Study On Optimization Of Empty Container Allocation Based On The Multi-dimensional Database

By media of containers,way of multimodal transportation,container logistics combines seaway,railway,road and inland water in an organic way.That way an integrated transportation network is formed and the'door-to-door'transportation is realised.The advantage is obvious.However,the problem that lies behind this advantage is often overlooked:while containers make business convenient,they can become empty containers,and the reuse of empty containers usually requires the empty allocation which will not bring any economic benefits.The problem of empty container allocation has been the biggest problem that harasses the shipping companies.This thesis first briefly described the background of the empty allocation problem and the existing research on the problem.Then the thesis analyzed the container flow process,reasons that cause the empty container allocation,characteristics and the hardcore of the problem.Based on the above analysis,the thesis established a model of the empty container allocation problem that both considers the balance of the container between supply and demand and uncertainty of the demand.The model aims at maxmizing the total benefits of the container system,and the decisions include when,where,how much to allocate, lease in empty containers and give up carrying full containers.According to the model, the thesis designed a practical algorithm combining Dynamic Programming and Genetic Algorithm.The theis also checked the effectiveness of the algorithm by examples of the numerical value and show the mechanism that affects the strategy of empty container repositioning.Then,the thesis designed a multi-dimensional database of the container transportation system and applied it to the empty container allocation.By this,the multi-dimensional analysis on the container transportation system can be realised.