Selective Offload Capability Simulation (SOCS): An Analysis of High Density Storage Configurations
Abstract
Future sea bases, such as the Maritime Prepositioning Force (Future), will serve as key distribution nodes and must be able to sustain forces ashore and selectively offload supplies from storerooms quickly and efficiently. Current MPF ships maximize the available cargo storage onboard and have little ability to selectively offload supplies. To make selective offload a reality, MPF(F) requires lower stowage densities and new technologies to efficiently move items, especially for those supplies needed in direct support of forces ashore. The difficult questions are how dense and in what configurations MPF(F) storerooms can be packed, and how items should be retrieved to selectively offload supplies and provide acceptable response times. The authors analyze the trade-off between storage density and mean retrieval time in a dynamic environment for different storage densities and configurations in notional storerooms aboard a future sea base. They examine two demand scenarios and two different retrieval rules to determine how each storage configuration responds to retrieval requests over time. The results provide insight into the types of storeroom configurations that provide the best mean retrieval times and how a simple retrieval rule can significantly reduce mean retrieval time under certain demand conditions. (19 tables, 45 figures, 26 refs.)
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Sep 01, 2003
- Accession Number
- ADA418577
Entities
People
- Frank W. Futcher
Organizations
- Naval Postgraduate School