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Flight Allocation – Being well prepared

BEUMER Bag Flow, the modern SAC by BEUMER, comes with user-friendly planning tools for departure, arrival and batch building. All with the purpose of obtaining the most efficient utilisation of the system.

Being well prepared is the first step to achieving higher levels of punctuality in operating an airport hub that consists of daily changes. The solution comes with traditional Gantt-based departure and arrival planning which uses templates that are aligned with real-time flight information. Through the batch building planner, staff can define batches according to a wide range of criteria. In addition, the batch planner is able to automatically propose batches.

One of the benefits of Batch Building compared with Traditional planning, is that it allows for opening destinations earlier.

Batch Build

Bag Flow offers much more than simply being able to control the transport of bags to makeup positions.

By building and releasing the bags in batches, Bag Flow will actively enable operations to achieve much greater efficiency and utilisation of the baggage handling system, loading resources and the allocated manpower. The essence of batch building is to avoid bottlenecks by providing the possibility of a much leaner baggage make-up process (peak shaving), as well as improved handling accuracy and gentler handling of the bags (not to mention removing much of the physical strain from the handlers’ work life).

Batch building of bags allows the system to even out peaks through flexible use of makeup positions, to load batches of bags for upcoming departures rather than tying up one or more positions for a few flights. The peak shaving method can significantly improve the performance of the entire baggage handling system. The method has enough flexibility to also handle non-batched bags (such as short shipped, transfer and late bags), without compromising efficiency or loading rates.
Batch building systems can also optimise the filling rates of ULDs and dolly trains. By using volume measurements, actual information (such as aircraft type or ULD availability) and historical data when building the batches of bags, Bag Flow allocates each batch of bags to perfectly fit a loading unit, before being released to makeup positions. The baggage handler is presented with the right bags at the right time at the right place, simplifying the task to a point where there is no need for additional manual handling when loading: The feeding of bags has been designed by Bag Flow with the optimal loading and filling rate in mind.
Batch building also improves the use of the baggage handling equipment by:

Avoiding bottlenecks by providing the possibility of peak shaving.

Optimising the use of makeup positions and baggage handler resources due to shorter allocation times.

Handling more flights per loading/makeup position compared to conventional baggage operations.

Reducing the need for automatic or semi-automatic loading equipment – this equipment needs to only be installed at selected batch building positions.

Batch building also improves efficiency and accuracy through:

More effective use of baggage handler resources. Baggage handlers can focus on loading one full dolly or ULD at one loading position instead of having to waste time shifting between different loading positions and different ULDs.

Reduced manual planning effort. Bag Flow will automatically create batches for each departure flight, based on batch creation rules. If the bag data or batch rules change, the batch profiles will automatically be updated.

Improved accuracy in baggage reconciliation with less manual effort.

An up-to-date departure planning is essential to ensure that the right bag is at the right place at the right time. Leveraging the planning efforts with auto planning features ensures efficient bag flow and optimal high utilisation of available destinations.

Maximise utilisation and efficiency

Critical to making the best use of available destinations and generating efficient bag flows is finding a balance between peak shaving through batch building and handling of on demand bags. Having overviews in Gantt charts, which are supported by auto-planning features in real time, is key to helping operations make excellent departure planning. These charts not only assist operations but also reduce the risk of operator mistakes.

Up to date planning

Making sure the departure planning is always accurate, reflecting the current situation across the airport and optimal for efficient resource usage can be challenging. The task is made easy for Operations through the possibility to initiate planning by using templates and automated adjustment features based on real-time data such as flight departure time, allocation, load levels, season and time offsets to each flight.

Minimising the waiting time for arriving passengers is made possible through the dynamic and “as late as possible” allocation of reclaim tracks for the arriving baggage.

Accurate and predictable delivery

The automatic arrival allocation function based on decision science enables an accurate and predictable delivery of bags at arrival. The arrival allocation function is based on the rules and templates that operations configure to allow for “real-time, yet as late as possible” allocation of reclaim tracks. The function is also based on system information such as flight number, airline, day of the week and resources.

The intuitive Gantt-charts secure the overview to maintain accurate and precise delivery of baggage. The charts also give real-time equipment status and progress reports are always at hand when Operations need them.

distribution gives less waiting time

With a complete overview, the distribution of bags between small and large carousels and the use of the carousels generally can be better optimised for passengers to experience less crowds at each reclaim track. The load balancing can be achieved in a number of ways; either through automatically applied rules based on predictions of load profiles; and/or through operators using the “drag and drop” function. For the airport, this means less bottlenecks of passengers at the same locations and for passengers, less waiting time.

Improved passenger experience

The arrival planning tool will help your operations with:

Fast(er) delivery of arriving bags
Predictive real-time information on the progress of bags arriving
Distribution of crowds at reclaim tracks