BUSI4002 Operations Management

Bachelor of Education Programme

BUSI4002: Operations Management GROUP PROJECT: 100 Marks (converted to 20%)

Instructions:

• This assignment MUST BE SUBMITTED with a Cover Page that has ALL your group members name, Student IDs, Assignment name and date submitted.
• All responses should be typewritten and include the necessary diagrams, tables etc.
• You work should follow APA Style, i.e. double lined spaced, font style: Times New Roman or Arial.
• Submission will be via CANVAS and Printed Hard Copy submissions will be accepted.
• All questions should be answered on this sheet using the Rubric attached.

ASSIGNMENT DETAILS

A CASE STUDY: THE PORT OF PORT OF SPAIN: ADDITION OF A ROLL ON ROLL OFF (RO-RO) BERTH AND DEVELOPMENT OF OPERATIONAL PROCEDURES

THE PORT OF PORT OF SPAIN (TPPS) HISTORY

The British invaded Trinidad in 1797; shortly afterward, in 1803, the first reclamations of land on the muddy foreshore began, creating the areas known as South Quay and Independence square. In 1939, the Port of Spain deep water harbor welcomed its first vessel, The Harrison

Line Steamship, “Governor” which berthed alongside the newly built quay wall to take on a cargo of 7000 tons of sugar destined for Europe. This event marked the beginning of the Port and Marine Transportation Operations in Trinidad and Tobago.

The Port Authority was initially established as a Statutory Authority in 1961 and was tasked with coordinating and integrating harbor and port operations for the country, which had expanded and became strategically positioned as a harbor to service the major sea lanes between the Americas, the islands of the Caribbean and the trading links between the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans via the Panama Canal. The Port Authority of Trinidad and Tobago is responsible for three business units related to port and maritime in Trinidad and Tobago and is overseen by a Board of Commissioners headed by a Chairman, the Deputy Chairman and approximately three to seven commissioners. The Port Authority of Trinidad and Tobago Governing Unit (PATTGU) formerly was responsible for the:

• Port Services Department
• Costal Steamers Services
• Dredging and Towage Services of the Harbour Masters

However, these units have been renamed to the:

• Port of Port of Spain (PPOS)
• Trinidad and Tobago Inter-Island Transport Company (TTIT)
• Port of Spain Infrastructure Company

The main goal of the Port Authority in Trinidad and Tobago governing unit is to provide a coordinated and integrated system of harbor facilities and port services. This case study is focused on the operation of PPOS. Specifically, the container operation and cargo handing operations.

DESCRIPTION OF PPOS

The PPOS has the responsibility for cargo operations. The strategic intention of this unit is to develop a competitive and innovative country port that is operationally efficient and customer driven to continuously maintain competitive advantage as the ideal port of trade for the Caribbean and the rest of the world.

In 2012, the management of the PPOS acquired and implemented NAVIS, a terminal operating system. The PPOS management envisioned using this technology to assist in the continuous design configurations, handling systems, operating procedures and customer relations at the port. At any given time the PPOS berths are occupied with bulk carriers and general cargo. The port recently commissioned a new Roll on Roll Off (RO-RO) Berth, however, this berth is not in operation. The NAVIS terminal operating software was intended to improve container vessels operations at the PPOS because of the large cargo per port call. This terminal operating system is intended to ensure shorter handling times per ton during each vessel unloading at the port yard.

THE SITUATION

The operations manager, Sean Davidson joined the PPOS in 2017 and was given the task of strategically updating the port operations to ensure faster, better and more cost-effective access to international markets. The Chairman and the Board has indicated that there were two contributing factors to maintaining competitive advantage of the PPOS: port location and port charges. These two factors explicitly impact on port efficiency, reliability, the quality of port infrastructure, port services, the frequency of shipping services and connectivity to trade routes across the oceans. Therefore, port planning is crucial to the port operations in order to seek a balance between shortages in capacity and over-capacity at adequate cost, price and service levels. Therefore, the operations manager needs to ensure that all operational decisions are related to operational productivity and optimisation, network and demand modelling, design and layout configuration, market research and development, project appraisal and economic valuation, investment financing and analysis, competition and pricing, and public policy and development. It is based on these requirements Sean has decided to revisit the operational efficiency of the PPOS. After approximately 12 months of observing the port operations, Sean noted:

1. The PPOS has a dock yard staff of 300, each working 8 hrs. per day for a payroll cost of $320.00 per day and overhead expenses of $60,000.00 per day. Since the introduction of the new terminal operations systems, NAVIS, the overhead has increased to $80,000.00 per day and the dock yard workers only offload 125 containers per hour and 1000 containers per day. Which is only a 3% increase from the initial processing of containers (that is, 121 per hour and 970 per day. Among the NAVIS Modules purchased were Container handling equipment utilization and Expert Decking modules, however, only entry, customs and exit information is input into the system. Key features such as yard optimization isn’t utilized, therefore all port staff access is where a container is located, which still creates delays for customer retrieval.
2. The ship yard only accommodates container and general cargo, but there is an accommodation for roll on roll off (RO-RO). Port capacity is an important characteristic of sea transport infrastructure and the capability of the infrastructure system to accommodate associated services at specific cost and service time levels is important to the port operations. The process of optimising port operations for a given capacity, while ensuring a balance between cost-effectiveness and service quality is very important, since it is linked to the competitive advantage of the port. It was observed that this RO-RO was constructed in 2014, commissioned and has not been operational as part of the yard operations. The unused RO-RO berth and the Ship to Shore cranes (STS) was installed to facilitate the vehicle transfer between the ship and the quay. Therefore, the berth can be used to accommodate the increased shipping of foreign used vehicles in to Trinidad and Tobago. The RO-RO was installed with a Super-Post Panamax crane with an outreach of 50 m, a lift height of 33 m, hoist speed of 61 mpm, and a 1:14 ratio, a trolley speed of 245 mpm and a 1:35 ratio. The expected crane productivity (move per hour) is 35 – 40 moves per hour, for 6000 (TEU) turnaround time in 45 hours.
3. Sean has further observed that the PPOS structural measures are not focused on facility expansion such as dredging works, land reclamation and the acquisition of new port equipment even though it is clearly stated in their strategic documents. Also, the nonstructural measures at the port has also been neglected and improvement of the utilization of the existing facilities have not been proactively approached. This neglect has caused issues with congestion, pricing and traffic diversion and the improvement of operational and procedural efficiency in the areas of lesser ship and cargo dwell time (DwT), faster data exchange and inspection. There is no definite indication of a structured plan for the allocation of port facilities and resources, and how those resources may be implemented in terms of several detailed planning modules such as berth planning, yard operations. Sean concluded that the NAVIS System was not effectively used and the Expert Decking module can assist with yard utilization and efficiency.

Also, the RO-RO berth needs to be added to the NAVIS System.

Generally, Sean has observed that the PPOS needs to redesign the yard layout and begin using the RO-RO berth. He has also decided that a schedule should be develop for forecasting and enhancing the port services offered to customers at the PPOS. Sean has created the following project schedule for the launch of the RO-RO berth:

4. Sean has also noticed that the Dock Master, harbormaster and other middle managers do not conduct regular forecasting exercises to estimate freight demand of future trade flows, trade lanes, type of commodity, and type of cargo packaging (e.g. containers, break bulk (BB), etc.) in case of general cargo goods. There was no time series forecasting or customized freight demand modelling done at the PPOS.

The following was data collected during the observation period of shipping uploading and unloading for the 2017 period:

5. Yard configuration, layout and handling equipment has a direct impact on the process flow and efficiency of terminal operations. There is accommodation for cars but this accommodation mainly serves as a warehousing storage shed for dry cargo containers. The current container terminal, the yard configuration and layout stack profile and the movement of containers between stack and quay and between stack and gate does not reflect a stacking configuration, something the NAVIS System can assist in organizing. The most frequently used international strategies are: segregation or scattering. These strategies also use a range of container classification to find the destination (inbound, outbound and transshipped) of the containers once stacked. At the PPOS there seems to be no set strategy, the Yard Hostler just assigns containers to free areas in the yard. This is creating a sorting problem when containers are to be retrieved and assigned to owners outbound for the gate. In most instances customers are delayed and spend an immense amount of time waiting for the yard clerk to find the container for inspection and exit from the port. There is also an issue with finding reservation containers such as empty containers, hazardous goods or non-standard size containers because there is no specified reserved area. According to international port systems design the port yard should have a reserved area designated for these items (see sample of ship yard layout in Figure 1 and Figure 2).

Figure 1: Sample layout of straddle carrier direct system

Figure 2: Sample layout of tractor-chassis (wheeled) system

Sean has also outlined the breakdown of ship’s time in port

Services Prior to the Ship’s Arrival

Berth Request

Prior to the ship’s estimated arrival, its agents or managers (operations department) should submit an online request to the port, providing the following information:

• Vessel’s name and previous names
• Ship’s main particulars, for example, flag, ownership/management, charterers, deadweight (DWT), length overall (LOA), net tonnage (NT), gross tonnage (GT), draft, and so on
• Estimated date and time of arrival
• Estimated date and time of departure
• Cargo type and volume
• Cargo operations specified, that is, loading or discharging

Notice of Arrival—72 Hours Prior to Ship’s Arrival At least 72 hours prior to the ship’s arrival at port, the ship’s operators, master, or agent should submit to the port, a Notice of Arrival, with particulars that pertain to the ship and its managers, cargo type and quantity, any operational information, and so on.

Special Provisions for “Cargoes of Particular Hazard”

Ships carrying cargoes of particular hazard should comply with the customs and exercise codes of Trinidad and Tobago.

The ship-owners or operators or agents should forward an Advance Notice of Arrival to the Trinidad and Tobago Coast Guard under copy to the port. As stipulated, ports should install light alarms at designated areas, which, in case of an emergency, are activated by the responsible operator.

Cargo Manifest

The cargo manifest with all cargo information should be produced, prepared, and duly approved by the ship-owners, masters, or agents, in line with the port requirements. It should be submitted to the port operators prior to the ship’s arrival. A bank guarantee or other documentation pertaining to the payment of port expenses or disbursements should be readily available. After the completion of cargo operations, a statement reflecting any and all modifications of the manifest should be prepared and sent to the port.

Services during the Ship’s Arrival

Pilotage Services

The use of pilots is mandatory in certain ports, terminals, canals, and inland waterways with tidal fluctuations, draft restrictions, heavy traffic, or hazardous waterbeds owing to reefs, and so on. The idea here is to avoid a ship’s hydrodynamic problems (e.g., the suction effect caused by the ship’s maneuvering in restricted water) or lack of visibility, which may lead to the ship’s grounding, allusion, or collision.

Berthing/Unberthing, Mooring/Unmooring, and Anchoring Operations

The ship’s maneuvering for berthing/unberthing and its mooring/ unmooring and anchoring entail ship-to-port collaboration and navigational proficiency by everyone involved, including tugs, mooring teams, and rope runners, among others. The ports’ policies typically stipulate that the berthing operations are on a first come, first served sequence, yet special provisions can be made for different reasons. While ports aim for high berth occupancy rates, delays and traffic are common problems. The berthing process may vary depending on the weather conditions, as well as the docks, berths, or the terminals’ characteristics. For safety reasons, appropriate berthing is mandatory in order for ships to commence their cargo operations.

Ship Operations at the Berth/Terminal

After the ship has met the navigational and documentation prerequisites, the operations stage involves the vessel’s actual purpose of visiting the port, which may include loading, unloading, bunkering, victualing, and other operations. This is a critical point for the performance of the port, the ship, and the shippers. The port workers ensure holds’ or tanks’ cleaning, loading and discharging the cargo, cargo handling and stowage are completed in the shortest possible time.

REQUIREMENTS

You have been assigned to assist Sean in developing the documents for his operational planning report. Complete the following:

1. Compute the old and new productivity for the processing of containers at the PPOS. [10 marks]
2. Develop an AON Diagram for the RO-RO Project [2 marks]
1. State the critical path [2 mark]
2. State the ES, EF, LS, LF [2 marks]
3. State the Slack time [2 marks]
4. Sean wants an expected time and variance for Activity B (service Paramax Quay Crane, where a = 8 weeks; m = 9 weeks; b = 10 weeks [2 marks]
3. Sean wants:
1. 3 month moving average forecast for shipping unloading and uploading; [5 marks]
2. Suggest the time horizon classification of forecasting at the PPOS; and [2 marks]
3. 4 uses of the forecasts at the PPOS.[8 marks]
4. What are the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats that are relevant to the strategy of the PPOS? [8 marks]
5. Now that the PPOS has decided to use the RO-RO berth, outline a new value chain model. [5 marks]
6. How can the PPOS use the NAVIS System to increase customer efficiency? [4 marks]
7. Prepare a Process Chain Network (PCN) for the PPOS using the details from the case study. [5 marks]
8. Create a Layout Strategy of the PPOS ship yard, highlighting cost of layout, staffing and balancing work cells [15 marks]
9. Outline a Quality management strategy (i.e. TQM, JIT, Six Sigma etc.) [15 marks] RUBRIC