Improved pilot fatigue compliance
for major bulk material port
Type
Marine Pilot Scheduling
Module
Strategic
Product
The Customer
One of Australia’s major bulk material ports receives over 5,000 vessels annually, contributes billions of dollars to the Australian economy and supports thousands of businesses and jobs.
The Problem
Specialised marine pilots are required to bring trade ships safely in and out of port. Creating rosters that minimise fatigue whilst adhering to planning rules to ensure safe operations is a complex and time consuming process. The client wanted to ensure that pilot availability would not become a key constraint in their operations and ensure that fatigue levels are systematically controlled.
The Challenges
- Multiple complex rostering rules and constraints such as limits to night work, activity within shifts and rest periods
- Pilot licenses impacting shift lengths and vessel movement capability
- High volume of vessel movements each day
- Large pilot cohort with complex fatigue management strategies
The Solution
Polymathian deployed SOLO, an online decision support tool based on exact mathematical optimisation techniques. The tool can produce optimal pilot rosters that simultaneously adhere to all rostering rules and minimise fatigue at the touch of a button. The results include:
- Increased conformance to planning rules
- Encoding of business rules to minimise key-man risk
- A reduction in the overall fatigue of the pilot cohort
- A reduction in impractical pilot-movement allocations
- Increased understanding of the impact of planning rules on patterns in rosters
The Value
Flexible
Safety
