EURO 2024 Copenhagen
Abstract Submission

EURO-Online login

23. A novel robust exact decomposition algorithm for berth and quay crane allocation and scheduling problem considering uncertainty in worker productivity

Invited abstract in session TA-62: Seaside Planning III, stream OR in Port Operations.

Tuesday, 8:30-10:00
Room: S12 (building: 101)

Authors (first author is the speaker)

1. Kaoutar Chargui
BEAR Lab, Rabat Business School
2. Tarik ZOUADI
BEAR Lab, International University of Rabat
3. Tarik Chargui
LAMIH UMR CNRS 8201, Université Polytechnique Hauts-de-France

Abstract

This study proposes a novel robust version of berth and quay crane allocation and scheduling problem integrated with a quay crane worker assignment problem. To align with on-field data, we consider in this version that the processing rates of the quay cranes workers is not deterministic, but subject to uncertainties. The uncertainty of this parameter is addressed using robust optimization, by considering an uncertainty set of scenarios. A novel two-stage mixed integer linear programming model is proposed to minimize the worst-case tardiness of vessels and find the worst-case scenario from the uncertainty set. The model is first tested using a commercial solver, but it could not be solved, even for small instances. Thus, as we noticed that the problem has a decomposable structure, we developed an exact decomposition algorithm that splits the model into a master problem and a set of subproblems to alleviate the complexity. We also strengthened the algorithm by introducing novel (re)formulation enhancement, valid inequalities and lower bounds. To assess the performance of the proposed algorithm, we conducted a series of computational experiments on a dataset of instances designed from a real-case database of a container terminal. Also, we performed a sensitivity analysis to evaluate the value of considering a robust version of the model compared to a non-robust version.

Keywords

Status: accepted

Back to the list of papers