Health interventions often do not reach blue-collar workers. Citizen science engages target groups in the design and execution of health interventions, but has not yet been applied in an occupational setting. This preliminary study determines barriers and facilitators and feasible elements for citizen science to improve the health of blue-collar workers. The study was conducted in a terminal and construction company by performing semi-structured interviews and focus groups with employees, company management and experts. Interviews and focus groups were analyzed using thematic content analysis and the elements were pilot tested. Workers considered work pressure, work location and several personal factors as barriers for citizen science at the worksite, and (lack of) social support and (negative) social culture both as barriers and facilitators. Citizen science to improve health at the worksite may include three elements: (1) knowledge and skills, (2) social support and social culture, and (3) awareness about lifestyle behaviors. Strategies to implement these elements may be company specific. This study provides relevant indications on feasible elements and strategies for citizen science to improve health at the worksite. Further studies on the feasibility of citizen science in other settings, including a larger and more heterogeneous sample of blue-collar workers, are necessary.
Landside operations in air cargo terminals consist of many freight forwarders (FFWs) delivering and picking up cargo at the capacity-constrained loading docks at the airport's ground handlers' (GHs) facilities. To improve the operations of the terminal and take advantage of their geographical proximity a small set of FFWs can build a coalition to consolidate stochastically-arriving shipments and share truck fleet capacity while other FFWs continue bringing cargo to the terminal in a non-cooperative manner. Results from a detailed discrete-event simulation model of the cargo landside operations in Amsterdam Aiport showed that all operational policies had trade-offs in terms of the average shipment cycle time of coalition FFWs, the average shipment cycle time of non-coalition FFWs, and the total distance traveled by the coalition fleet, suggesting that horizontal cooperation in this context was not always beneficial, contrary to what previous studies on horizontal cooperation have found. Since dock capacity constitutes a significant constraint on operations in air cargo hubs, this paper also investigates the effect of dock capacity utilization and horizontal cooperation on the performance of consolidation policies implemented by the coalition. Thus, we built a general model of the air cargo terminal to analyze the effects caused by dock capacity utilization without the added complexity of landside operations at Amsterdam Airport to investigate whether the results hold for more general scenarios. Results from the general simulation model suggest that, in scenarios where dock and truck capacity become serious constraints, the average shipment cycle times of non-coalition FFWs are reduced at the expense of an increase in the cycle times of FFWs who constitute the coalition. A good balance among all the performance measures considered in this study is reached by following a policy that takes advantage of consolidating shipments based on individual visits to GH.
The capacity of the newly inaugurated airport terminal in Mexico City, opened in 2022, has sparked debates regarding its adequacy to accommodate future demand. To address this critical question, our study employs simulation-based analysis to assess the terminal's true potential. By simulating various scenarios, we aim to provide insights into its capacity to handle increasing passenger loads over the coming years and decades. Furthermore, our analysis identifies potential challenges and issues that may arise with the terminal's growth. This research seeks to offer valuable perspectives for stakeholders involved in the airport's planning and management, contributing to informed decisionmaking in ensuring efficient and sustainable aviation infrastructure.
MULTIFILE
Het project DALLAS onderzoekt de meerwaarde van intelligente dolly's in de behandeling van container transport, binnen een terminal omgeving. Een dolly is een voertuig dat gebruikt wordt voor koppeling van vrachtwagen en oplegger. Vaak zijn die dolly's conventioneel en dienen ze alleen voor de verbinding. Een intelligente dolly kan zelf aandrijven (per wiel), remmen, en sturen, Daarmee biedt het potentieel voordelen t.a.v. doorlooptijd, kosten, veiligheid, service en duurzaamheid. Het gaat om een eerste fase (voorstudie) als voorbereiding op een vervolgproject waarin een prototype wordt voorzien ter validatie van de praktische haalbaarheid. Het voorstel tot een vervolgproject is resultaat van dit RAAK-KIEM project. Deze fase resulteert in het voorstel tot een vervolgproject DALLAS ll. De analyse zal gericht zijn op verkenning t.a.v. haalbare kostenbesparing, tijdswinst, capaciteitsbenutting en logistieke stroom, flexibiliteit, serviceniveau, naast maatschappelijke incentives als hogere veiligheid en lagere emissies. Gebruik van dolly's voor voertuigcombinaties leidt tot eisen aan de besturing en eigen aandrijving (per wiel, naast intelligente remaansturing) om te komen tot acceptabele (wettelijk bepaalde) manoeuvreerbaarheid en stabiliteit. De performance dient dus beheersbaar te worden beïnvloed. Deze aspecten worden ook in de studie meegenomen. DALLAS benadert de haalbaarheid vanuit een logistieke context en vanuit het technische ontwerp, met steeds aandacht voor performance eisen (KPl's, technische ontwikkelingen, representatieve logistieke gebruikscondities), het ontwerp (dolly, logistieke proces), validatie (vooral in interactie met de markt), en de bijdrage aan het beoogde demonstrator projectvoorstel (DALLAS-Il). Binnen DALLAS zal gebruik worden gemaakt van een testomgeving op schaal, eerder ontwikkeld door de Hogeschool van Arnhem en Nijmegen in nauwe samenwerking met de TU/e, Juist die koppeling van techniek met de logistieke context wordt door het bedrijfsleven gewaardeerd, omdat dat vaak ontbreekt.
Economic and environmental sustainability are the two main drivers behind today’s logistics innovation. On the one hand, Industry 4.0 technologies are leading towards self-organizing logistics by enabling autonomous vehicles, which can significantly make logistics transport efficient. Detailed impact analysis of autonomous vehicles in repetitive, short-distance inter-hub transport in logistics hubs like XL Business park is presently being investigated in KIEM project STEERS. On the other hand, the zero-emission technology (such as battery electric) can complement the autonomous logistics transport in making such a logistics hub climate-neutral. In such a scenario, an automatic vehicle charging environment (i.e., charging infrastructure and energy supply) for autonomous electric vehicles will play a crucial role in maximizing the overall operational efficiency and sustainability by reducing the average idle time of both vehicles and charging infrastructure. The project INGENIOUS explores an innovative idea for presenting a sustainable and environment-friendly solution for meeting the energy demand and supply for autonomous electric vehicles in a logistics hub. It will develop and propose an intelligent charging environment for operating autonomous electric vehicles in XL Business park by considering its real-life settings and operational demand. The project combines the knowledge of education and research institutes (Hogeschool van Arnhem en Nijmegen and The University of Twente), industry partners (HyET Solar Netherlands BV, Distribute, Bolk Container Transport and Combi Terminal Twente), and public institutes (XL Business Park, Port of Twente, Regio Twente and Industriepark Kleefse Waard). The project results will form a sound basis for developing a real-life demonstrator in the XL Business park in the subsequent RAAK Pro SAVED project. A detailed case study for Industriepark Kleefse Waard will also be carried out to showcase the broader applicability of the INGENIOUS concept.
An efficient and sustainable logistics process is essential for logistics companies to remain competitive and to manage the dynamic demands and service requirements. Specifically, the first- and last-mile hub-to-hub (inter) logistics is one of the most difficult operations to manage due to low volumes, repetitive operation and short-distance transport, and relatively high waiting times. With the advancements in Industry 4.0 technologies (Internet of Things, Big Data, Cloud computing, Artificial Intelligence), the consortium partners expect that the intelligent and connected technology is a viable solution to improve operational efficiency, coordination, and sustainability of this inter-hub logistics. Despite the promising potential, the impact of technology on inter- and intra-hub (inside hub) logistics operations (such as transportation, communication, and planning) is not well-established. The focus of STEERS is to explore the real-life challenges associated with the logistics operation in a small-to-medium size logistics hub and investigate the potential of intelligent and connected technology to address such challenges. This project will investigate the requirements for the application of automated vehicles in inter-hub transportation and simultaneously explore the potential of intelligent inter-hub corridors. Additionally, inter-hub communications will also provide the opportunity to explore their potential impact on the planning and coordination of intra-hub activities, with an explicit focus on the changing role of human planners. It combines the knowledge of education and research institutes (Hogeschool van Arnhem en Nijmegen, The University of Twente and Hogeschool Rotterdam), logistics industry partners (Bolk Container Transport and Combi Terminal Twente) and public institutes (XL Business Park, Port of Twente and Regio Twente). The insights obtained in this exploratory study will serve as a foundation for the follow-up RAAK-PRO project, in which real-world demonstrators will be developed and tested inside XL Business Park.
