@Article{gambardella98a,
  author =	 {Luca Maria Gambardella and Andrea E. Rizzoli and
                  Marco Zaffalon},
 title =	 {Simulation and Planning of an Intermodal Container
                  Terminal},
  journal =	 {Simulation},
  year =	 1998,
  volume =	 71,
  pages =	 {107--116},
  abstract =	 {A decision support system for the management of an
                  intermodal container terminal is presented. Among
                  the problems to be solved, there are the spatial
                  allocation of containers on the terminal yard, the
                  allocation of resources and the scheduling of
                  operations in order to maximise a performance
                  function based on some economic indicators. These
                  problems are solved using techniques from
                  optimisation, like job-shop scheduling, genetic
                  algorithms or mixed-integer linear programming. At
                  the terminal, the same problems are usually solved
                  by the terminal manager, only using his/her
                  experience. The manager can trust computer generated
                  solutions only by validating them by means of a
                  simulation model of the terminal. Thus, the
                  simulation tool also becomes a means to introduce
                  new approaches into traditional settings. In the
                  present paper we focus on the resource allocation
                  problem. We describe our modules for the
                  optimisation of the allocation process and for the
                  simulation of the terminal. The former is based on
                  integer linear programming; the latter is a discrete
                  event simulation tool, based on the process-oriented
                  paradigm. The simulator provides a test bed for
                  checking the validity and the robustness of the
                  policy computed by the optimisation module. The case
                  study of the Contship La Spezia Container Terminal,
                  located in the Mediterranean Sea in Italy, is
                  examined. },
  cluster = 	 {748925380254050331},
  url = 	 {http://jmvidal.cse.sc.edu/library/gambardella98a.pdf}
}