Containerisation International Award

International Freight Software Award

MJC²'s real-time container scheduling software has been nominated for the Containerisation International Innovation IT of the Year Award.

It is the first system to plan transport resources, container repositioning movements and inventory levels simultaneously, using a real-time scheduling model that allows maritime terminal operations to be re-optimized dynamically.

What is new?

The solution brings together several extremely challenging container logistics planning problems:

• Resource scheduling: i.e. vehicle, driver and equipment planning, including task allocation, logistics routing and balancing of hours worked.
• Container re-use: minimising wasted empty movements by intelligently combining movements to re-use equipment where cost-effective and operationally feasible.
• Movement scheduling: minimising congestion at ports and container terminals by optimizing flows of traffic and balancing demand at main gates and activity centres.
• Inventory optimization: optimizing the stocks of empty containers at strategic locations in the hinterland to maintain high quality cost-effective customer service.

How does it work?

The core of the system is a set of highly innovative advanced scheduling and optimization modules which have been designed to address the specific requirements of the container logistics industry.

Multimodal logistics optimization and last-mile vehicle routing are known to be very challenging optimization problems. When searching for a good logistics plan, the number of possible options to consider is vast - "larger than the number of atoms in the universe" is commonly used to express just how big.

MJC² has developed ground-breaking optimization techniques that can cope with the enormous complexity presented by the container logistics operation.

These new algorithms can automatically plan even very large operations in a matter of seconds, finding efficient transport schedules and task allocations which save money and reduce environmental impact.

Does it work?

The solution has demonstrated dramatic operational improvements in terms of increased efficiency, reduced CO2 emissions, reduced congestion and better resource utilisation.

The system is capable of reducing wasted repositioning movements by up to 25% and saving 10-20% of transport costs through better planning and faster response times.

Additional benefits include reduce congestion around the port and increased service level for customers, as well as enhanced visibility of hinterland operations around major container ports.

For more information please see our container logistics planning software and our latest research and development activities.