Eelco van Asperen (Center for Maritime Economics and Logistics, Erasmus University Rotterdam) successfully defended his thesis on Wednesday, November 18, 11.30 hours. His promoter is Prof.dr.ir. R. Dekker, Professor of Operations Research, Erasmus School of Economics, Erasmus University Rotterdam. Other members of the doctoral committee are Prof. dr. ir. U. Kaymak (Erasmus School of Economics, Erasmus University Rotterdam), Prof.dr. H. Haralambides (Center for Maritime Economics and Logistics, Erasmus University Rotterdam ) and Prof.dr. S. Voß (University of Hamburg).

 

In his dissertation, Eelco van Asperen deals with two central themes in port logistics, namely the coordination of transport arrivals with the distribution processes and the use of storage facilities and second, the uncertainty associated with the arrival time of ships with bulk chemicals and the impact on port logistics. In each part, simulation methods are used, for example to reduce unnecessary movements of containers in the situation of incomplete information.

 

He also presents the “floating stocks” distribution concept. In this concept, intermodal transport is used to deploy inventories in a supply chain in advance of retailer demand. The main drawback of intermodal transport is large transit times. This disadvantage is diminished by the “floating stocks” concept as it reduces the transit times. Consequently, it also influences the choice of a port.: van Asperen provides a quantitative interpretation of routing flexibility in port selection.

 

Van Asperen’ PhD research project is conducted within the Erasmus Doctoral Programme in Business & Management, organised by ERIM. The Erasmus Research Institute of Management (ERIM) is the joint research institute of Rotterdam School of Management, Erasmus University (RSM) and the Erasmus School of Economics (ESE) at Erasmus University Rotterdam.