Title: The impact of information sharing on installation processes of offshore wind farms - process modelling and simulation-based analysis

Authors: Thies Beinke; Moritz Quandt; Abderrahim Ait-Alla; Michael Freitag

Addresses: BIBA – Bremer Institut für Produktion und Logistik GmbH, University of Bremen, Hochschulring 20, 28359 Bremen, Germany ' BIBA – Bremer Institut für Produktion und Logistik GmbH, University of Bremen, Hochschulring 20, 28359 Bremen, Germany ' BIBA – Bremer Institut für Produktion und Logistik GmbH, University of Bremen, Hochschulring 20, 28359 Bremen, Germany ' BIBA – Bremer Institut für Produktion und Logistik GmbH, University of Bremen, Hochschulring 20, 28359 Bremen, Germany; Faculty of Production Engineering, University of Bremen, Badgasteiner Straße 1, 28359 Bremen, Germany

Abstract: The installation of offshore wind energy turbines is accompanied by great challenges arising from the dynamic environment, which influences logistics processes. Communication plays a major role for cost-efficient installation processes, due to the coordination needed between different partners involved in the offshore wind energy supply chain. A detailed process analysis revealed the importance of shared information about weather conditions, storage capacities and vessel availabilities. By applying a simulation study, which evaluates eight information sharing scenarios, the influence of the following execution time-related performance measures is investigated: average time in manufacturer storage, average time in port, total installation time and average vessel usage time. As a result, the simulation study verifies that sharing information between supply chain partners can contribute to more efficient logistics processes. However, the achievable prediction accuracy and the interdependencies between the information items have a major influence on the quality of results.

Keywords: process analysis; information sharing; simulation study; offshore wind energy; OWE; installation process.

DOI: 10.1504/IJSTL.2020.105872

International Journal of Shipping and Transport Logistics, 2020 Vol.12 No.1/2, pp.117 - 145

Accepted: 18 May 2019
Published online: 16 Mar 2020 *

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