Optimization of logistics processes at the container terminals and a simulation model

Due to a variety of facilities created by the globalized world trade, the products and services have recently been able to meet the relevant consumers in a geographically wide scope of area. Maintaining the smooth flow of the products/services to customer is neither easy nor taken for granted. Particularly in such a severely competitive market, any company has got to strive to survive and sustain its development. The trade implemented in the global scope do naturally involve trade activities with global features where in transportation plays the critical role. In meeting any products, particularly low-cost ones, with the consumers, one of the highest cost items is transportation. In this context, supply chain management involves not only supplying the goods but also comprises planning, implementing, monitoring and controlling the whole process including transportation from the supply point to the final consumer in a manner that could yield minimum cost and maximum utility. The most important aspect of supply chain management is ?logistics?, the basic activity of which is transportation with worldwide spread infrastructures. As a relatively high rate of world trade goods are carried through seaways, ports have been the most important transport infrastructure of supply chain.The ever increasing severe competition has made it inevitable for ports to get operated efficiently and ceaselessly providing customer with added value. Any unexpected waiting the goods are encountered at port due to any concession, on the other hand, a resultant affect on delaying the previously planned delivery times set in the world supply chain. In this regard, providing ceaseless and efficient port services requires performance measuring device. There are mainly four logistical processes carried out at container terminals. Those are ship operations, moving container, warehousing and handling containers. Efficient and effective operation of these four basic processes increases the competitive power of ports, which means that the mentioned processes are necessarily to the optimized. Such optimization requires thorough analyses of the contribution to the system made by any aspects affecting the basic processes and where needed, the system operations must be interfered with.The purpose of this research is to develop a logistical oriented decision supporting models as a decision support instrument for port managements aims to contribute to such basic topics as comprehending analyzing and evaluating the logistical structure of ports as well as port performance indicator, planning port capacity, increasing port efficiency, developing internal port logistical processes and predicting the needs of the port in the future.