Author(s)

Yang-Chi Chang & Chin-Chuan Chen

Abstract

The oil barge operation in Kaohsiung harbor is a typical system of resources allocation problems in a complex and dynamic environment. Such system is far more difficult to deal with than a static and deterministic system, and often depends on experienced human experts for the oil barge assignment. This research has developed an integrated system for assessing the overall performance of such port operation. Both expert system and system simulation techniques are applied in this analysis. The role of the expert system is to translate the current heuristic of assignment into a rule-based knowledge for the human-like reasoning. To further evaluate the schedule arranged by the expert system, the system simulation model of the oil barge operation has been formulated using the software AweSimR. This model is capable of quantifying the service quality under various assignment scenarios to support the management of the oil barge operation. With the help of such an integrated system, it is expected to facilitate the evaluation of the oil barge operation in terms of efficient resources allocation in Kaohsiung harbor. 1 Introduction Kaohsiung Harbor, located at the southwest coast of Taiwan, is the largest international port in Taiwan, and the fourth largest container-handling harbor in the world. Excellent geography and port environment contribute to its prosperity. It is located right between the Taiwan Straits and the Bashi Straits, and it has a long and narrow shoal as her natural barrier. The Taiwanese government is planning to make Taiwan a HUB port in the Asian Pacific area. The Port of Kaohsiung will be the best candidate for the trans-shipment center. According to Statistics of 2001, Kaohsiung Harbor Bureau (KHB), the number of inbound vessels has increased 40.1% from 12,888 in 1993 to 18,162 in 2001. In light of this trend, it is necessary to consider the demand for development of the entire port in advance. As part of this, the

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