Incorporate LEAN and Green Concepts to Enhance the Productivity of Transshipment Terminal Operations

Sea freight transportation plays a vital role in the global supply chain. Sri Lanka is located closer to one of the world busiest sea routes: east to west. Since Sri Lanka is located in the Southern tip of the Indian sub-continent, its sea ports could play a pivotal role in transhipment activities of the South Asian region. Presently, Sri Lanka is developing its two of the main sea ports to cater the regional demands. However, still it has not concerned to enhance the productivity of the transhipment operations in detail. This study aims to enhance the transhipment productivity by considering different options using modelling and simulation techniques. The main strategies tested in this study are LEAN and Green concepts towards overall operations. Commercially available simulation package, Flexsim is used for modelling and simulating port operations. The results reveal that incorporating LEAN and green concepts along with multi model transportation strategies between main ports will enhance the overall productivity of the transhipment operations.