4th largest cost

A typical empty-repositioning problem spans 15 container options, 3.7 million parameters, 1.2 million variables and 600 thousand equations — and most carriers solve it regionally, on spreadsheets.

• Coordinators take several days to find a workable solution by hand — trial and error against domain experience, no formal optimisation.
• Decisions about where to send empties were made by trade-lane managers in isolation; the network was constantly out of balance.
• Bloated stock levels, idle storage fees, M&R costs and unclear on/off-hire decisions all compounded.
• Historically up to 27% of fleet running costs sat in this line — most carriers still manage it on outdated systems.

Replaced regional spreadsheets with OptiBox's network-wide optimisation — running four layers from external data through to an executable repositioning plan.

• External data layer — historical records, EMS routing, index costs, on/off-hire, M&R, depot storage, vessel schedules.
• Business rules and master data — port pairs, transit days, hiring limits, vessel capacity, transit time profiles.
• Demand forecasting and modelling — laden + empty forecasts, global equipment imbalance with per-port safety stock.
• Optimised results — surplus → deficit moves that satisfy every constraint, costed in advance, surfaced geographically.
• What-if simulation and Plan vs Actuals built in — see the financial impact before committing, then compare to execution.

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