QUAY CRANE SCHEDULING

PROBLEM IN PORT
CONTAINER TERMINAL
Wenjuan Zhao, Xiaolei Ma
What is QC Scheduling Problem
 Determine the sequence of discharging and
loading operations in a ship by each Quay Crane
and the time schedule for the operation.
Major Input: Ship Stowage Plan
Ship bay
Deck

Hatch

Hold
Problem characteristics

 Similar to m-parallel machine problem

 Different from it with unique characteristics

 Precedence relationships among tasks
 Tasks on deck and in hold from the same bay

 Certain tasks cannot be performed simultaneously

 Cranes could not cross with each other
Problem inputs

 Ship stowage plan (with all constraints)

 Time required to carry each task

 Crane travel time between different tasks

 Crane ready time

Problem Notations
 Indices
i, j Tasks to be performed
k QCs where k  1,..., K .
 Problem Data
pi The time required to perform task i
rk The earliest available time of QC
li The location of task (expressed by the ship bay number)
lk0 The starting position of QC
lkT The final position of QC k
tij The travel time of a QC from location ( li ) of task i to
location ( l j ) of task j
Problem Notations
 Sets of indices
 The set of all tasks
 The set of pairs of tasks not be performed simultaneously
 The set of ordered pairs of with precedence relationship
 Decision variables
X ijk 1 if crane k performs task j right after task i; 0 otherwise
Yk The completion time of QC k
Di The completion time of task i
Z ij 1 if task j starts later than the completion time of task i; 0
W Time at which all tasks are completed
 Problem Formulation
K

Minimize 1W   2  Yk
k 1
Subject to:
Yk  W k  1,..., K , (1) Define makespan

X
j
k
0j  1 k  1,...K , (2) Start from task 0

X
j
k
iT  1 k  1,...K , (3) End at task T

 X
k i
k
ij  1 j , (4) Each task assigned to one QC

 ij  ji  0 i  , k  1,...K , (5) Flow balance

X
j
k
 X k

Di  tij  p j  Dj  M (1  X ijk ) i, j , k  1,..., K , (6) Time constraint

Di  p j  D j (i, j )  , (7) Precedence constraint
 Problem Formulation
Di  Dj  p j  M (1  Zij ) i, j , (8) Define Zij

Zij  Z ji  1 (i, j )  , (9) Non-simultaneous constraint

k k

 X   X
v 1 u
v
uj
v 1 u
v
ui  M(Zij +Z ji ) i, j  , li  l j , k  1,...K , (10) Non-interference

Dj  t kjT  Yk  M (1  X kjT ) j , k  1,..., K , (11) QC completion time

rk  Dj  t0k j  p j  M (1  X 0k j ) j , k  1,..., K , (12) QC starting time

X ijk , Zij  0 or 1 i, j , k  1,..., K , (13) Binary variables

Yk , Di  0 i ,k  1,..., K , (14) Non-negative

Reference:
(1) Kim, K.H., Park, Y.M., 2004. A crane scheduling method
for port container terminals. European Journal of
Operation Research 156, 752–768.

(2) Lee, D.H., Wang H.Q., Miao L.X., 2008. Quay crane
scheduling with non-interference constraints in port container
terminals. Transportation Research Part E 44, 124–135.