Service Logistics

Impact of innovation in cross-dock facilities

The profitability of container transport continues to fall. Empty containers are often transported. The Dinalog R&D project Cargo Driven Intermodal Transportation focuses on the question of how goods could be moved through the supply chain more intelligently.

Logistics service provider for refrigerated systems Kloosterboer constantly innovates, for example in new designs for warehouses in which maritime and continental flows of goods are combined or warehouses with compact storage systems. According to Jasper Blees, the reason for Kloosterboer participating in this project is the Decision Support Tool developed for compact storage systems within warehouses.

Compact storage systems
“We want as little air as possible in our cubic meters and optimum use of the storage”, explains Blees. “Kloosterboer has developed compact storage systems before. They are competitive, reduce the carbon footprint and deliver higher value than traditional storage methods. But through the countless variables, assessing systems is very time-consuming. With the Rotterdam School of Management tool, we can quickly compare systems.”

A single standard
A number of variables have been singled out in the Excel VBA-tool. Blees: “The risk that we reach the wrong decision in the process and approach a project incorrectly or follow a fruitless route has been minimized. And as more variable sets are created, the calculation time for the system continues to fall.” Despite the established variables, Bless claims that the standard calculation model offers sufficient capacity for complicating factors and local differences.

Decision Support Tool
Thanks to the manual, other companies can take advantage of the Decision Support Tool too. The tool helps to evaluate and optimize compact storage systems. Kloosterboer uses the tool to compare investment and operational costs of systems. Based on the customer’s demands and limitations, he selects the most suitable system. Blees: “And as we can now recycle project-specific knowledge, we require fewer external consultants.”

Project partners:

Delft University of Technology, Eindhoven University of Technology, Erasmus University Rotterdam (Rotterdam School of Management), Port of Rotterdam, Kloosterboer, Visbeen Transportgroep

An interview with  

Jasper Blees, Logistics Engineer with Kloosterboer

For more information Sophie Zijp, zijp@dinalog.nl.

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