Clustering Techniques for Barge to Boat Assignment

Authors

  • Dimitrios Drosos UPS Supply Chain Solutions
  • Gail W DePuy Department of Industrial Engineering, University of Louisville
  • Don G Taylor Grado Department of Industrial and Systems Engineering, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University
  • Todd C Whyte American Commercial Barge Line

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.23055/ijietap.2009.16.2.255

Keywords:

Transportation, Scheduling, Barge, Freight Transport

Abstract

This paper focuses on the development of clustering methods to determine effective assignments of barges to tow boats for intra-river transport.  Barges are clustered such that dwell time, handling, and transit are minimized while constraints associated with pick-up and delivery requirements, physical tow sizes, and travel time are considered.  The results from this paper indicate that ‘complete linkage’ and ‘partitioning around medoids’ clustering methods outperform the other grouping models considered in terms of maximizing boat utilization.

Author Biographies

Dimitrios Drosos, UPS Supply Chain Solutions

Gail W DePuy, Department of Industrial Engineering, University of Louisville

Gail W. DePuy, Ph.D., P.E. is a Professor of Industrial Engineering at the University of Louisville in Louisville, Kentucky.  Her research focus lies in the areas of production planning, process planning, and operations research.  She received her Ph.D. in Industrial and Systems Engineering from The Georgia Institute of Technology, her M.S. in Industrial and Operations Research from Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, and her B.S. in Industrial Engineering from North Carolina State University.  Dr. DePuy has authored over 80 technical papers and has served as Principal Investigator or Co-Principal Investigator on over 1.3 million dollars of funded research. Dr. DePuy is a professional engineer and a member of the Institute of Industrial Engineers, Institute of Operations Research and Management Science, and American Society for Engineering Education.

Don G Taylor, Grado Department of Industrial and Systems Engineering, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University

G. Don Taylor, Ph.D., P.E. is the Department Head and Charles O. Gordon Professor of the Grado Department of Industrial and Systems Engineering at Virginia Tech.  He previously held the Duthie Chair in Engineering Logistics and was Director of the Center for Engineering Logistics and Distribution at the University of Louisville.  Prior to that, he was the Arkansas Director of The Logistics Institute and a full Professor at the University of Arkansas.  He has held a visiting position at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute and industry positions at Texas Instruments and Digital Equipment Corporation.  His research and teaching interests are in engineering logistics, with a specific interest in transportation logistics in the truckload trucking and barge transportation industries.  He has served as PI or Co-PI on 70 funded research projects and has authored more than 200 technical publications including 10 edited books and approximately 70 journal articles or book chapters.  Dr. Taylor is a Fellow of the Institute of Industrial Engineers.

Todd C Whyte, American Commercial Barge Line

Todd Whyte, Ph.D., is currently Vice President of Safety and Operational Development at American Commercial Lines, Inc.  During his tenure at ACL he has served in a variety of operating roles including Vice President Operations and Vice President of Logistic Services.  Additionally he has provided modeling and analytic support for the operating groups and co-authored several papers on improved planning and fleet layout.  Prior to joining ACL, he provided system and industrial engineering consulting services to service and manufacturing industries.  Dr. Whyte has served as an Adjunct Professor of Industrial Engineering at the J.B.Speed Scientific School, University of Louisville since August 1999.

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Published

2022-03-14

How to Cite

Drosos, D., DePuy, G. W., Taylor, D. G., & Whyte, T. C. (2022). Clustering Techniques for Barge to Boat Assignment. International Journal of Industrial Engineering: Theory, Applications and Practice, 16(2), 71–81. https://doi.org/10.23055/ijietap.2009.16.2.255

Issue

Vol. 16 No. 2 (2009)

Section

Operation Research

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