Optimizing Yard Assignment at an Automotive Transshipment Terminal

Optimizing Yard Assignment at an Automotive Transshipment Terminal

1 Interuniversity Research Centre on Enterprise Networks, Logistics and Transportation (CIRRELT)

2 Canada Research Chair in Logistics and Transportation, HEC Montréal, 3000 Côte-Sainte- Catherine, Montréal, Canada H3T 2A7

3 Canada Research Chair in Distribution Management, HEC Montréal, 3000 Côte-Sainte-Catherine, Montréal, Canada H3T 2A7

4 Istituto di Calcolo e Reti ad Alte Prestazioni, Consiglio Nazionale delle Richerche, Via P. Bucci 41C, 87036 Rende (CS), Italy

5 Dipartimento di Elettronica, Informatica e sistemistica, Università della Calabria, Via P. Bucci 41C, 87036 Rende (CS) Italy

Abstract. This paper studies a yard management problem in an automotive transshipment terminal. Groups of cars arrive to and depart from the terminal in a given planning period. These groups must be assigned to parking rows under some constraints resulting from managerial rules. The main objective is the minimization of the total handling time. Model extensions to handle application specific issues such as the rolling horizon and a manpower leveling objective are also discussed. The main features of the problem are modeled as an integer linear program. However, solving this formulation by a state-of-the-art solver is impractical. In view of this, we develop a metaheuristic algorithm based on the adaptive large neighborhood search framework. Computational results on real-life data show the efficacy of the proposed metaheuristic algorithm.

Keywords. Yard management, automotive transshipment terminal, adaptive large neighborhood search.

Acknowledgements. This work was partly supported by the MUR (Italy) under project AUTOMA, and by the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC) under grants 227837-09 and 39682-10. This support is gratefully acknowledged.

The authors thank the BLG Italia managers Francesco De Bonis and Francesco Scalise for their kind availability in explaining the application, and Alessandra De Luca for her help in defining the instance set. Special thanks are due to Manlio Gaudioso who initiated the cooperation framework that made this research possible.

Results and views expressed in this publication are the sole responsibility of the authors and do not necessarily reflect those of CIRRELT.

Les résultats et opinions contenus dans cette publication ne reflètent pas nécessairement la position du CIRRELT et n'engagent pas sa responsabilité.

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* Corresponding author: Luigi.Moccia@cirrelt.ca

Dépôt légal – Bibliothèque nationale du Québec, Bibliothèque nationale du Canada, 2010

© Copyright Cordeau, Laporte, Moccia, Sorrentino and CIRRELT, 2010