Collaborative Research: Container Scheduling - Complexity, Algorithms and Heuristics

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The research objectives of this award are the design and the development of new algorithmic structures that will improve on the planning and scheduling of the transport of goods in global supply chains. The research approach will focus on the interface between two research directions that in recent years have received, separately, an enormous amount of attention; namely research that has been done on scheduling problems and research that has been done on packing problems (including knapsack problems and bin-packing problems). A focus on problem classes with scheduling aspects as well as packing aspects is highly relevant since all major modes of transportation (e.g., container ships, trucks, etc.) have a finite capacity. If successful, this research will yield new algorithmic structures and heuristics that will result in a more efficient movement of goods, i.e., transportation at a lower cost and more timely. The principal investigators of this research project collaborate closely with supply chain managers in industry. More efficient management of the supply chains may lead to a total transportation cost reduction of 1-2 percent and may lead to improvements in on-time deliveries as well. Graduate students will benefit through classroom instruction and involvement with the research.