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-Abstract
KLM Cargo is a division of the Air France-KLM holding company and is a partner of companies for sending air cargo all over the world. The core activities of KLM Cargo take place at the cargo buildings at Schiphol. In the past decade KLM Cargo developed itself into one of the biggest air cargo companies in the world.
Problem arena
Thirty years ago a transportation system has been developed for the transportation of air cargo from and to the different aircrafts. Whereas Schiphol airport has changed a lot over the years the transportation system of KLM stayed the same. On the 1st of June 2007 the Secure Restricted Area (SRA) at Schiphol became operational; in this area people are only allowed by virtue of one’s profession. To get access to the restricted area you have to be in possession of a Schiphol permit and you will be subjected to a body check. For the drivers of the mulag tractors this means that they need to descend their tractor each time they enter the SRA, which is multiple times a day. On the 1st of July 2009 a new act is entered into force with extra security measures for air cargo. The act prescribes that every cargo pallet that is transported by air via the Netherlands has to be checked by customs. This security check is executed by customs via an export pallet scanner on the SRA.
Research question
The changes of the security measures on Schiphol have effect on the transportation system of KLM Cargo. In this research the following main research question will be answered:
How is the transportation system of KLM Cargo organized and which changes will improve the efficiency of the system in the situation after the 1st of July 2009?
Changes to the system are possible in the following areas
x Changes to the physical layout and occupancy of the system; x Changes to the ride information exchange system;
x Changes to the ride schedules via algorithms. Bottlenecks transportation network
By a brainstorm session with employees of the transportation department and a developed simulation model, the bottlenecks of the transportation system became visible. The employees of the transportation department mentioned the biggest problem the lack of information for the Head Operation Flow. The HOF’s do not know where the drivers and cargo are during the day. The developed simulation model uses the two busiest days of November 2008 as the research period. The results of the bottleneck analysis showed that a large group of ULD’s are delivered later then fifteen minutes before the departure of the aircraft. This is not acceptable because ULD’s that are not delivered fifteen minutes before departure can no longer be loaded onto the aircraft. That is why in consolation with KLM the system requirement is taken that the new system must deliver all the ULD’s at least fifteen minutes before departure of the aircraft. Ride schedules via algorithms
By a literature study the possibilities of designing a ride schedule for the drivers via an algorithm has been investigated. A characteristic of the transportation system of KLM
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-Cargo is that during the day new transportation rides are requested, the rides are independent from each other and not planned in advance. This characteristic puts large pressure on the calculation capacity of the computer software because the new ride schedule has to be developed before a new requested ride has been performed. That is why the situation at KLM Cargo is not suitable for a ride schedule based on one algorithm.
Simulation models
For solving the problems the bottleneck analysis of the transportation system with six simulation models has been developed. Three models have been developed with physical adaptations and three with a different rides information system, a palmtop system.
The developed simulation models with physical adaptations are:
x Speed lane model: a specific lane at the SRA disconnection point, which has been developed for ULD’s with a short connection time before departure of the aircraft;
x Occupancy model: A change in occupation, from 11:00 until 14:00 one SRA mulag driver will work as an electronic mulag driver;
x Speed lane occupancy model: A model with both the adaptations. The developed palmtop models are:
x Palmtop with Chain model: uses the same information exchange system, the drivers choose the ride they want to execute;
x Palmtop pier dependant model: same information exchange system, but the options of the drivers are limited because they can only choose a ride from the same pier where they already brought their export cargo;
x Palmtop with planner: different information exchange in which an external planner decides which ride the drivers have to execute.
Results
Only the palmtop with Chain model and the palmtop with planner model delivered all their ULD’s fifteen minutes for departure of the aircraft. All the other models were not able to fulfill this system requirement.
The results of both palmtop models on the rest of the performance indicators were all positive, and the differences between these models were small. The result of the palmtop with planner model on the average transport time of the export ULD’s and the average delivery time until departure of the aircraft were better than the results of the palmtop with Chain model, although the differences were less than one minute. On the other hand the palmtop with Chain model has a better result on the average transportation time of the incoming ULD’s, this difference is small as well: between one and three minutes.
Looking at the delivery pattern of the export ULD’s at the departure gate, it was clear that the palmtop with planner model delivered all the ULD’s earlier than the palmtop with Chainmodel. This makes this model more robust if an emergency would occur. The palmtop with planner would have some extra time to bring the ULD’s to the departure gate.
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-Cost benefit analysis (CBA)The CBA gives some extra information about the financial consequences of the implementation of simulation models.
Speed lane occupancy model Palmtop with Chainmodel Palmtop with planner model
Benefits per year € 12.618.130 € 921.760 € 938.336
Investment costs - -€ 25.500 -€ 39.000 Savings year 1 - € 853.581 € 856.510 Savings year 2 - € 836.064 € 851.098 Savings year 3 - € 796.251 € 810.570 Savings year 4 - € 758.335 € 771.971 Savings year 5 - € 722.223 € 735.211
Net present value - € 3.966.455 € 4.025.360
Table: Cost benefit analysis
In the CBA the palmtop models are visible, with the speed lane occupation model as the base scenario. The differences between the palmtop models and the speed lane occupation model are after five years approximately € 4 million. The palmtop with planner is the most profitable model, the differences with the palmtop with Chain model after five years is € 58.905.
Advice to KLM
The results on the P.I. of the palmtop with planner and the palmtop with Chain model are considerably better than the other simulation models. The differences between the palmtop models result in a split of the conclusions. The results of the palmtop with planner models are on average better on the P.I. and the CBA. But the implementation of the palmtop with Chain model is easier, faster and cheaper. The specific advantages of both models result in an advice for the short and long term. For the short term the implementation of the palmtop with Chain model is advised because of the good results on the P.I. and the short implementation time. For the long term the palmtop with planner model has the best overall results on the P.I., despite of the longer implementation time and higher investment costs. Both models are quite similar, so the investments done for the palmtop with Chain model will lead to a decrease of the investment costs for the palmtop with planner model. In general the palmtop models will not only improve the transportation system of KLM but also the overview of the whereabouts of the ULD’s and the drivers.
