A comparison of seaport logistics systems: Environmental, safety and economic factors that affect the decisions in buying Ro/Ro logistics systems

Abstract

The purpose of this thesis is to compare two diverse sea port logistics systems in three different scenarios. The decision-making process will also be included via interviews that were made for the study. Three users of either of the products were asked about their opinion regarding the products and what their decision-making process is based on. In Ro/Ro ports, there are multiple different solutions that can be used. The price differences for them are enormous but the extra costs that each system has can sometimes be forgotten while acquiring new solutions. One of the systems that is compared is the trailer system, and the other is the cassette system. The trailer system has multiple solutions depending on whether it is a Ro/Ro terminal or container terminal. The cassette system is the same in both cases. For the comparison, an excel model has been developed that helps the author in his calculations. The comparison was made with three made-up scenarios where different costs and revenues were calculated in order to see which system was more productive economically. In all three scenarios, the cassette system showed to be the better solution. However, if a company has an existing fleet of a system it might change the outcome of the calculations. In this thesis only totally new fleets were included, meaning that no existing fleet is existing in any scenario of any products. The study will help decision makers in their business by showing them how the two products compare to each other and also highlight their differences. The existing users’ experiences of the products could be beneficial when considering buying either of the products. The calculation model that was developed can also be used and with the help of that each company can obtain their own cost and productivity calculations to see which system is more efficient. The study is done through a mixture of qualitative research and artifact building and evaluation process. These methods suit this study, since the qualitative research gives depth and personal insight, while the artifact building and evaluation process make the calculations possible.