SIMULAÇÃO COMPUTACIONAL NA ÁREA DE EXPEDIÇÃO FERROVIÁRIA DE UM TERMINAL PORTUÁRIO DE FERTILIZANTES

Abstract

The globalization has made it imperative to control and measure process variables and constantly seek better results. It is known that in order to maintain profitability at the desired level and obtain customer loyalty and increase, a continuous improvement in the service process is necessary. The article aimed to use computer simulation to portray the railway dispatch area of ​​a port terminal, a fertilizer logistics operator, located in Brazil, and to propose alternative scenarios. Thus, data of the operation were collected and analyzed in order to obtain results that aid in the decision making of the company. The results collected with 9.3 years of computer simulation were: average lead time of a batch in the system of 5.99 hours, 113,800 freight cars dispatched, 12,600 batches dispatched and longer average waiting times in the queue in the vacuum cleaning process, maneuvering process and loading process with 2.29 hours, 0.919 hours and 0.989 hours, respectively. Based on the results obtained, two different scenarios were proposed: strict arrival rate of fertilizer lots from the railway shipment plant (Scenario 1) and redistribution of the percentage of wagons loaded with potassium chloride and urea (Scenario 2). In the comparison of the two proposed scenarios, Scenario 1 returned lower average queue times and more freight shipped and Scenario 2 had the lowest average lead time of a lot in the system.