Dynamic Consolidation

中圖分類號：U1 文獻標識碼：A 文章編號：1008-925X(2012)10-0088-02

1Introduction

The use of trains in long-distance transportation remains far behind the general expectations although a lot of attention is paid to the transportation mode. Besides complaints about the possible inflexibility of the service providers， there are some more serious drawbacks， e.g. the non-transparent regulations of freight transport by rail. Moreover， the developments show that the transport volume between Germany and Eastern Europe has increased dramatically during the last years. However， in contrast with the other means of transportation， the freight railway industry has remained nearly constant in volume and decreased percentages.

Furthermore， it can also help to administrate terminal-to-terminal connections and justify possible fluctuation of demand and supply and short-term applications for modifications. Establishment of the train connections taking into account the pre- and post-rail hauls: To increase efficiency and flexibility intermodal transport has to be optimized.

2Project Goals

The project focuses on the improvement at the train transportation mode. Therefore， the aim of the project DynKo is related to the enhancement of the efficiency for the real-time organization of the freight transport， in order to raise the competitiveness of particular companies. The goals of the project are the following:

* Relocation of the high volumes to the rail transportation mode

* Improvement of the basic conditions of the rail freight

* Development of new commercial models for using dynamic train capacity

* Development of decision support systems (DSS)

* Increasing the transparency for the use of routes (Information， sensor-based)

3 The Present Results of Dynko

In the first and two stages of the project， analysis of general conditions for the planning instrument， a comprehensive theoretical research with a focus on Project logistics has been spread. Because the geographic scope of the project lies in Eastern Europe and the Far East， the examination of the railway network is correspondingly confined to on those areas. In these two stages， some typical and main routes in the network， e.g. from Duisburg to Moscow or to Romania ， were chosen according to the current market analysis that was also recognized by project partners. In those areas， suppliers and customers are active with freight by rail.

The analysis of the general conditions in the regions and countries along the main routes were divided into four aspects: economic， technical and legal conditions， in addition with the possible disturbance variables in the transport network. These four aspects will be discussed in detail as follows:

a. Economic Conditions

In the practice， it is rare to find a direct railway connection between the supplier and the customer (for door-to-door service) or terminals (for terminal-to-terminal service). As a result， a further link to the receivers will be arranged as soon as the cargo train arrives at the railway station. Depending on the current situation of the route (e.g. there is no direct railway linkage between the station and the customer); there are alternative means of transport， e.g. trucks which are the most popular transport substitution in the practice. Due to their huge territorial coverage and flexibility， trucks are widely used in the collection and delivery. Therefore， the costs of operating of the railway freight generally consist of three parts: Costs of pre-rail haul， rail hauls and post-rail hauls. This structure of costs for railway freight with pre- and post-haul can be described. b. Technical Conditions

As mentioned earlier DynKo concentrates on the transport of oversized and heavy hauls by rail (of project logistics). According to the definition of heavy hauls on railway by International Heavy Hauls Association (IHHA)， heavy machinery railway freight should meet at least two of the following requirements:

* Unit or combined trains of at least 5 000 metric tons;

* Revenue freight of at least 20 million gross tons per year over a given line haul segment comprising at least 150 km in length;

* Axle loadings of 25 tons or more

c. Legal Conditions

Because the cross-border issues of cargo railway are studied within the project， a common licence for the cargo train in different regions and countries plays a vital role so that the efficiency of rail freight could be increased. Within European Union (EU)， all the member countries obey the uniform rules that the Intergovernmental Organization for International Carriage by Rail (OTIF) developed for the carriage of freight (CIM) and passengers (CIV). Some countries in Eastern Europe and Asia， take part in other organizations of international railway carriage， e.g. Russia and Kazakhstan are the member states of Organization for Cooperation of Railways (OSShD). In practice， there is always cooperation between these organizations， i.e. the countries. e.g. Poland， acknowledge both systems of law for rail， e.g. German cargo trains to Poland need not to apply for an additional operating licence for the train to Poland. Besides the operating licence， a possible special licence for regularly or contemplating operating the heavy hauls are also considered， particularly along the intensively studied railway routes within the project.

d. Possible Disturbance Variables

In the practice， there are countless elements that can positively or negatively influence the expected operating process of railway freight. Both kinds of impact on the logistic process can lead to the fluctuation in the supply chain. One of the typical affects is the Bullwhip-Effect which directly causes an increase on reasonable safety stock. A case that was provided by the main project partner vividly shows how the unexpected variables disturbed the normal operation:

A company in Romania consigned the project partner to transport 25 framework packages that were divided into three groups to be sent out respectively. However， the transport delayed for almost 10 days which was caused by the non-transparent rules of the consignee， the 1 license for the transport at the beginning， the 1 consulting for the railway carriage， etc.

This case study showed the complexity of organization and operation of cargo by rail. To achieve the best results of the disposition instrument as possible， all the possible disturbance factors should be considered and possibly quantized in the DSS according to their influence on the transport chain.

4 Summary

Within project DynKo， the circumstances for the disposition tool， DSS， are analyzed. Furthermore， the market in Eastern Europe of freight transport by rail is also considered in the DSS as an example for the applicability of the tool with customer- and costs-oriented aspects. Some essential conclusions can be derived from the results of the report regarding relevance with project logistics especially heavy freight transport for the DynKo project. Firstly， the potential of cargo train in the future will increase if the legislative， technical and infrastructure problems are solved or improved. The development of the quality of combined transport terminals and the infrastructure in Eastern Europe has been identified. Another important issue is the harmonization of conditions between transport modes. Secondly， the cooperation between regions and countries， not only from the political but also from business perspective， will be strengthened. At last， a DSS will be applied for the integration of all the market participants， including transport entrepreneurs， government， suppliers and customers and also increase transparency of information along the supply chain.