Improving the service operations of container terminals

Purposes – In the relevant literature about container terminals (CTs), most studies focused on the internal operational management of CT operators. In practice, for improving the performance of CT operators, the external customers’ requirements should also be considered. The purpose of this paper is to discuss the improvement of service operations of CTs from users’ requirement perspectives. Design/methodology/approach – In this paper, the customer requirements for container terminal are first examined. Based on the customer requirements, a quality function deployment (QFD) model is then constructed to translate the customer requirements into service operations of the container terminals, by which CT operators may make policies to improve their service operations. As an empirical study, the container terminal of Yang‐Ming Shipping Line (YML CT) at Kaohsiung Port and its users were investigated to validate the model. Findings – The result proposes 19 customer requirement attributes from users’ perspectives and 15 service operations from CT operators’ perspectives. Further, the top five customer requirement attributes by importance degree are: consistency of bill of lading; accuracy of dynamic information on cargos; accuracy of EDI information for receiving and releasing of containers; professional ability of operators to deal with cargo damage; and cargo safety. Practical implications – The results indicate the top five service operations in need of improvement for the YML CT are: storage operation in depot; outbound container operation; hazardous container storage; inbound container operation; and T1 arrangement. Originality/value – In this paper, a QFD model was constructed to improve the service operations of CTs. The proposed model may provide valuable references for future research on container terminals.