Creswell 2009 pdf

When checking-in, a barcoded sticker containing required information (regarding, for example, flight details and the airline’s code) is generated and it is attached to each checked-in bag. Then, with the help of a conveyor, the luggage passes through the first X-ray screening station which requires 1 minute per piece to scan. This process uses a high-speed scanner. Approximately 60% of the incoming pieces are cleared through the first scanner and is passed on to the main conveyor for transport to the appropriate gate number (loading area). Rest of the luggage pieces are diverted to a five-step secondary screening process where three stations with two operators are engaged to determine if any of the bags contain suspicious objects. This process requires 3 minutes for each piece of luggage. Nearly 90% of the incoming pieces are cleared at the secondary screening stage. Remaining pieces are then routed to a sophisticated set-up of 35 fully automated detection-imaging systems, where enhanced imagery and high-tech tomography X-rays, are used for alarm resolution. This step requires 5 minutes per piece. After this step, these pieces are re-directed to the main conveyor. Cleared luggage from other airlines check-in counters also enter the main conveyor system at around 1000 pieces per minute. At the departure gate, a sorting machine scans the barcode of each piece of luggage on the main conveyor and routes them appropriately to the aircraft loading area. The routing process takes nearly 30 seconds for each bag, after which they are loaded on to one of the two trucks available to transport them to the aircraft loading area. Each truck can take up to 50 pieces of luggage per trip. Please refer to the attachment for the layout and dimensions of the baggage handling system.

Table 1: Resources assigned for the proposed Canberra terminal operations

Operations Resource units available Staff available Check-in 6 service desks 6 Security check 4 X-ray machines; 4 Body Scanners 4 Boarding 2 gate counters 3 As the consultant operations engineer hired by Happy Airways, you are required to conduct a comprehensive analysis of Happy Air’s ground operations at the proposed Canberra terminal and make recommendations on how to improve the process. This includes determining whether the current system can achieve the expected passenger throughput. As per the terms of reference (TOR) of your engagement, you are required to: (a) identify any process issues contributing to inefficiencies of the ground operations; and (b) develop and validate a suit of short-term and long-term recommendations to improve throughput. Further observations regarding the limitations of the current logistics system are welcome. In order to deliver on the above TOR requirements you will perform the following tasks: i. Map the airport operations at an appropriate level of detail so that it can be used as the basis for building a

simulation model, as well as to aid communication with relevant stakeholders.

ii. Build a simulation model accurately representing the ground operations at the proposed terminal.

iii. Run the simulation for a period of 1 week and generate appropriate results, including as a minimum: resources utilisation levels; process throughput; and waiting times.

iv. Use the knowledge and understanding of the logistic system and associated operations developed through the modelling exercise and more broadly in this course, along with simulation results, to investigate any logistics or operations issues such as process bottlenecks, underutilised resources and unwarranted waiting times.

v. Develop a set of suitable short-term and long term solutions to address the issues identified in step v and evaluate their merits. This may include modifying the initial simulation model to incorporate any improvements suggested and re-running it to generate a new set of results.