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An optimization model for container inventory management

  • S.I.: OR in Transportation
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Abstract

This paper formulates the empty container repositioning (ECR) problem, which is one of the most important issues in the container shipping industry, by running a model to generate the service route of feeder shipping in a dynamic environment. The objective is to reduce the disequilibrium of laden and empty containers. This paper first provides a literature review with the emphasis on the shipping scheduling and modelling of ECR. Second, a network model has been designed to find the optimum size of ship servicing a particular region. A simply ECR policy is tested to demonstrate an essential impact on the profit of a container transport system. With the aid of this heuristic shipping model, ECR is integrated with the tramp ship routing problem under dynamic condition.

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Acknowledgements

We would like to thank the Guest Editors and two anonymous referees for their extremely helpful comments. This research was partially supported by Research Grant of the Hong Kong Polytechnic University (Project Code G-YBEG).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Liverpool Logistics, Offshore and Marine Research Institute, Liverpool John Moores University, Liverpool, UK

    Mark Ching-Pong Poo

  2. Department of Logistics and Maritime Studies, Faculty of Business, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hung Hom, Hong Kong

    Tsz Leung Yip

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  1. Mark Ching-Pong Poo
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  2. Tsz Leung Yip
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Correspondence to Tsz Leung Yip.

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Poo, M.CP., Yip, T.L. An optimization model for container inventory management. Ann Oper Res 273, 433–453 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10479-017-2708-8

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