Research Project “Flexiking” Launched in Nuremberg

A consortium led by TriCon Container-Terminal Nürnberg GmbH is developing a flexible and collaborative time slot booking system for efficient cargo handling in intermodal terminals in the hinterland as part of a research project named “Flexiking.” A content workshop has now established the specific goals and methodologies.

(Nuremberg) The climate goals of the federal government can only be achieved if freight transport is largely shifted from road to rail and waterway transport. “The number of terminals needed for this shift is hardly increasing, so existing capacities must be utilized much more efficiently,” explains TriCon Managing Director Peter Schreyer. With Flexiking, the aim is to present “a coherent concept that meets the needs of all stakeholders.”

The project, funded by the Federal Ministry for Digital and Transport (BMDV), started on July 1 and is limited to three years. Project partners include cargo support Service GmbH, the Fraunhofer Center for Maritime Logistics and Services CML, the Institute for Maritime Logistics of the Technical University of Hamburg MLS, the digital gate processing and slot management platform Conroo, and the Study Society for Combined Transport e.V. (SGKV).

Projects that contribute to the development or adaptation of innovative technologies in German seaports and inland ports as hubs for national and international goods exchange are being funded. The focus is on cargo handling, passenger services, and the inflow and outflow of goods in the port. This is where Flexiking comes in: it is about continuously adjusting the processing time slots for trucks through flexible artificial intelligence.

The goal of the project is a demonstrator that also considers the requirements of smaller trimodal and bimodal terminals in seaport hinterland traffic. Based on this, TriCon, cargo support, and Conroo aim to develop a market-ready product.

High Variability in Load

Cargo handling between rail, inland vessels, and trucks occurs at ports and intermodal terminals distributed throughout Germany and Europe. Currently, significant fluctuations in load can often be observed throughout the day. This is partly due to peaks in truck arrivals or delays in train and ship arrivals. Consequently, there are longer waiting times for trucks in and in front of the terminal when truck arrivals overlap with high utilization of rail and ship handling.

To improve the flow design, more and more terminals are introducing time slot booking systems (ZFBS) to smooth out load peaks. Terminal operators set time slots during which transport companies can deliver and pick up loading units. However, the introduced ZFBS primarily smooths the load from the terminal’s perspective. For transport companies, they lead to increased complexity in transport planning and thus to a shift of inefficiencies among the stakeholders.

Framework Conditions are Continuously Considered

The goal of Flexiking is to develop a flexible and collaborative ZFBS. This concept is flexible in that it continuously considers the respective framework conditions when providing processing time slots at the handling point over time, thereby unlocking more or fewer time slots, removing unbooked time slots from the system, or adjusting the length of the time slots.

The concept is collaborative in that it provides a mechanism for both parties to renegotiate previously assigned time slots. The collaborative system is intended to incorporate the interests and degrees of freedom of both the terminal and the transport companies and enable a dynamic adjustment of time slot bookings in response to changed framework conditions through mutual rescheduling of time slots.

Solution Approach

The flexible and collaborative ZFBS encompasses two areas of action. On the one hand, there is an intelligent multi-agent system that ensures the collaborative negotiation of time slots while effectively balancing the interests of both sides. On the other hand, there is a dynamic ZFBS that not only allocates time slots but also dynamically determines, releases, or blocks their length, number, and distribution according to the expected utilization of the terminal. Furthermore, Flexiking aims to include the IT systems used to control, monitor, and optimize processes at the handling point.

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