternatives seem to be promising for future order picking operations compared to the base alternative. The results of this study show that major savings can be reached changing the order picking strategy in general. For companies, focusing on the reduction of travel distance of the operators can lead to more efficient processes in the fulfilment centre and in the end cause a decrease in labour costs. However, it is recommended for the company of the case study, to implement the class-based randomized storing policy. On yearly basis, the order picking costs decrease with 12%. Looking at cycle time and travel distances, even higher savings can be obtained in future operation by deploying the zone decomposition dynamically during peak periods. This means that during peak periods, zones are dynamically divided into two sub-zones causing a decrease in travel distance between picks, leading to lower cycle picking times.

Small scale inland shipping, especially in the case of transported containers, is used only marginally compared to its capacity. The small inland waterways have abundant capacity to accommodate up to 700 percent more transport. On the other hand, road based container transport is cause for external damages in the form of congestion, emissions and accidents. All that are of course unwanted. To reduce the overall external damage (monetized into cost) for container distribution a modeshift from truck to small scale inland vessel is worth promoting. This thesis researched the feasibility of designing radically renewing small scale container distribution concepts for both vessel and inland terminal. A scalable container carrier concept series is designed and tested for feasibility. Goal of the concept vessel was to design a dedicated series around its cargo, the container. Existing inland vessels of smaller dimensions have holds of suboptimal dimensions, resulting is excess cost. In parallel with the vessel series a scalable container terminal concept has been designed and tested. Goals for the terminal was autonomous operation and low cost per move as existing terminal fail to operate on competitive cost levels for low volumes. The results showed outperformance of competitor alternatives and economic feasibility for both concepts. Results of a case study show the possibility to ship and transship containers to more local, rural terminals at competitive costs levels. Meaning substantially below the costs of existing competition. In addition is the local terminal allocation leading to penetration of the inland waterway network’s capillaries. As a result, shorter pre- and post-haulage operations by truck are required. This increase in sailing distance share and decrease in haulage distance reduces the overall external cost of transport for those specific containers.

This research concerns the analysis of the organisation of transport of cut flowers from Dutch growers. The performance of transport in the current supply chain is analysed with a focus on the total transport costs, and the service level which is primarily defined by the lead time of products. Based on the assessment of the current performance and a review of literature on various forms of transport organisation, two alternative configurations of transport are developed. All transport of deliveries that is individually organised and executed by growers in the current situation, are redesigned in these alternative configurations. The aim of this research is to investigate whether an improvement in the organisation of transport can be achieved by increasing the coordination in transport of these deliveries. The first configuration is based on the consolidation of products from multiple growers in a local hub. The second configuration collects products in a round trip, thus combining multiple growers in a delivery. Both configurations show potential for improvement by achieving a reduction of transport costs and an increase in utilisation of available vehicle capacity, however the lead time of products increases in both configurations.