Digital Twin Technology Drives Real-Time Scheduling Optimization for Port Container Operations: A Verification Study Centred on the Goals of Efficiency Improvement and Cost Control

Abstract

In the context of global port intelligent transformation, digital twin technology has become a key support for breaking through the bottleneck of container operation scheduling efficiency and reducing operational costs. This study adopts a single-case exploratory design, selecting typical ports that have deployed digital twin systems as the research objects. It systematically examines the application mechanism of digital twin technology in container operation scheduling from three dimensions: technical empowerment, decision reconstruction, and performance optimization. The research team obtained multiple data sources through field investigation methods such as participatory observation, system operation logs, scheduling record reports, and in-depth interviews. They used the three-level coding method of grounded theory to construct a process model of “technical empowerment - decision transformation - performance output”, revealing the complete transformation path from technical input to efficiency-cost dual-target output. The study found that the digital twin system realizes real-time integration and virtual mapping of all process data through a hierarchical architecture, forming a hierarchical human-machine collaborative decision-making model of “automated in routine scenarios, collaborative in complex scenarios, and manual in emergency scenarios”, effectively achieving the collaborative optimization of vessel operation efficiency and reduction of operational costs. The process model constructed in this study reveals the internal mechanism of digital twin technology driving scheduling optimization, providing systematic theoretical and practical guidance for the construction of intelligent port scheduling.