Optimum planning of container yards

Container yard optimization can be carried out by evaluating together the mathematical modeling of container operations at yard and the cost analysis caused by yard capacity limited or excessive container traffic. Mathematical modeling can include some operational research techniques and classic mathematical theories. However, the costs appearing in a yard can be introduced as costs of idle slots, service and vehicle (ship, truck and wagon) waiting for service. The aim of the yard optimization is to yield the optimum size of container yard corresponding to the minimum total cost obtained from yard operations. In order to optimize yard capacity, the studies conducted in this thesis deals with developing the Monte Carlo simulation which may be special for yard operations and presents the original applications of several operational research techniques in yard planning. The used techniques are the inventory modeling, queue modeling based on the bulk queue model, Monte Carlo simulation based on objective function solving by generating container traffic conditions to be coincided and queuing simulation realized by using the software, Container Yard Optimization CYO, which is completely new The mathematical optimization and simulation models generated for only yard planning are applied to the container yard of İzmir Port. In case study, the statistics and assumptions which are taken into account are processed in accordance with the mentioned models. Even though models differentiate from each other, the results on yard container capacity obtained from each model show approximately similarity. Key Words: Container Yard Planning, Storage Yard, Optimization, Queue Model, Inventory Model, Simulation, Port Cost Analysis