Development of a simulation model of the activities of a transport and forwarding enterprise in the organization of international road cargo transportation

Abstract

The object of this study is the process of planning the work of a transport and forwarding company when serving different categories of customers who need organizational support for the delivery of goods by road transport in international traffic. The solved problem is due to the need to devise recommendations for organizing the work of forwarders when interacting with customers of transport and forwarding services that export or import different categories of cargo. A simulation model of the transport and forwarding company’s work in customer service was developed and implemented in the GPSS World simulation automation package. The model provides for the optimization of organizational and management processes in cooperation with customers of transport and forwarding services. When developing the model, the duration of the types of work in which freight forwarders are involved in the export and import of goods by road transport was taken into account. The model also predicts the probability of errors in the forwarder’s work and the duration of their elimination. The application of the developed model in practice will enable the owners of transport and forwarding companies to plan the full-time number of forwarders and the duration of service provision under different conditions of interaction with customers. The simulation results reflect the performance indicators of the enterprise in serving different categories of customers. This will make it possible to optimize the work of the enterprise by planning personnel support. At the same time, the duration of transport and forwarding services will be reduced by 10–15 %, the capacity of the enterprise will increase by 6–11 %, and the reliability of service provision will increase by 8–14 %