Delft University of Technology
Faculty Mechanical, Maritime and Materials Engineering Transport Technology
J.B.C. Hoebeek Supporting Container fleet management by integrated mobile communications and global positioning techniques. Masters thesis, Report 95.3.LT.4453, Transport Engineering and Logistics.
Supporting container fleet management by integrated mobile communications and global positioning techniques has recently become technically and commercially feasible. Nedlloyd Lines studies this feasibility in order to innovate its equipment planning processes, which will eventually contributie positively to the company's results-on-assets and competitive edge.
The objective of this assignment was to combine the availability and functionality of various feasibilities offered today and in the near future, taking into account their profitability and contingency. A structured analysis approach was used to define the support system's functional specification, physical requirements and implementation budget and schedule, based on feasibility listings and user requirements. Essential analysis of the equipment processes' physical situation, registration, administration and organisation offered additional insights.
Major impact of mobile communications and global positioning is felt at the level of container tracking and tracing. Spin-off effects of improvements at this level are gained by higher level planning processes like steering, sourcing and technics. Ultimately, customer service is also improved through these better equipment planning processes. Opportunities for improvement all evolve ftom the ability to obtain more timely, accurate and reliable tracking data, of which better land turnaround and empty repositioning are the primary constituents.
Satellite tracking is substantially different from conventional tracking. First, direct status and position monitoring of equipment replaces the manual input based event monitoring. Second, tracking data is sent from physical container to central planning level directly, instead of local accountable parties like tenninat and vessel operators handing it over through regional level. As a result, both the location and events of equipment have to be determined automatically while local accountable parties have to be informed or consulted directly on planned moves.
Although pricing of satellite tracking is expected to reduce dramatically over the coming years, the concept can only be profitabie, even for selected parts of the fleets, if messaging activity is reduced to the lowest possible level. To achieve this, and to overcome the challenges mentioned before, various conceptual system elements have been compiled into a functional specification for a tracking system using tracking messages obtained through mobile communications and global positioning. Against all odds, these tracking messages consist of identification, time and position stamps only, which is currently technically and commercially feasibie, already.
The described new tracking system relies heavily on detailed planning of individual moves before actual execution, and on provisional warnings on expected deviations of the actual from the planned move execution. It is recommended to shift parts of the system to the service provider, which requires balancing of profitability and contingency. Developing the functional specification towards a prototype tracking system during the planned hardware pilot, will keep Nedlloyd a step ahead of possible suppliers and competitors. This offers unique opportunities to establish detailed know-how, competitive pricing, and customer intimacy.
Reports on Transport Engineering and Logistics (in Dutch)
