Stochastic assessment of the material haulage efficiency in the earthmoving industry

The match factor is a criterion that measures efficiency of truck and loader compatibility used in the construction industry. This factor is a function of number of trucks and loaders, truck cycle time, and loader loading time. However, these parameters are uncertain in nature because of equipment failures, climate, road conditions, and operator habits. Fluctuations in the match factor result in truck queues or idle loaders waiting, which lead to production losses or opportunity costs. In this paper, a stochastic approach is proposed to assess the risks associated with uncertain parameters in the match-factor equation. The approach is based on coupling of Markov-chain Monte Carlo simulations for a number of available equipment and Ordinary Monte Carlo simulations for loader loading and truck cycle times. Thus, the variations in the match factor over a time series are quantified in such a way as to determine equipment capacity utilization and maintenance management strategy. A case study has been carried out and the results show that the proposed approach can be used as a tool to assist production planning of material handling in the construction industry.