Selective offload capability simulation (SOCS) : an analysis of high-density storage configurations

• Main Author: Futcher, Frank W.
• Other Authors: Gue, Kevin R.
• Format: Others
• Published: Monterey, California. Naval Postgraduate School 2012
• Subjects: Stowage; Military supplies; Storage; Logistics; Selective Offload; Stowage and Retrieval; High-Density Stowage; Very High Density Storage Systems; Sea Basing; Storage Configurations; Storage Density; Sea-Based Logistics (SBL); Maritime Prepositioning Force (MPF) Future (MPF(F)); Sustainment; Sea Base; Automated Storage and Retrieval Systems (AS/RS)
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/10945/849

Approved for public release; distribution in unlimited. === 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 in order to selectively offload supplies and provide acceptable response time. We 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. We examine two demand scenarios and two different retrieval rules to determine how each storage configuration responds to retrieval requests over time. Our 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. === Lieutenant Commander, United States Navy