Dock Reservation Arrival Patterns and Scheduling
A Case Study at Royal FloraHolland
P. Zeegers (TU Delft - Mechanical Engineering)
MB Duinkerken – Mentor (TU Delft - Transport Engineering and Logistics)
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Abstract
This study aims to investigate the effectiveness of a Truck Appointment System (TAS) in improving dock utilization and overall operational efficiency at Royal Floraholland Aalsmeer. The study focuses on the impact of TAS on dock turnaround times, truck wait times, and maximum throughput time, as well as its implications on cost. The research explores how a TAS could work, including the scheduling of appointments and truck assignments, and the effects of more distributed arrivals. The study analyzes the performance indicators; truck waiting time, maximum time between flower check-in time and storage, parking wait times, cost, and examines the impact of assignment systems on these indicators. To be able to evaluate these performances a Discrete Event Simulation model is made, and different scenarios are analyzed. The study shows that requiring reservations has a significant impact on spreading out the pattern of arrivals, with gains seen at about 70% reservation percentages. The biggest improvements are observed at the throughput times of trolleys to cooled storage, with maximum throughput times decreasing up to 18%. The results suggest that a TAS can improve overall operational efficiency and decrease variability in maximum and average throughput time, while not lowering dock times significantly.