WO2023099948A1

WO2023099948A1 - Method and system for container inventory management

Info

Publication number: WO2023099948A1
Application number: PCT/IB2021/061286
Authority: WO
Inventors: Lalith EDIRISINGHE
Original assignee: Cinec Campus (Pvt) Ltd
Priority date: 2021-12-03
Filing date: 2021-12-03
Publication date: 2023-06-08

Abstract

A method for container inventory management includes obtaining and processing a container inventory information from multiple parties in real-time for obtaining container data associated with each party for each port at given time. Using the container data, container inventories for each party at each port for a defined time is forecasted. A first party having surplus and deficit of empty containers at a first and a second port at a first time, respectively, is determined. A second party having deficit and surplus of empty containers at the first time, respectively, is determined. Offering the first and the second party a container exchange opportunity to enable the first party to supply surplus empty containers to the second party at the first port based on the first container characteristics, and the second party to supply surplus empty containers to the first party at the second port based on the second container characteristics.

Description

METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR CONTAINER INVENTORY MANAGEMENT

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present disclosure relates to container inventory management for efficiently and effectively managing container supply chain that provide benefits of exchange to parties involved while increasing a service quality of container shipping lines.

DESCRIPTION OF RELATED ART

The “background” description provided herein is for the purpose of generally presenting the context of the disclosure. Work of the presently named inventors, to the extent it is described in this background section, as well as aspects of the description which may not otherwise qualify as prior art at the time of filing, are neither expressly or impliedly admitted as prior art against the present disclosure.

Shipping logistics service providers may operate liners, containers, and related resources to serve their customers' transportation and logistics orders. The shipping logistics service providers may include shipping companies that own or operate liners and containers, parcel tankers, and/or other logistics assets. These shipping logistics service providers manage orders mostly based on simple business rules, such as, for example, a first come first serve basis, i.e., completing orders in the sequence in which they arrive.

Shipping logistics are complex, in a sense, each port or shipping logistics service providers may have to carefully plan resources to execute logistics operations. For example, some ports may have exports more than imports. In such situations, shipping logistics service providers may have to continuously procure liners and additional containers to execute transportation and logistics for export orders. To elaborate the complexity of shipping logistics, an example explanation is provided. In the example, consider a port K that exports goods more than receiving imports. As a result, port K may experience a shortage of supply of liners and/or containers due to a lesser number of imports. As such, shipping logistics service providers who intend to export from port K have to continuously procure or organize liners and/or containers to meet exporting requirements. Many times, the shipping logistics service providers may procure or organize the liners and the containers from other ports. On the other hand, if a port do not have enough containers to cater to their exporters demand, the shipping lines are compelled to import empty containers from other ports where the containers are in excess. In both cases, the shipping logistics service may incur a cost. In many instances, the shipping logistics service providers may get back the liners and containers that have delivered the exported goods to destination ports. A lot of times, the liners and/or containers procured from the other ports and/or the liners and/containers (that have been brought back after delivering goods to the desination ports) may come with no loads as there may not be any orders or goods to be brought back to the port K. In other words, the shipping logistics service providers may have got the liners and/or the containers with additional operational costs. These additional operational costs are an overage that the shipping logistics service providers may pass, at least in part, to the exporters. The exporters, in turn, pass the additional operational costs to the end consumer, leading to higher prices in goods than it should have been.

With the presence of multiple shipping logistics service providers, there may be a possibility of collaboration among the shipping logistics service providers, which may reduce the cost of repositioning an empty container by a single shipping logistics service provider. However, due to ever-increasing competition and confidentiality issues, the shipping logistics service providers may not be willing to collaborate unless they can evaluate the real benefits if exchanging containers which usually supercede the said disadvantages. The lack of collaboration may not help in reducing the additional operational costs. Also, even when some of the shipping logistics service providers agree to coordinate for sharing empty containers, the logistics may be determined only after an occurrence of imbalance of containers at any port(s) or only when there is a demand (that is when there is excessive or deficit of liners and/or containers), which is a reactive mechanism.

Existing tools involve the reactive mechanism against repositioning the empty containers to determine a solution against empty container repositioning only after they are in demand by the shipping companies or whenever there is a need for empty containers or when there are excess containers. With the existing tools being reactive in nature, solutions generated by such tools may require additional time to implement the solution. For example, when a shipping logistics service provider A requiring containers uses the existing tools for a solution, the tools may identify shipping logistics service providers having excess containers. However, it takes a lot of time to get the containers from the shipping logistics service providers as the containers may be in different ports. Further, in some instances, inventories of the shipping logistics service provider A may perish. Due to wait time and type of inventories, the exporters may lose a lot of revenue.

SUMMARY

In order to solve an empty container repositioning issue in terms of minimizing repositioning of empty containers and maximizing the benefit of shipping companies in terms of the finance involved, the disclosure discloses, in an exemplary embodiment, a computer- implemented method for container inventory management. The method includes obtaining, by a processor, information associated with containers from one or more port databases of a plurality of ports and one or more party databases of a plurality of parties. The method further includes processing, by the processor, the information associated with containers to obtain container data associated with each party of the plurality of parties for each port at a given time. The method further includes forecasting, by the processor, a container inventory for each party at each port for a defined time, by processing the container data. The method further includes determining, by the processor, based on the forecasting, at least one first party of the plurality of parties having a surplus of one or more surplus empty containers, having first container characteristics, at a first port of the plurality of ports at a first time and having a deficit of one or more empty containers having second container characteristics at a second port of the plurality of ports at the first time. The first container characteristics include a first set of a number of containers, type of containers, size of containers, and quality of containers and whereas the second container characteristics include a second set of a number of containers, type of containers, size of containers, and quality of containers. The method further includes identifying, by the processor, based upon the determining, at least one second party of the plurality of parties having a deficit of one or more containers, having the first container characteristics, at the first port at the first time, and a surplus of one or more containers, having the second container characteristics, at the second port at the first time. The method further includes selecting, by the processor, the at least one first party and the at least one second party for offering a container exchange opportunity to enable the at least one first party to supply the one or more surplus empty containers to the at least one second party at the first port based on the first container characteristics, and the at least one second party to supply the one or more surplus empty containers to the at least one first party at the second port based on the second container characteristics. Also, the surplus empty containers may satisfy, at least partially, the deficit of empty containers in a given point in time. The method further includes determining, by the processor, at least one first container exchange option between the at least one first party and the at least one second party based at least in part on the BoE. While, calculating the container exchange option, each container exchange option of the at least one first container exchange option includes a combination for container exchange at the first port and the second port, a type of carrier for exchange, a time for exchange, and duration of use of the at least one container having the first characteristics by the second party and at least one surplus container having the second characteristics by the first party, benefit of exchange (BoE) for the at least one first party and the at least one second party. The BoE is determined by multiplying a number of containers with number of days to be used by the at least one second party evaluated against qualitative parameters. The method further includes automatically recommending, by the processor through a user interface, the at least one container exchange option to the at least one first party and the at least one second party. Responsive to a selection of any container exchange option of the at least one first container exchange option by the at least one first party and the at least one second party, the method further includes generating, by the processor, a first contract having terms and conditions for the selected container exchange option for the at least one first party and the at least one second party for exchanging the container.

In an exemplary embodiment, the present disclosure discloses a system for container inventory management. The system includes a computer memory to store a program code and a processor. The system is configured to execute the program code to obtain, by the processor, information associated with containers from one or more port databases of a plurality of ports and one or more party databases of a plurality of parties. The system is further configured to process, by the processor, the information associated with containers to obtain container data associated with each party of the plurality of parties for each port at a given time. The system is further configured to forecast, by the processor, a container inventory for each party at each port for a defined time, by processing the container data. The system is further configured to determine, by the processor, based on the forecasting, at least one first party of the plurality of parties having a surplus of one or more surplus empty containers, having a first container characteristics, at a first port of the plurality of ports at a first time and a deficit of one or more empty containers having a second container characteristics at a second port of the plurality of ports at the first time. The first container characteristics includes a first set of a number of containers, type of containers, size of containers, and quality of containers. The second container characteristics includes a second set of a number of containers, type of containers, size of containers, and quality of containers. The system is further configured to identify, by the processor, based upon the determining, at least one second party of the plurality of parties having a deficit of one or more containers, having the first characteristics, at the first port at the first time, and a surplus of one or more containers, having the second characteristics, at the second port at the first time. The system is further configured to select, by the processor, the at least one first party and the at least one second party for offering a container exchange opportunity to enable the at least one first party to supply the one or more surplus empty containers to the at least one second party at the first port based on the first container characteristics, and the at least one second party to supply the one or more surplus empty containers to the at least one first party at the second port based on the second container characteristics. The surplus empty containers satisfy, at least partially, the deficit of empty containers at a given point in time. The system is further configured to determine, by the processor, at least one first container exchange option between the at least one first party and the at least one second party based at least in part on the BoE. Each container exchange option of the at least one first container exchange option comprises a combination for container exchange at the first port and the second port, a type of carrier for exchange, a time for exchange and duration of use of the at least one container having the first characteristics by the second party and at least one surplus container having the second characteristics by the first party, and the BoE for the at least one first party and the at least one second party. The system may determine the BoE at least in part, by multiplying number of containers with number of days to be used by the least one second party evaluated against qualitative parameters. The system is further configured to automatically recommend, by the processor through a user interface, the at least one container exchange option to the at least one first party and the at least one second party and responsive to a selection of any container exchange option of the at least one first container exchange option by the at least one first party and the at least one second party, generate, by the processor, a first contract having terms and conditions for the selected container exchange option for the at least one first party and the at least one second party for exchanging the container.

The foregoing general description of the illustrative embodiments and the following detailed description thereof are merely exemplary aspects of the teachings of this disclosure and are not restrictive.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

A more complete appreciation of this disclosure and many of the attendant advantages thereof will be readily obtained as the same becomes better understood by reference to the following detailed description when considered in connection with the accompanying drawings, wherein:

FIG. 1 is an exemplary schematic diagram of a container inventory management system, according to certain embodiments.

FIG. 2 illustrates an example of parties exchanging containers, according to certain embodiments.

FIGS. 3A-3C illustrate an example determination of a benefit of exchange (BoE) between the parties exchanging the containers, according to certain embodiments.

FIG. 4 is an exemplary method of container inventory management, according to certain embodiments.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Reference will now be made in detail to specific embodiments or features, examples of which are illustrated in the accompanying drawings. Wherever possible, corresponding or similar reference numbers will be used throughout the drawings to refer to the same or corresponding parts. Moreover, references to various elements described herein, are made collectively or individually when there may be more than one element of the same type. However, such references are merely exemplary in nature. It may be noted that any reference to elements in the singular may also be construed to relate to the plural and vice-versa without limiting the scope of the disclosure to the exact number or type of such elements unless set forth explicitly in the appended claims.

In the drawings, like reference numerals designate identical or corresponding parts throughout the several views. Further, as used herein, the words “a,” “an” and the like generally carry a meaning of “one or more,” unless stated otherwise.

Furthermore, the terms “approximately,” “approximate,” “about,” and similar terms generally refer to ranges that include the identified value within a margin of 20%, 10%, or preferably 5%, and any values therebetween.

Aspects of the present disclosure are directed to a method and a system for determining an optimal solution for container exchange between plurality of shipping companies for current and forward shipments. The system proactively scans through container volume of every carrier in each port and maps how the deficit and excess quantities could be shared among them and set off the imbalance of empty container reposition at plurality of ports. Once the optimal solutions are determined, the system proposes multiple exchange options to the shipping companies and offers them to choose one or more appropriate solutions. The system makes real-time proposals and provides opportunities to the shipping companies to exchange empty containers along with mutual Benefit of Exchange (BoE) that each shipping company derives in terms of cost saving, compared to repositioning an empty container.

FIG. 1 illustrates an implementation of a system 100 for container inventory management, in accordance with an embodiment. The system 100 includes a container inventory management system 102, port databases 120-(l-N) and party databases 130-(l-N) coupled through network 150.

The container inventory management system 102 is configured to perform container inventory management by proactively analyzing container inventory of parties and creating opportunities for container exchange. The container inventory management system 102 may be implemented in a variety of computing systems, such as a mainframe computer, a server, a network server, a laptop computer, a desktop computer, a notebook, a workstation, and any other computing system server. The container inventory management system 102 includes a memory unit 104, a processor 106, a storage unit 108, a container database 110, and a container inventory management unit 112. The memory unit 104 is configured to store operating system and programming instructions of the container inventory management system 102. The memory unit 104 may include one or more memory chips capable of storing data and allowing any storage location to be directly accessed by the processor 106. The memory unit 104 may be a volatile memory. The memory unit may be a Dynamic Random- Access Memory (DRAM) or any variants, including static Random- Access Memory (SRAM), and Enhanced DRAM (EDRAM).

The processor 106 may be any logic circuitry that responds to and processes instructions fetched from the memory unit 104. The processor 106 may be a general-purpose processor, a microprocessor, embedded processor, a special-purpose processor or any processor. The storage unit 108 may include, without limitation, an operating system driver softwares, and a software of an container inventory management. Examples of storage unit 108 include, but are not limited to a hard disk drive (HDD); an optical drive including a Compat Disk (CD) drive, a Digital Versatile Disk (DVD) drive, or a BLU-RAY drive; a solid-state drive (SSD); a USB flash drive; or any other device suitable for storing data. In an example implementation, the storage unit 108 may include the container database 110 and the container inventory management unit 112. In another example implementation, the container database 110 and the container inventory management unit 112 may be implemented outside the storage unit 108. In some example implementations, the container database 110 and the container inventory management unit 112 may be implemented within and outside the storage unitl08.

The container database 110 may be a storage or repository configured to store information associated with containers from one or more port databases of a plurality of ports and one or more party databases of a plurality of parties, analysis, and results of the container inventory management unit 112. In some examples, the container database 110 may be implemented as a part of a cloud server (not shown). While performing the analytical calculation, the container inventory management system 102 may access, using wireless or wired internet connectivity, the cloud server (not shown) to fetch the container data of plurality of ports and pluralities of parties and generate an optimal solution to the container exchange.

The container inventory management unit 112 may be a program or a set of instructions configured to process information associated with containers from the one or more port databases 120-(l-N) of a plurality of ports and the one or more party databases 1202(l-N) of a plurality of parties and provide optimal solutions for container exchange to consumers that may include one or more parties of the plurality of parties. The container inventory management unit 112 may include an analytics engine (not shown) to provide optimal solutions for container exchange. In some examples, the container inventory management unit 112 may include a big data engine for performing analytics on large amount of data.

The container inventory management system 102 is configured to obtain containers data from one or more port databases 120-(l-N) of a plurality of ports and one or more party databases 130-(l-M) of a plurality of parties. The term container data may refer to a number of containers in the port and/or with a plurality of parties, number of containers arriving at the port and/or to the plurality of parties, number of containers departed from the port and/or from the plurality of parties. The term party may refer to a shipping logistics service provider. In one embodiment, the container inventory management system 102 is configured to obtain container data from the one or more port databases 120-(l-N) and/or the one or more party databases 130-(l-N), securely.

The one or more port databases 120-(l-N) are databases managed by a government authority and/or private authorities. The one or more port databases 120-(l-N) may include data such as import of goods, export of goods, liner information, information on containers, information on the plurality of parties involved in the import and/or the export, information on the plurality of parties involved in the import and/or the export, the liners used, and such information and other port-related information. The one or more party databases 130-(l-N) are databases managed by corresponding one or more parties. The one or more port databases 120-(l-N) and the one or more party databases 130-(l-N) may include data such as import of goods, export of goods, liner information, information on containers, information on the plurality of parties involved in the import and/or the export, information on the plurality of parties involved in the import and/or the export, the liners used, number of containers, type of containers, size of the containers, quality of containers, shipping date, shipping from (port), shipping to (port), worthiness of cargo, and such information. The one or more users 130-(l- N) may be the one or more parties, shipping service providers, government authorities and such users who benefit from container inventory management system 102

The network 150 may be a private network or a public network. The network 150 may be connected via wired or wireless links. Wired links may include Digital Subscriber Line (DSL), coaxial cable lines, or optical fiber lines. Wireless links may include Bluetooth®, Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE), ZigBee, Wi-Fi®, Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access (WiMAX®), cellular networks and such links. In operation, the container inventory management system 102 may enable one or more ports of plurality of ports and one or more parties of plurality of parties to register with the container inventory management system 102. The container inventory management system 102 may obtain information associated with containers from the one or more port databases 120-(l-N) of the one or more ports, and one or more party databases 130-(l-N) of the one or more parties, registered with the container inventory management system 102. In some examples, the container inventory management system 102 may obtain the information associated with containers from the one or more port databases 120-(l-N) of the one or more ports, and one or more party databases 130-(l-N) of the one or more parties, without having the ports or the parties register with the container inventory management system 102. The one or more port databases 120-(l-N) of the one or more ports, and one or more party databases 130-(l-N) may provide access to the container inventory management system 102 to access the information. The container inventory management system 102 may store the information associated with containers in the container database 110. In some example implementations, the one or more port databases 120-(l-N), and one or more party databases 130-(l-N) may have the information associated with containers maintained as a part of an Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) system. The one or more port databases 120-(l-N), and one or more party databases 130-(l-N) may have the information associated with containers maintained in different forms. The container inventory management system 102 may process and standardize the information obtained from the one or more port databases 120-(l-N) of the one or more ports, and one or more party databases 130-(l-N). Also, the one or more port databases 120- (1-N), and the one or more party databases 130-(l-N) may be updated at different times. The container inventory management system 102 may access the one or more port databases 120- (1-N), and one or more party databases 130-(l-N), periodically, continuously, at random periods or on demand. The container inventory management system 102 may generate a repository having the container data by processing the information associated with containers obtained by synchronization of the one or more port databases 120-(l-N) and the one or more party databases 130-(l-N) of the plurality of parties. The container inventory management system 102 may store the repository in the container database 110.

The container inventory management unit 112 is configured to fetch the information stored in the container database 110. The container inventory management unit 112 may process the information associated with containers to obtain container data associated with each party of the plurality of parties for each port at a given time. The given time may be any specific time. The container inventory management unit 112 may process the container data to map the container data to each port and each party. The mapping may indicate a container inventory at plurality of ports while containers are currently in transit or having future plan of each parties along with current and future availability of empty containers as well as surplus containers of each party at each port. The container inventory management unit 112 may process the information to determine if one or more ports are going to be occupied by shipping containers and determine a frequency of arrival and departure of the containers at each port. The frequency of arrival and departure may indicate which ports are going to have a surplus or deficit containers at any specific date/time and which ports are going to have a deficit of shipping containers at any specific date/time.

The container inventory management unit 112 may initially identify various parameters, such as but not limited to a port capacity of each of the port, inventory information of each party at each port, service route parameters, and empty container demand by each party with regards to future planning. In some embodiments, the container inventory management unit 112 may identify the capacity of each port. For example, in port A, port B, and port C, the container inventory management unit 112 may determine that port A may have a capacity of, for example, 120 containers, port B having a capacity of 200 containers, and port C having a capacity of 50 containers based upon the processing. The container inventory management unit 112 may identify the parties involved in delivering the inventories at each port. For example, a first party delivers goods at port A and port B with 50 containers at each port, a second party delivers its inventory at port B and C with 60 containers each port, and a third party delivers its inventories at port C and port A with 25 containers at each port.

The container inventory management unit 112 may also identify service route parameters associated with each party at each specific route. For example, the service route parameters may include rent charges at the specific route, such as from Port A to port B or port B to port C or port C to port A, distance between the ports A-B or A-C or B-C; a time of travel between the ports A-B or A-C or B-C; freight charges between the ports; or any specific charge associated with the route which the first party, second party and third party used to bear while travelling on those routes. The container inventory management unit 112 may analyze the timeline associated with each party which indicates the arrival and departure of each party at each respective port. Accordingly, the container inventory management unit 112 processes the information associated with the container database 110 to obtain container data associated with each party of the plurality of parties for each port at a given time.

The container inventory management unit 112 may process the container data to forecast a container inventory for each party at each port for a defined time. The container inventory for each party at each port for a defined time may refer to number of containers in hand, a number of containers that are arriving for the party, and a number of containers that are departing from the party at that defined time. For example, the container inventory management unit 112 identifies the type of inventory being supplied by each party at each port, such as, for example, first party supplies cloth materials at port A and vegetables at port B, second party supplies meat at port B, metallic raw material at port C and cloth material at port A and third-party supplies groceries at port C and vegetables at port A and C both. The container inventory management unit 112 may determine the timeline of arrival and departure of each party at each respective port. As per the timeline data, the container inventory management unit 112 may analyze that what are a party’s requirement of empty containers in the forthcoming days for transporting their goods to each ports. This is further elaborated with a suitable example by considering at least 3 parties. Based upon the container data of each party at each port, the container inventory management unit 112 identifies that the first party is to carry its inventory from port A on 1^st Jan 2022, second party 2 is to bring their inventories from port B to port A one day before i.e., on 31 Dec 2021. The number of containers currently possessed by the first party is less than its requirement on 1 Jan 2022. The containers of the second party will halt for 3 days after reaching to port A. Third party will also reach from port C to port A on 30 December 2021 and halt for 4 days at port A and then proceed for its next shipping. There may be a plethora of such situations which indicates a futuristic plan of each party at each port. Accordingly, the container inventory management unit 112 forecasts the inventory data of each party at each respective port where they cany their inventories, along with the timeline information. Based upon the forecasted data, the container inventory management unit 112 determines the demand of empty containers by each of the parties at each respective port in the incoming days, what are the parties having an excess of containers at each port, what are the parties having a deficit of empty containers at each port.

Accordingly, these parameters, such as port capacity, service route parameters, current and expected inventory information of the parties at plurality of ports, empty container demands are analyzed by the container inventory management unit 112. The container inventory management unit 112 identifies inventories of each party at each port. For example, the container inventory management unit 112 may forecast that the first party has a surplus of one or more empty containers at port A on 1^st Jan 2021. However, the first party has a deficit of empty containers at port B on the same date. On the other hand, for example, the container inventory management unit 112 also forecast that the second party 2 has a deficit of one or more empty containers at port A on 1^st Jan 2021. However, the second party has a surplus of empty containers at port B on the same date, i.e., 1 Jan 2021.

Based on the above forecasting, the container inventory management unit 112 may actively determine one or more parties who may have a potential opportunity for container exchange. In one or more embodiments, the container inventory management unit 112 considers characteristics of the containers required by each of the parties at each respective port while determining one or more parties who may have a potential opportunity for container exchange. For example, the container inventory management unit 112 determines that first party has a surplus of empty containers which are having the first container characteristics at port A. However, the first party has a deficit of empty containers of second container characteristics at port B. Similarly, the container inventory management unit 112 simultaneously determines that the second party has an excess of empty containers at port B that have the second container characteristics. However, the second party has a deficit of empty containers of the first container characteristics at port A. Here, the first container characteristics denote various parameters which are, but are not limited to, the number of surplus containers by the first party at port A and number of deficit containers by the second party at the same port A, for example, 50 containers required at port B and 40 surplus containers at Port A; type of containers i.e., containers suitable for carrying cloths only at port A and B, neither vegetables nor meat, size of containers, for example 40 containers and a quality of the container, for example Iron made containers. Similarly, the second container characteristics denote various parameters which are, at least similar to the parameters of the first container characteristics.

Consider an example where the container inventory management unit 112 determines a potential opportunity for at least one first party and the at least one second party. The at least one first party may refer to a single first party or multiple parties as a part of the first party. The at least one first party may be interchangeably referred to as the first party. The first party of the plurality of parties may have a surplus of one or more surplus empty containers have a first container characteristics at a first port of the plurality of ports at a first time and having a deficit of one or more empty containers having a second container characteristics at a second port of the plurality of ports at the first time. The first container characteristics include a first set of a number of containers, type of containers, size of containers and quality of containers. The second container characteristics include a second set of a number of containers, type of containers, size of containers and quality of containers. The first container characteristics and the second container characteristics may be different. The type of containers may include, but are not limited to dry storage container, a flat rack container, an open top container, an open side storage container, a refrigerated ISO containers, an ISO Tank, a half-height containers, and special purpose containers. The at least one second party of the plurality of parties may having a deficit of one or more containers, having the first container characteristics, at the first port at the first time, and a surplus of one or more containers, having the second container characteristics, at the second port at the first time. The at least one second party may refer to a single second party or multiple parties as a part of the second party. The at least one second party may be interchangeably referred to as the second party.

Based upon determining the excess and surplus of containers of each of the parties at plurality of ports, the container inventory management unit 112 may select the first party and the second party for offering a container exchange opportunity to enable the first party to supply the one or more surplus empty containers to the second party at the first port based on the first container characteristics, and the second party to supply the one or more surplus empty containers to the first party at the second port based on the second container characteristics. It may be noted that the surplus empty containers may satisfy, at least partially, the deficit of empty containers in a given point in time. The container inventory management unit 112 may determine one or more container exchange option between the first party and the second party based at least in part on benefit of exchange (BoE). The BoE may include minimizing any auxiliary costs. The auxiliary cost may include a total cost for delivering an empty container from a port having a surplus one or more containers to a port having deficit of one or more containers, a transportation cost, an empty container exchange cost, a total holding cost, a port handling cost, a total rent cost, an opportunity cost and marketing cost, and wherein the cost of exchange should be lesser than cost of empty container repositioning.

For example, the container inventory management unit 112 selects the first party and the second party for offering a container exchange opportunity to enable the first party to supply the one or more surplus empty containers to the second party at the port A based on the first container characteristics, and the second party to supply the one or more surplus empty containers to the first party at the second port B based on the second container characteristics, wherein the surplus empty containers satisfy, at least partially, the deficit of empty containers in a given point in time. The container inventory management unit 112 determines that the surplus empty containers currently possessed by the first party at port A matches the number of deficit empty containers currently required by the second party at the same port A. Also, the container inventory management unit 112 determines that the surplus empty containers currently possessed by the second party at port B matches the number deficit empty containers currently required by the first party at the same port B. Also the first container characteristics, at least, matches with the second container characteristics. Accordingly, the container inventory management unit 112 identifies that the first container characteristics of surplus empty containers possessed by the first party at port A matches with the first container characteristics of deficit empty containers required by the second party at port A. Also, the second container characteristics of deficit empty containers required by the first party at port B matches, at least partially or completely with the second container characteristics of excess empty containers currently possessed by the second party at port B. At this time, the container inventory management unit 112 identifies that the first party can exchange their excess container with the second party at the port A, as well as the second party can exchange their excess container with the first party at the second port B.

Each container exchange option of the first container exchange option may include a combination for container exchange at the first port and the second port, a type of carrier for exchange, a time for exchange and duration of use of the container having the first characteristics by the second party and surplus container having the second characteristics by the first party, the exchange cost, and a BoE for the first party and the second party. The container inventory management unit 112 determines the BoE by multiplying number of containers with a number of days to be used by the least one second party evaluated against qualitative parameters.

The BoE is explained below.

For the sake of model simplicity, this formulation ignores all auxiliary costs (handling, transactions, duties & levies)

Let T = (TV = {0,1,2, n} ) denotes for example an East - West shipping route, and port nodes, N and Arc (i,j) G A denotes an arc between any two adjacent port nodes. The flow direction is from port node i to port node j.

T denotes the period in number of days required to travel from port/node i to port/node j. s ^-1 and Si denote the beginning of period number of containers and the end of period number of containers at arc

CBij q, T) is the benefit received from transferring q number of containers from port node i to port node j over arc (i,j). CBfj_k q, T is a monotone increasing / decreasing piece wise linear demand / supply bid function expressed by the participant k G K for arc (ij ). (—1).

refers the transfer in the opposite direction. In addition, CBij_k < 0 implies a negative benefit or a cost. The unit of measurements can be in monetary or none-monetary units (e.g., product of number of shipping days and number of containers in this illustration).

For a given time period t = t, we seek to optimize the following deterministic market model:

Objective (Primal Model):

Subject to:

Node balance constraint:

Beginning of period container stock constraint: s ^-1 > C : vl

Arc capacity constraints:

The objective function maximizes the benefits expressed by all participants across all arcs in the network and returns maximum net benefit for the system for a single market clearing round.

The node balance constraint represents the container quantity balance for any upstream or downstream node. denotes the shadow price attached to the nodal balance constraint. This is the marginal benefit associate with increasing the number of containers by one “1” unit at the port node, i. v is the shadow price attached to the beginning of period container stock s ^-1 (which is analogous to the holding cost).

Arc capacity constraint enforces the line capacities and demand limits. Htj denotes the shadow price attached to the line capacity constraint.

In some embodiment, if the number of excess containers of the first party are less than the number of deficit containers of the second party at port A, the container inventory management unit 112 analyzes that the requirement of the empty containers of the second party would not be entirely fulfilled by the first party at port A. In this case, the second party may bring their empty container from other port to port A, such as port B, based on the difference of the excess container already at port A. In an embodiment, if the excess empty container of a third party at port A is also available, the container inventory management system 102 may consider another exchange option including the third party, such that the first party can provide its all empty containers to second party at the first port A and remaining empty containers are provided by the third party at the same port A. Accordingly, the container inventory management system 102 may calculate various exchange options based upon the availability of the empty containers from plurality of parties at the same port A.

Once the container inventory management unit 112 selected the first party and the second party for offering a container exchange opportunity, the container inventory management unit 112 determines first container exchange option between the first party and the second party based at least in part on the BoE. Each container exchange option of the first container exchange option comprises a combination for container exchange at the first port and the second port, a type of carrier for exchange, a time for exchange and duration of use of the container having the first characteristics by the second party and surplus container having the second characteristics by the first party and the BoE for the first party and the second party. The BoE may be determined by multiplying a number of containers with number of days to be used by the least one second party evaluated against qualitative parameters. For example, the container inventory management unit 112, when concludes that the first party and the second party can exchange their containers at ports A and B, further determines the BoE between the first party and the second party and makes sure that both parties do not face a loss during an exchange compared to repositioning empty containers of their own party from other port. This can be explained by taking an example. The container inventory management unit 112 may calculate the BoE involved while exchanging the containers between the first party and the second party at both ports. The BoE may include, but not limited to, savings from cost of an exchange of the containers at the first port A and the second port B, type of carrier for exchange, time for exchange, and duration of use of the container having the first characteristics by the second party and surplus container having the second characteristics by the first party as well as a BoE.

In an embodiment, the cost of exchange may be a combined cost of exchange at both ports. The cost of exchange of containers between the parties at first port A may be XI $ whereas the exchange cost at port B may be Yl$. The cost of exchange may be considered as a minimum fixed charge of the containers at each respective ports. Based upon the popularity of the ports for import and export trading, the exchange cost may vary from port to port. Also, the cost of exchange may depend upon the number of containers being shared between the parties. In an embodiment, the exchange cost may be fixed and independent of number of container being exchanged between the parties. In all conditions, the container inventory management unit 112 calculates the cost involved based upon the exchange cost for each port as a part of BoE.

In an embodiment, the container inventory management unit 112 also checks the type of carrier for the exchange. It may happen that the type of carrier supplied by the first party to the second party at port A may be of iron-made containers, whereas the type of carrier supplied by the second party to the first party at port B may be of steel made containers. This may involve a difference in the cost of exchange due to a difference in type of the containers while container exchange. The iron-made containers may be expensive compared to the steel made containers or vice versa. For example only, the cost of iron-made containers on lease is X2$, whereas the cost of steel made containers on lease is Y2$, wherein X2$>Y2$. The container inventory management unit 112 calculates the cost involved based on the type of carrier being exchanged between the parties.

In an embodiment, the container inventory management unit 112 also checks the time for exchange and duration of use of the container having the first characteristics by the second party and at least one surplus container having the second characteristics by the first party. It may happen that the at least one first party may lend excess empty containers to the second party at first port A for four (4) weeks whereas the at least one second party may lend excess empty containers to the at least one first party at second port B for six (6) weeks. Accordingly, the cost of lending the empty containers to another party depends on the duration of use of the at least one container of first container characteristics as well as of the second container characteristics.

In an embodiment, the container inventory management unit 112 determines the BoE for the first party and the second party as a result of container exchange. The BoE may be based upon two factors, namely the number of days the containers being exchanged for and the total number of containers being exchanged from the first party to the second party or vice versa. If the first party exchanges, for example, 10 containers for 4 days, the BoE would be 40 for the first party. Similarly, if the second party exchanges, for example, 10 containers for 4 days, the BoE would be 40 for the second party also. However, the number of containers and the number of days may vary for each of the party exchanging the empty containers. This is illustrated with FIG 2.

FIG. 2 illustrates a calculation of the BoE between the parties exchanging the containers. The calculation of BoE may be done for inter-port exchange as well as intra-port exchange. The first case is taken as an exemplary embodiment for inter-port exchange of containers between the first party and the second party. In inter-port exchange, parties involved in exchange does not exchange their containers at the same port. Rather, the first party may have to transport some of the empty containers from a port other than first port and lend it to the second party at the first port. Similarly, the second party may also have to transport its empty containers from a different port and then lend to the first party at the second port. In this case the total exchange cost would include additional factors such as but not limited to the total cost for delivering an empty container from a port having a surplus of one or more containers to a port having a deficit of one or more containers, a transportation cost, an empty container exchange cost, a total holding cost, a port handling cost, a total rent cost, an opportunity cost, marketing cost, type of carrier cost, cost involved due to time and duration of exchange.

As an example, the first party lends N1 empty containers to the second party for Pl days by transporting its empty containers from a first port to a second port, whereas the second party lends N2 empty containers to the first party for P2 days by transporting its empty containers from a third port to a fourth port. The BoE for the first party 1 is NI*P1 whereas the BoE for the second party would be N2*P2.

From a primary condition of container exchange for benefit for both parties:

N1*P1 = N2*P2.

This indicates an equal benefit for both parties involved in the container exchange. However, the container inventory management unit 112 simultaneously calculates the auxiliary cost for each party. Accordingly, the container inventory management unit 112 may calculate the BoE for the first party, for example, X4$ and BoE for the second party, for example, Y4$. Also, the container inventory management unit 112 calculates the auxiliary cost which the first party would provide to the second party based upon the differences in the transportation cost, an empty container exchange cost, a total holding cost, a port handling cost, a total rent cost, an opportunity cost, marketing cost, type of carrier cost, cost involved due to time and duration of exchange. The container inventory management unit 112 may the auxiliary cost as for the first party as X5$ and for the second party as Y5$.

In an embodiment, similar to the calculation of BoE for inter-port exchange, the container inventory management unit 112 may calculate the BoE for intra-port exchange of containers wherein exchange of containers take place on the same port and the parties exchanging the containers does not need to bring empty containers from other ports.

Returning back to FIG. 2, the container inventory management unit 112 then calculates the auxiliary cost of exchanging empty containers between the first party and the second party at the first port A and the second port B, respectively as a part of calculation of BoE.

The auxiliary cost may be summed up by the container inventory management unit 112 for the first party as well as for the second party.

The container inventory management unit 112 may compare the BoE for the first party with the total cost of repositioning the empty container for the first party from own party but from other port. Similarly, the container inventory management unit 112 may compare the BoE for the second party with the total cost of repositioning the empty container for the second party from own party but from other port. During this comparison, the container inventory management unit 112 identifies that the BoE for the first party is greater than total cost of repositioning the empty container from own party but from other port. Similarly, the container inventory management unit 112 identifies that the BoE for the second party is greater than the total cost of repositioning the empty container from own company but from another port. The container inventory management unit 112 identifies that there are a mutual benefit of the first party as well as the second party compared to repositioning an empty container of the same party from other port. Accordingly, the container inventory management unit 112 of the container inventory management system 102 proactively concludes that empty container repositioning can easily be avoided or reduced if the first party and the second party agrees on the container exchange option.

Once the container inventory management unit 112, identifies the exchange option that the first party as well as the second party have mutual benefit, the container inventory management unit 112 automatically recommends the first party and the second party, the exchange option between the first party and the second party. In an embodiment, the first party as well as the second party receives a message from the container inventory management unit 112, for example, through user interface provided by the container inventory management unit 112. The message may include the benefit that the parties would make if both parties exchanged their empty containers at multiple ports, such as ports A and port B. The container inventory management unit 112 may provide beneficial details such as requested containers, their owners, place to pick and costs, destination, costs and BoE details. The container inventory management unit 112 may also provide an interface to calculate the cost involved and for invoicing.

In an embodiment, the message for the first party may include the BoE exchange and its comparison against empty container repositioning from other port, while simultaneously displaying the difference between the auxiliary cost and empty container exchange. Similarly, the message for the second party may include the BoE and its comparison against empty container repositioning from other port, while simultaneously displaying the difference between auxiliary cost and repositioning empty containers.

Once the container inventory management unit 112 recommends the container exchange option to the first party and the second party, the container inventory management unit 112 waits for the response from the first party and the second party over the recommended exchange offer. Responsive to a selection of the container exchange option by the first party and the second party, the container inventory management unit 112 generates a first contract having terms and conditions for the selected container exchange option for the first party and the second party for exchanging the container.

In an embodiment, the contract term may include the following other points that is presented to the first party and the second party:

1- The number of containers being exchanged between the first party and the second party;

2- Total exchange cost incurred over the first party and the second party that the first party would pay to the second party or the second party would pay to the first party;

3- Type of containers being exchanged between the first party and the second party;

4- Number of days the first party will provide their empty containers to the second party as well as the number of days the second party will provide their empty containers to the first party;

5- Name of the ports, such as port A and port B, where the first party and the second party will exchange their containers;

6- Time of exchanging the containers; and

7- Lease agreement between the first party 1 and the second party 2.

Other terms not described herein are contemplated herein.

Accordingly, the container inventory management unit 112 maximizes benefit of cost of exchange between the first party and the second party in reactive manner, without asking any input from a plurality of ports of plurality of parties i.e., inputs are automatically and continuously provided to the container inventory management unit 112. Member parties are free to provide their consent to make their inventories data available to the container inventory management system 102 along with an acceptance that their inventory data is to be synchronized with the port data. In some examples, the container inventory management unit 112 may include blockchain for managing contracts. There may be a possibility that either first party or the second party refuse the recommendation due to any specific reason. For example, the first party may still think that the auxiliary cost of container exchange with the second party is huge and not acceptable. Alternatively, the second party may also refuse the recommendation. When such a condition occurs, the container inventory management unit 112 further determines at least a third party out of the plurality of parties which has a deficit of containers at the first port at a second time. Since the port may have arrival of the containers of more than 2 parties, so any third party may also have a deficit of containers at the first port at the second time with whom the first party can still exchange their container.

Accordingly, the container inventory management unit 112 may also forecast that a third party has a deficit of one or more empty containers at port A on a specific date, such as on 1 ^st Jan 2021. However, the third party has a surplus of empty containers at a third port, such as port C on the same date, i.e. 1 Jan 2021.

The container inventory management unit 112 further determines the characteristics of the container required by each of the parties at each respective port. The container inventory management unit 112 determines that the third party has a deficit of empty containers, which are of the first container characteristics at port A at the second time. The container inventory management unit 112 simultaneously determines that the third party has an excess of empty containers which have second container characteristics at the third port, for example, at port C. Here, the first container characteristics again denotes various parameters which are, but not limited to, the number of surplus containers by the first party at port A and number of deficit containers by the third party at the same port A; type of containers; size of containers, etc. Similarly, the second container characteristics denote various parameters which include, but not limited to, the number of deficit containers by the first party at port C and number of surplus containers by the third party at the same port C; type of containers; size of containers and a quality of the container.

The container inventory management unit 112 analyzes that the deficit empty containers required by the first party at port A but the third party has its surplus containers at port C. In this situation, the container inventory management unit 112 calculates that if the third party transports their surplus empty containers from the port C to port B, the requirement of the first party at port B can be fulfilled easily. On the other side, at port A, first party and the third party can fulfill their requirements without the need of any party to supply empty containers from any other port.

Once determined, the container inventory management unit 112 further analyzes the cost of repositioning the empty containers of the third party from port C to port B and whether this cost is high or low compared to the BoE for exchanging empty containers with the first party. At this time, the container inventory management unit 112 calculates auxiliary cost that includes a total cost for delivering an empty container from a port having surplus of one or more containers to a port having a deficit of one or more containers, a transportation cost, an empty container exchange cost, a total holding cost, a port handling cost, a total rent cost, an opportunity cost, and marketing cost.

The container inventory management unit 112 determines that if the BoE is better than repositioning empty containers, the container inventory management unit 112 concludes it to be a good option for exchange, even if the third part is to bring them, few empty containers from port C to port B and supply to the first party at port B.

Based upon determining the excess and surplus of containers of each of the parties, i.e. the first party and the third party, at plurality of ports, such as port A and port C, the container inventory management unit 112 selects the at least first party and the at least third party for offering a container exchange opportunity to enable the at least first party to supply the one or more surplus empty containers to the at least third party at the first port A based on the first container characteristics, and the at least third party to supply the one or more surplus empty containers to the at least first party at the third port B based on the second container characteristics, wherein the surplus empty containers satisfy, at least partially, the deficit of empty containers in a given point in time.

The container inventory management unit 112 determines that the surplus empty containers currently possessed by the first party at port A matches the number of deficit empty containers currently required by the third party at the same port A. Also, the container inventory management unit 112 determines that the surplus empty containers currently possessed by the third party at port C match the number of empty deficit containers currently required by the first party port B.

Accordingly, the container inventory management unit 112 selects the first party and the third party for offering a container exchange opportunity such that the first party can supply the one or more surplus empty containers to the at least third party at the port A based on the first container characteristics and the third party to supply the one or more surplus empty containers to the first party at the port B based on the second container characteristics. Here the container inventory management unit 112 again makes sure that the surplus empty containers satisfy, at least partially, the deficit of empty containers at a given point in time at the same port.

Once the container inventory management unit 112 has selected the first party and the third party for offering a container exchange opportunity, the container inventory management unit 112 determines at least one second container exchange option between the first party and the third party based at least in part on minimizing an exchange cost, wherein the total exchange cost may again be dependent on the plurality of factors as illustrated earlier. For example, in this case also, the container inventory management unit 112 may calculate auxiliary cost such as

XI $ + X2$ + X3$ + X4$ + X5$; and

Zl$ + Z2$ + Z3$ + Z4$ + Z5$, wherein the Z denotes the exchange cost possessed by the third party at plurality of parameters.

The container inventory management unit 112 may compare the BoE for the first party with the total cost of repositioning the empty container for the first party from own party but from other port. Similarly, the container inventory management unit 112 may compare the BoE for the third party with the total cost of repositioning the empty container for the third party from own company but from other port. During this comparison, the container inventory management unit 112 identifies that the BoE cost for the third party is better than total cost of repositioning the empty container from own company but from other port. The container inventory management unit 112 identifies that there are mutual benefit of the first party as well as the third party compared to repositioning an empty container of the same party from other port. Accordingly, the container inventory management unit 112 proactively concludes that empty container repositioning can easily be avoided or reduced if the first party and the third party agree on the container exchange option.

Once the container inventory management unit 112 identifies that the first party as well as the third party have mutual benefit, the container inventory management unit 112 automatically recommends the first party and the third party the exchange option between the first party and the third party. In an embodiment, a user interface of the party database 130 of both parties receives a message from the container inventory management system 102. The message may include the benefit that the parties would make if both parties exchanged their empty containers at multiple ports, such as ports A and port B. Once the container inventory management unit 112 recommends the container exchange option to the first party and the third party, the container inventory management unit 112 waits for the response from the first party and the third party over the recommended exchange offer. Responsive to a selection of the container exchange option by the first party and the third party, the container inventory management unit 112 generates a second contract having terms and conditions for the selected container exchange option for the first party and the third party for exchanging the container.

In an embodiment, the second contract term may again include following other points that is presented to the first party and the third party:

1- The number of containers being exchanged between the first party and the third party;

2- Total exchange cost incurred over the first party and the third party that first party would pay to the third party or the third party would pay to the first party;

3- Type of containers being exchanged between the first party and the third party;

4- Number of days the first party will provide their empty containers to the third party as well as the number of days the third party will provide their empty containers to the first party;

5- Name of the ports, such as port A and port C, where the first party and the third party will exchange their containers;

6- Time of exchanging the containers;

7- Lease agreement between the first party and the third party.

Other terms not described herein are contemplated herein.

In an embodiment, the container inventory management unit 112 may simultaneously display multiple container exchange offer to all parties and let the parties choose the options best suits them. For example, the container inventory management unit 112 may display that the BoE of container exchange between the first party and the second party is X7 whereas the total cost of container exchange between the first party and the third party is X8. Here X7>X8 which indicates a better container exchange option between the first party and the third party. If X7<X8, it indicates a better container option between the first party and the second party. Accordingly, the container inventory management unit 112 may display multiple options to the parties. Parties, as per their minimized cost of container exchange may choose the best option available to them.

As an example, on the user interface of the first party, a message displays that the cost of container exchange between the first party and the second party is more than the container exchange cost between the first party and the third party. The first party may then choose exchange containers with the third party.

Example case 1: Demonstrating the BoE using the aspects of the current disclosure

Consider an example case for demonstrating the BoE using the aspects of current disclosure. In the example, there are three ports: Singapore port (U), Colombo port (V) and Nhavashiva port (W) handled by four shipping service providing parties (or parties) A, B, C and D. The container inventory management unit 112 process aforementioned information to generate weekly demand from origin port i to destination port j of linear carrier k at period ti as illustrated in FIG. 3A. FIG. 3B and FIG. 3C illustrate optimal solution arrived using the disclosure. As the disclosure focuses on sharing benefits between the parties, all parties stand to benefit due to exchange.

According to FIG. 3A, the container inventory management unit 112, based upon the ports data and the inventory data of each line carriers agreed to exchange containers, forecasts the requirement of empty containers at Singapore port (U), Colombo port (V) and Nhavashiva port (W) for each line carriers A, B, C and D for multiple weeks. For example, during the first week (tl), the line carrier A would require Al, for example, empty containers at Singapore port (U) that is to be transported to Colombo port (V), A2 empty containers at Colombo port (V) that is to be transported to Nhavashiva port (W), A3 empty containers at Colombo port (V) that is to be transported to Singapore port (U), A4 empty containers at Nhavashiva port (W) that is to be transported to Singapore port (U), A5 empty containers at Nhavashiva port (W) that is to be transported to Colombo port (V) and A6 empty containers at Nhavashiva port (W) that is to be transported to Singapore port (U).

Similarly, the line carrier B, during the first week (tl) would require Bl, for example, empty containers at Singapore port (U) that is to be transported to Colombo port (V), B2 empty containers at Colombo port (V) that is to be transported to Nhavashiva port (W), B3 empty containers at Colombo port (V) that is to be transported to Singapore port (U), B4 empty containers at Nhavashiva port (W) that is to be transported to Singapore port (U), B5 empty containers at Nhavashiva port (W) that is to be transported to Colombo port (V) and B6 empty containers at Nhavashiva port (W) that is to be transported to Singapore port (U).

Similarly, the line carrier C, during the first week (tl) would require Cl, for example, empty containers at Singapore port (U) that is to be transported to Colombo port (V), C2 empty containers at Colombo port (V) that is to be transported to Nhavashiva port (W), C3 empty containers at Colombo port (V) that is to be transported to Singapore port (U), C4 empty containers at Nhavashiva port (W) that is to be transported to Singapore port (U), C5 empty containers at Nhavashiva port (W) that is to be transported to Colombo port (V) and C6 empty containers at Nhavashiva port (W) that is to be transported to Singapore port (U).

Similarly, the line carrier D, during the first week (tl) would require DI, for example, empty containers at Singapore port (U) that is to be transported to Colombo port (V), D2 empty containers at Colombo port (V) that is to be transported to Nhavashiva port (W), D3 empty containers at Colombo port (V) that is to be transported to Singapore port (U), D4 empty containers at Nhavashiva port (W) that is to be transported to Singapore port (U), D5 empty containers at Nhavashiva port (W) that is to be transported to Colombo port (V) and D6 empty containers at Nhavashiva port (W) that is to be transported to Singapore port (U).

The container inventory management unit 112, similarly forecasts the requirement of empty containers for the line carriers A, B, C and D for other weeks i.e., T2, T3 and T4 as illustrated in the FIG. 3A. Based upon the requirement of empty containers for all weeks, the container inventory management unit 112 identifies the possible exchange of empty containers among the line carriers A, B, C and D. This possible exchange is illustrated in FIG 3B-3C and discussed herewith.

FIG. 3B-3C illustrates the forecasting of exchange of empty containers among line carriers A, B, C and D at Singapore port (U), Colombo port (V) and Nhavashiva port (W) for weeks Tl, T2, T3 and T4. The possible exchange includes the intra-port as well as inter-port transaction of excess empty containers among the parties A, B, C and D. Also, the possible exchange is described for the first week Tl as an exemplary embodiment of the invention. The container inventory management unit 112 simultaneously identifies the possible exchange of empty containers for other weeks, T2, T3 and T4 as illustrated in FIG. 3B and 3C.

As illustrated in FIG 3B, during week tl, the container inventory management unit 112 identifies that the line carrier A can supply N excess empty containers from Nhavashiva port (W) to Singapore port (U) as an inter-port transfer of excess empty containers.

At Singapore port (U), the line carrier B can supply N excess empty containers to the line carrier C as an intra-port transfer of excess empty containers.

Similarly, at Colombo port (V), the line carrier B can receive N excess containers from line carrier C as well as line carrier A as an intra-port transfer of excess empty containers. The line carrier B also receives excess empty container from the same shipping line B, however, from the Nhavashiva port (W), as an inter-port transfer of excess empty containers. Also, at the Colombo port (V), the line carrier D can receive N excess empty containers from the line carrier A as an intra-port transfer of excess empty containers. The line carrier D also receives excess empty container from the same shipping line D, however, from the Nhavashiva port (W), as an inter-port transfer of excess empty containers.

Based upon the possible containers exchange option, the container inventory management unit 112 proactively offers container exchange option to line carrier A, B, C and D. As soon as parties agrees to the offer, the container inventory management unit 112 performs a contract signing process between the line carrier A, B, C and D as an agreement of container exchange between or among line carriers.

In an embodiment, the container inventory management unit 112 performs calculation over a real-time container inventory data obtained from line carrier A, B, C and D as well as port data of Singapore port (U), Colombo port (V) and Nhavashiva port (W). However, the real-time data may change due to possible climate change, change in the shipping plans of any of the line carriers etc. In such cases, the container inventory management unit 112 may recalculate the possible container exchange offers based upon the mutual benefit of exchange of line carriers and proactively offer the container exchange offer to the line carriers. As a result of usage of real-time container inventory data, the container inventory management unit 112 may be able to accurately forecast and offer container inventory exchange opportunities, thereby providing BoE for the parties involved at least in terms of time, cost, and other benefits. For example, the container inventory management unit 112 may perform a primary forecast for forthcoming year in month of August. The container inventory management unit 112 may keep updating the container inventory data from parties and ports to update and finetune the forecasting for upcoming months like September and October. Further, the container inventory management unit 112 may provide accurate final forecast with less than 5% variation for the forthcoming year by providing weekly update by incorporating uncertainty factors for upcoming weeks or months. In the end, the cost of goods is likely to come down ultimately benefitting the end customers. Also, the emissions are likely to come down due to efficient container inventory management. Most importantly, the disclosure addresses uncertainty issues in the container inventory management issue in the shipping industry through scientific forecasting.

Example case 2: party container exchange when container characteristics of both parties are same:

Suppose there are two ports, namely port A, port B. There are 2 shipping lines operating in that country, a first party and a second party. Both shipping lines operate container shipping services from both ports. First party and the second are such parties who have agreed to share their inventory information with the container inventory management system 102 to obtain optimized container solution to deficit and excess containers at any port of any party and lower the number of empty containers reposition. Accordingly, the party database 130 of the first party and the second party are accessible to the container inventory management system 102. The inventory data is the data maintained by the party database of each party. The container inventory management system 102 may obtain information on containers periodically. The container inventory management system 102 also has access to the database of port A and port B . The port database indicates the type of inventory, time of arrival and departure of containers, type of containers etc. Also, whenever the port database is updated by the government or private regulating authority, the updated database may be captured to the container inventory management system 102.

The container inventory management system 102 synchronizes the port databases 102 for the port A and B with the inventory container database of the first party and the second party. Based upon the synchronized ERP databases 108 of the first party and the second party as well as the port databases of port A, port B, the container inventory management system 102 identifies the information associated with containers to obtain the container data associated with the first party and the second party at port A and port B. Accordingly, the container inventory management system 102 cross verifies the inventory data with the ports data and identifies the container information of each party at each port at a given time.

The container inventory management system 102, based upon the synchronized data, forecasts that on an incoming certain day, for example, 1, Jan 2022, the first party has a surplus of 40 empty containers. However, on the same date, the first party also has a deficit of 40 empty container at port B. Meanwhile, the second party has a deficit of 40 containers at port A on 1 Jan 2022 but a surplus of 40 empty containers. The container inventory management system 102 further identifies the characteristics of the empty containers required by the first party at port B and the characteristics of the empty container required by the second party at port A. The characteristics indicate the type of container, such as a container for cloth, size of container, such as 45’ quality of container, such as iron made containers, number of containers, such as a requirement of 40 empty containers etc.

The container inventory management system 102 identifies that the container characteristics required by the first party at port B completely matches with the container characteristics of the surplus containers of the second party at port B. Also, the container inventory management system 102 identifies that the container characteristics required by the second party at port A match the container characteristics of the surplus containers of the first party at port A.

Once the container inventory management system 102 identifies that the container characteristics of deficit and surplus container at port A and port B match with each other, container inventory management system 102 selects the first party and the second party for offering a container exchange opportunity to enable the first party to supply 40 surplus empty containers to the second party at port A, and the second party to supply the 40 surplus empty containers to the first party at port B. Currently, the container characteristics completely match.

The container inventory management system 102 further determines the total exchange cost of the container between the first party and the second party at port A and port B. The total exchange cost for the first party comes out to be 1000$ based upon various factors such as container exchange at the first port and the second port, a type of carrier the first party and the second party is providing to each other, time and duration of exchange, BoE, an auxiliary cost including cost for delivering an empty container from a port having surplus one or more containers to a port having deficit of one or more containers, a transportation cost, an empty container exchange cost, a total holding cost, a port handling cost, a total rent cost, an opportunity cost and marketing cost. Based upon the various factor, the BoE for the second party comes out to be 1100$. The container inventory management system 102 further identifies the cost of repositioning empty from other port of the same party is more than the BoE of each individual party.

The container inventory management system 102 automatically recommends the container exchange offer to the first party and the second party through a user interface of the first party and the second party with a message that “The first party and the second party can exchange their containers at port A and port B on 1 Jan 2022. Do you want to proceed?”. As such, both parties receive, in advance, the exchange offer of the empty container between first party and the second party at the first port A and the second port B.

The container inventory management system 102 waits for the acknowledgement of acceptance from the first party and the second party. When both parties agree, they click “Yes” on the user interface. The container inventory management system 102, in response to clicking “yes”, generates a term of contract between the first party and the second party. The term of the contract includes, “40 iron made containers of 45’ size of the first company will be handed over to the second company at port A on 1 Jan 2022 and 40 iron made containers of 45’ size of the second company will be handed over to the first company at port B on 1 Jan 2022. The contract term also includes the number of days the container is provided for, lease agreement of the containers between the first party and the second party, amount of total rental charge the first party would pay to the second party, so that both parties are in benefit.

Example case 3: 1-1 party container exchange when container characteristics (number of containers required at any specific port) of both parties are not same:

In the previous example, suppose now there also exists a port C apart from port A and Port B. First party operates (arrival/departure) from Port A and port B but not on port C. Second party operates from all three ports. The distance between the port A and B is 100 Km whereas the distance between the port B and C is 25 Km.

Based upon the container characteristics of the first party and the second party as well as based upon the port data, the container inventory management system 102 forecasts that the first party has a surplus of 80 containers at port A but has a deficit of 100 empty containers at port B on 1 Jan 2022. The container inventory management system 102 further forecasts that the second party has a deficit of 30 containers at port A but a surplus of 60 containers at port B and a surplus of 80 containers at port C on 1^st Jan 2022. The distance between Port A and port B is 100 Km, whereas the distance between port B and C is 25 Km.

The container inventory management system 102 identifies that first party can lend 30 empty containers to the second party at port A on 1 Jan 2022 and is still left with 50 excess containers on the same port on the same date. However, the number of containers required by the first party at port B is 100 whereas the second party has only 60 surplus containers at port B. Also, the second party has 80 excess containers at port C. The container inventory management system 102 identifies that the surplus containers still left of the first party at port A is 50, which could be transported port B where the first party has a deficit already, however, the distance between port A and port B is 100 Km. The container inventory management system 102 calculates the total cost of repositioning the remaining 50 containers of the first company from port A to port B. This time the total auxiliary cost would include the total cost for delivering an empty container from port A to Port B, a transportation cost of the containers from port A to port B, an empty container exchange cost, a total holding cost, a port handling cost, a total rent cost, an opportunity cost and marketing cost.

Based upon the distance of 100 Km between port A and port B, the container inventory management system 102 calculates total exchange cost, considering various parameters of the cost such as, total auxiliary cost that includes costs for delivering an empty container from port A to Port B, a transportation cost of the containers from port A to port B, an empty container exchange cost, a total holding cost, a port handling cost, a total rent cost, an opportunity cost and marketing cost, and comes to a calculation that the total exchange cost would be around 1000USD for shipping empty containers of the first party from port A to port B.

The container inventory management system 102 considers this option as a first option of container exchange with the first party lending 30 empty containers to the second party at port A. Second party to provide 50 empty containers to the first party at port B. The first party transports 50 empty containers from port A to B traveling 100 Km and fulfils the requirement of the first party at port B. The auxiliary cost which the first party would bear is 1000USD. Total empty container repositioning is 50.

The container inventory management system 102 further analyses for any second exchange option that is possible with even reduced cost for the first party, such that there is a mutual benefit first party as well as for the second party. The container inventory management system 102 identifies that the cost of shipping empty container from port C to port B would be quite less as compared to the cost of shipping empty containers from port A to port B because the distance between port B and C is just 25 Km. Accordingly, container inventory management system 102 analyses that instead of repositioning 50 empty containers from port A to port B by the first party, if the second party supplies its 40 empty containers from port C to port B, the requirement of the first party of 100 empty containers at port B can be fulfilled easily. Currently, container inventory management system 102 calculates the auxiliary cost of shipping 40 empty containers of the second party from port C to port B at 25 Km distance and comes to a calculation of 600USD only.

The container inventory management system 102 considers this option as a second option of container exchange where the first party will lend 30 empty containers to the second party at port A on 1 Jan 2022. Second party may provide 60 empty containers to the first party at port B on the same date. The second party transports 40 empty containers from port C to port B traveling just 25 Km and fulfils the requirement of 100 empty containers of the first party at port B. The BoE due to possible container exchange is just 600USD. Total empty container repositioning is 40 only.

The container inventory management system 102 selects the first party and the second party for offering a container exchange opportunity to enable the one first party to supply 30 surplus empty containers to the second party at port A based on the first container characteristics, and the second party to supply 60 surplus empty containers to the first party at port B and transport 40 empty containers to port B from port C in order to lend total 100 empty containers to the first party at port B based on the second container characteristics.

The container inventory management system 102 automatically recommends over a user interface of the first party and the second party the first container exchange option as well as the second container exchange option.

The first party sees the first BoE due to exchange comes to 1000USD whereas the second BoE due to exchange comes around 600USD. The first party considers the second option as good business for container exchange which minimizes its own empty container repositioning as well as the total exchange cost, compared to 1000USD. On the other side the second party, based upon the total exchange cost, rent cost, transportation cost, also considers that the container exchange in 600USD in mutual exchange is not a bad option. Accordingly, both parties agree over the second container exchange option and press the second option over their user interface. Accordingly, a contract has terms and conditions for the selected second container exchange option for the first party and the second party for exchanging the container is generated by the container inventory management system 102 and provided back to both parties for initiating the container exchange process between both parties.

Example cases 4: Multiple-1 party container exchange when container characteristics (number of containers required at any specific port) of parties are not same:

Suppose now there are 4 parties and 2 ports. All parties operate from all ports. Based upon the synchronization between container characteristics of all parties and all ports and generating a repository data, the container inventory management system 102 forecasts that the first party has a surplus of 200 containers at port A but has a deficit of 100 empty containers at port B on 1 Jan 2022. The container inventory management system 102 further forecasts that the second party has a deficit of 30 empty containers at port A but a surplus of 40 containers at port B on the same date. The container inventory management system 102 further forecasts that the third party has a deficit of 60 containers at port A but a surplus of 60 containers at port B. The container inventory management system 102 further forecasts that the fourth party has a deficit of 100 containers at port A but a surplus of 100 containers at port B.

The container inventory management system 102 identifies that the container characteristics required by the first party at port B match the container characteristics of the surplus containers of all remaining parties at B. Also, the container inventory management system 102 identifies that the container characteristics required by the remaining parties at port A also match with the container characteristics of the surplus containers of the first party at port A.

Once the container inventory management system 102 identifies that the container characteristics of deficit and surplus container at port A and port B matches with each other, container inventory management system 102 identifies that there could be multiple exchange option among the parties to have containers exchange program with one another:

First option: First party provides 30 surplus empty containers to the second party at port A to fulfil the requirement of the second party at port A on 1 Jan 2022; the first party provides 60 empty containers to the third party at port A on the same date to fulfil the requirement of the third party at port A. Second party provides 40 empty containers to the first party at port B so that the requirement of the first party gets partially fulfilled on 1 Jan 2022; the third party also supplies 60 empty containers at port B to fulfil the remaining empty container requirement of the first party at port B.

Second option: First party provides 100 surplus empty containers to the fourth party at port A to fulfil the requirement of the fourth party at port A on 1 Jan 2022; fourth party provides 100 empty containers to the first party at port B on the same date to fulfil the requirement of the first party at port B.

Based upon the first option, the container inventory management system 102 further calculates the BoE due to possible exchange which is 10000USD. Based upon the second option, the container inventory management system 102 further calculates the BoE due to possible exchange which is 11000USD. The container inventory management system 102 simultaneously identifies that both costs are less than the repositioning empty container cost.

The container inventory management system 102 selects both options. The first option being, enable the first party to supply 30 surplus empty containers to the second party at port A; 60 surplus empty containers to the second party at port A. First party accepts 40 empty containers from the second party at port B, 60 empty containers from the third party at port B on the same date. The BoE due to possible container exchange is 10000USD.

The second option being, enable the first party to supply 100 surplus empty containers to the fourth party at port A on 1 Jan 2022; first party to accept 100 surplus empty containers from the further party at port B on the same date. The BoE due to possible container exchange is 11000USD.

The container inventory management system 102 automatically recommends both options to all parties through a user interface of the first party, second party, third party and the fourth party. Parties now think that the exchange cost in the first option is less than the second option. So, parties select the first option. When all parties are agreed over the first option, first party, second party and the third party agree, they click “Yes” on the user interface. The container inventory management system 102, in response to clicking “Yes”, generates and sends a term of contract to the first party, second party and the third second party. Also, even if the fourth party also selects “Yes” by seeing that the total exchange cost involved here is a good business for the fourth party, the first party had selected “No”, the second option is not processed.

A second example. Both options are sent to the parties in which the first option costs less than the second option. However, the first party, second party and the third party, even being the member parties of container exchange programs, are extreme competitors and because of the loss in the coordination on last year, all three parties had to incur huge cost. So, first party, second party and the third party decide not to select the first option and click on the second option as “Yes”. Accordingly, the container inventory management system 102, in response to clicking “Yes”, generates and sends a term of contract to the first party and the fourth party.

Example cases 5: Single Party - consortium container exchange when container characteristics (type of containers required at any specific port) of parties are not same:

Suppose there are three parties such as first party, second party and the third party, out of which the second party and the third party forms a consortium. First party is an individual party. First party as well as consortium are the member parties of the container exchange program. Accordingly, the container inventory management system 102 has access over the container database of the consortium parties as well as the individual parties along with the port database of the port A and port B.

Based upon the synchronised data, the container inventory management system 102 forecasts that on a specific date, for example, 1 Feb 2022, the first party has a surplus of 42 containers at port A but has a deficit of 30 empty containers at port B. The container inventory management system 102 further forecasts that the second party of the consortium has a deficit of 10 containers at port A but a surplus of 15 containers at port B. The container inventory management system 102 further forecasts that the second party of the consortium has a deficit of 20 containers at port A on the same date but an excess of 20 containers at port B on the same date.

The container inventory management system 102 identifies that first party can provides 10 surplus empty containers to the second party of the consortium at port A to fulfil the requirement of the second party of the consortium at port A on 1 Feb 2022; and can lend 20 surplus empty containers to the third party of the consortium on the same date. The container inventory management system 102 identifies that the first party has requirement of 30 empty containers at port B. The container inventory management system 102 identifies two options of lending the containers to the first party at port B.

First Option: Third party of the consortium could supply all 20 containers to the first party at port B. The remaining requirement of 10 empty containers could be supplied by the second party of the consortium, thereby fulfilling the empty container requirement of the first party at port B. Along with this, that first party can provide 10 surplus empty containers to the second party of the consortium at port A to fulfil the requirement of the second party of the consortium at port A on 1 Feb 2022; and can lend 20 surplus empty containers to the third party of the consortium on the same date.

Second option: Third party of the consortium could supply only 15 containers to the first party at port B and the remaining 15 containers can be supplied by the second party of the consortium, thereby fulfilling the empty container requirement of the first party at port B. Along with this, the first party provides 10 surplus empty containers to the second party of the consortium at port A to fulfil the requirement of the second party of the consortium at port A on 1 Feb 2022; and can lend 20 surplus empty containers to the third party of the consortium on the same date.

The container inventory management system 102 further identifies that type of 15 surplus containers of the second party of the consortium at port B is of steel type whereas 20 surplus empty containers of the third party is of iron type. Whereas 42 surplus empty containers possessed by the first party at port A is of iron type. The container inventory management system 102 further identifies that the cost of steel type container is more than the cost of iron containers.

Accordingly, the container inventory management system 102 further calculates the total cost of exchange that also includes the cost due to type of the containers at both ports. The container inventory management system 102 calculates the BoE due to possible container exchange in the first option as 7500USD whereas in the second option the BoE due to possible container exchange is 900USD.

The container inventory management system 102 selects both possible options.

The first option being, enable the first party to supply 10 surplus empty containers to the second party of the consortium at port A; 20 surplus empty containers to the third party at port A. First party accepts 20 surplus empty containers from the third party of the consortium at port B and 10 surplus empty containers from the second party of the consortium to the first party at port B on the same date. The BoE due to possible container exchange is 7500USD.

The second option being, enable the first party to supply 10 surplus empty containers to the second party of the consortium at port A; 20 surplus empty containers to the third party at port A. First party accepts 15 surplus empty containers from the third party of the consortium at port B and 15 surplus empty containers from the second party of the consortium to the first party at port B on the same date. The BoE due to possible container exchange is 9000USD.

The container inventory management system 102 automatically recommends both options to the first party and the parties of the consortium through a user interface of the first party, second party, and the third party. First party and the consortium parties now think that the exchange cost in the first option is less than the second option. So, the first party and the consortium parties select the first option. When all parties are agreed over the first option, first party, second party and the third party agree, they click “Yes” on the user interface. The container inventory management system 102, in response to clicking “Yes”, generates and sends a term of the contract to the first party, second and the third party of the consortium.

Example case 5: party container exchange when container characteristics of both parties are same. However, one of the parties rejects the offer: Suppose there are three ports, namely Port A, Port B, and port C. There are three parties, namely a first party, a second party and a third party. All parties operate through port A and B. However, only the second party and the third party operate through port C but not first party First party, second party and the third party have agreed to participate in the container exchange program. Accordingly, all parties share their inventory information with the container inventory management system 102 to obtain optimized container solution to deficit and excess containers at ports A, B and C to lower the number of empty containers reposition. Accordingly, the inventory database of the first party, second party and the third party are accessible to the container inventory management system 102. The container inventory management system 102 also has access to the database of port A, port B and port C. The port database indicates the type of inventory, time of arrival and departure of containers, type of containers etc. Also, whenever the port database is updated by the government or private regulating authority, the updated database is immediately forwarded to the container inventory management system 102. Also, the updated database may be forwarded to the container inventory management system 102 on hourly, daily, weekly, or monthly basis.

The container inventory management system 102 synchronizes the port database A and B with the inventory container database of the first party, second party and the third party. Based upon the synchronized ERP databases of the first party, second party and the third party as well as the port databases of Port A, Port B, and port C, the container inventory management system 102 identifies the information associated with containers to obtain the container data associated with the first party, second party and the third party at port A, B and C.

The container inventory management system 102, based upon the synchronized data, forecasts that on a specific day, for example, 1 Jan 2022, the first party has a surplus of 50 empty containers. However, on the same date, the first party also has a deficit of 40 empty container at port B. The container inventory management system 102 further forecasts that the second party has a surplus of 50 containers at port B and surplus of 40 containers at port C but deficit of 20 containers on 1 Jan 2022. The container inventory management system 102 further forecasts that third party has a deficit of 30 containers at port A, no availability of container at port B and surplus of 60 containers at port C on 1 Jan 2022.

The container inventory management system 102 identifies that the container characteristics required by the first party at port B completely match with the container characteristics of the surplus containers of the second party at port B. Also, the container inventory management system 102 identifies that the container characteristics required by the second party at port A completely match with the container characteristics of the surplus containers of the first party at port A on the same date.

Once the container inventory management system 102 identifies that the container characteristics of deficit and surplus container at port A and port B match with each other, container inventory management system 102 selects the first party and the second party for offering a container exchange opportunity to enable the first party to supply 20 surplus empty containers to the second party at port A, and the second party to supply the 40 surplus empty containers to the first party at port B. At this time, the container characteristics match.

The container inventory management system 102 further determines the total exchange cost of container between the first party and the second party at port A and port B. The BoE due to possible container exchange for the first party comes out to be 1000USD based upon various factors such as container exchange at the first port and the second port, a type of carrier the first party and the second party are providing to each other, time and duration of exchange, cost involved in benefit of exchange. Similarly, the BoE due to possible container exchange for the second party comes out to be 1100USD.

The container inventory management system 102 automatically recommends the container exchange offer to the first party and the second party through a user interface of the first party and the second party with a message that “The first party and the second party can exchange their containers at port A and port B on 1 Jan 2022. Do you want to proceed?”. As such both parties receive, in advance, the exchange offer of the empty container between the first party and the second party at the first port A and the second port B.

The container inventory management system 102 waits for the acknowledgement of acceptance from the first party and the second party. The first party sees that the BoE due to possible container exchange us 1000USD. The second party sees that the BoE due to possible container exchange is 1100USD. The first part might agree, but the second party may disagree over the total exchange cost. Accordingly, although the first party accepts the offer on their interface, the second party rejects the offer.

In response to rejection of the recommendation by the second party, the container inventory management system 102 further identifies that the third part also has a deficit of 30 containers at port A. However, the third party has surplus of 60 containers at port C where the first party does not operate. Also, the container inventory management system 102 identifies that the container characteristics of the requirement of both parties are the same.

Accordingly, the container inventory management system 102 selects the first party and the third party for offering a container exchange opportunity to enable the first party to supply 30 surplus empty containers to the third party at port A based on the first container characteristics, and the third party to supply 40 surplus empty containers to the first party at port B based upon the second container characteristics.

At this time, since the third party has no surplus containers at port B, the container inventory management system 102 identifies that third party will have to transport 40 excess containers from port C to port B. Also, the distance between the port A and B is almost 200 Km whereas the distance between the port C and B is merely 50 Km. Cost of repositioning remaining 20 empty containers by the first party from the port A to B would be quite higher compared to the cost of repositioning 40 empty containers from port C to port B.

Now the container inventory management system 102 calculates the total exchange cost of transporting 40 surplus empty containers of the third party from port C to port B. At this time, the total exchange cost includes a total cost for delivering an empty container from a port C to a port B, a transportation cost to deliver 40 empty containers from port C to port B, an empty container exchange cost, a total holding cost, a port handling cost, a total rent cost, an opportunity cost and marketing cost, a type of carrier for exchange, a time for exchange and duration of use of the at least one container having the first characteristics by the third party and at least one surplus container having the second characteristics by the first party, the exchange cost, and benefit of exchange (BoE) for first party and the third party. Currently container inventory management system 102 calculates the BoE due to possible container exchange as 1050USD for the third party, which is less than repositioning empty containers.

The container inventory management system 102 automatically recommends over a user interface of the first party and the third party along with the total exchange cost between the first party and the third party.

The first party sees BoE due to possible container exchange as 1000USD which is less than the total cost of repositioning empty containers, whereas the third party sees the BoE due to possible container exchange to be 1050USD which is also less then repositioning empty containers. The first party and the third party may consider it as a good business between the parties. Accordingly, both parties agree and press “Yes” on their user interface. Accordingly, a second contract having terms and conditions for the selected second container exchange option for first party and the third party for exchanging the container is generated by the container inventory management system 102 and provided back to both parties for initiating the container exchange process between both parties. FIG. 4 shows a computer implemented method 400 for container inventory management for generating an optimum solution to container exchange between plurality of parties at plurality of ports, with minimized container exchange cost, according to certain embodiments. The method 400 is performed by a computing device such as the container inventory management system 102 as disclosed in FIG. 1. Various steps of the method 400 are included through blocks in FIG. 4. One or more blocks may be combined or eliminated to achieve the method 400 without departing from the scope of the present disclosure.

At step 402, the method 400 includes obtaining information associated with containers from one or more port databases of a plurality of ports and one or more party databases of a plurality of parties. As such, plurality of parties may agree to synchronize their individual databases of container inventories.

At step 404, the method 400 includes processing the information associated with containers to obtain container data associated with each party of the plurality of parties for each port at a given time. As such, the container inventory management system 102 synchronizes the inventory information of each party with plurality of port data such that the container inventory management system 102 can accurately map the arrival and departure of inventories of plurality of parties at plurality of ports.

At step 406, the method 400 includes forecasting a container inventory for each party at each port for a defined time, by processing the container data. As such, the container inventory management system 102 knows in advance the requirement of containers of plurality of parties at plurality of ports for transporting inventories from one port to another port.

At step 408, the method 400 includes determining at least one first party of the plurality of parties having a surplus of one or more surplus empty containers, having a first container characteristics, at a first port of the plurality of ports at a first time and having a deficit of one or more empty containers having a second container characteristics at a second port of the plurality of ports at the first time. Accordingly, the container inventory management system 102 identifies the party who has surplus of containers at the first port, and deficit of containers at the second port, along with the first container characteristics already available at the first port and the second container characteristics in demand at the second port.

At step 410, the method 400 includes identifying, based upon the determining, at least one second party of the plurality of parties having a deficit of one or more containers, having the first container characteristics, at the first port at the first time, and a surplus of one or more containers, having the second container characteristics, at the second port at the first time. As such, the container inventory management system 102 identifies the party who has deficit of containers at the first port, and surplus of containers at the second port, along with the first container characteristics in demand at the first port and the second container characteristics already available at the second port.

At step 412, the method 400 includes selecting, the at least one first party and the at least one second party for offering a container exchange opportunity to enable the at least one first party to supply the one or more surplus empty containers to the at least one second party at the first port based on the first container characteristics, and the at least one second party to supply the one or more surplus empty containers to the at least one first party at the second port based on the second container characteristics. As such, the container inventory management system 102 identifies at least two parties out of which the first party has as a surplus of empty container with first container characteristics at the first port and the second party has as a deficit of empty container with first container characteristics at the first port. Also, the container inventory management system 102 identifies that the first party has as a deficit of empty container with second container characteristics at the second port and the second party has a surplus of empty containers with first container characteristics at the second port. Accordingly, the container inventory management system 102 provides an offer of a container exchange opportunity to enable the first party to supply the one or more surplus empty containers to the second party at the first port based on the first container characteristics, and the second party to supply the one or more surplus empty containers to the first party at the second port based on the second container characteristics. In embodiment, the surplus container satisfies at least partially the requirement of deficit empty containers at the first port and the second port.

At step 414, the method 400 includes determining at least one first container exchange option between the at least one first party and the at least one second party based at least in part on minimizing an exchange cost.

At step 416, the method 400 includes automatically recommending the at least one container exchange option to the at least one first party and the at least one second party.

At step 418, the method 400 includes responsive to a selection of any container exchange option of the at least one first container exchange option by the at least one first party and the at least one second party, generating, a first contract having terms and conditions for the selected container exchange option for the at least one first party and the at least one second party for exchanging the container.

To this end, the container inventory management system 102 of the present disclosure provides plurality of container exchange option to plurality of parties. The disclosure has considered a calculation mechanism of determining BoE that includes minimizing total empty container repositions through plurality of options which is indirectly based upon minimizing the total cost involved during the entire financial transaction of container exchange process. Various options of container exchange between plurality of parties at plurality of ports such that there is a BoE due to possible container exchange by having minimum number of repositioning of empty containers throughout the process over a minimum total exchange cost and offeror and offeree both parties must be in profit. Parties, based upon the minimum cost of container exchange between plurality of parties, may also choose the best option to select the container exchange option with other party. Being proactive in nature, parties do not need to put their requirement of empty containers whenever parties look for an empty container, rather, the container inventory management unit proactively fetches the party inventory database as well as port databases and calculates the best container exchange solution and offers, in advance, to the parties a good and plurality of option to exchange empty containers at plurality of ports, while simultaneously keeping care of mutual benefit in terms of finance of parties exchanging containers.

Obviously, numerous modifications and variations of the present disclosure will be apparent to the person skilled in the art in light of the above description. For example, in the current invention disclosure, the container inventory exchange is explained in context shipping industry. However, one can appreciate that the disclosure can be applied to other logistic industries who transport their goods via roadways, airways and/or waterways etc, separately or together. Also, the date of exchange of containers have been considered as same throughout the disclosure. However, it is also possible that the first party and the second party exchange their containers on one day at first port, whereas the first party and the second party exchange containers on another day at the second port. In this case cost may vary which depends upon the difference in date. One possibility is that even the exchange of containers are being done at the second port after some days at the second port compared to the first port, the total exchange cost may remain same. Another possibility is that the total cost in this case may vary depending upon the current rate of lease terms, transportation cost, rent cost BoE etc are changed as the day passes. Exchange cost parameters described herein are only for the purpose of illustration and should not be considered as limiting. It is therefore to be understood that within the scope of the appended claims, the disclosure may be practiced otherwise than as specifically described herein.

Claims

58 Claims:

1. A computer-implemented method for container inventory management, the method comprising: obtaining, by a processor, information associated with containers from one or more port databases of a plurality of ports and one or more party databases of a plurality of parties; processing, by the processor, the information associated with containers to obtain container data associated with each party of the plurality of parties for each port at a given time; forecasting, by the processor, a container inventory for each party at each port for a defined time, by processing the container data; determining, by the processor, based on the forecasting, at least one first party of the plurality of parties having a surplus of one or more surplus empty containers, having a first container characteristics, at a first port of the plurality of ports at a first time and having a deficit of one or more empty containers having a second container characteristics at a second port of the plurality of ports at the first time, wherein the first container characteristics comprising a first set of a number of containers, type of containers, size of containers and quality of containers and wherein the second container characteristics comprising a second set of a number of containers, type of containers, size of containers and quality of containers; identifying, by the processor, based upon the determining, at least one second party of the plurality of parties having a deficit of one or more containers, having the first container characteristics, at the first port at the first time, and a surplus of one or more containers, having the second container characteristics, at the second port at the first time; selecting, by the processor, the at least one first party and the at least one second party for offering a container exchange opportunity to enable the at least one first party to supply the one or more surplus empty containers to the at least one second party at the first port based on 59 the first container characteristics, and the at least one second party to supply the one or more surplus empty containers to the at least one first party at the second port based on the second container characteristics, wherein the surplus empty containers satisfy, at least partially, the deficit of empty containers in a given point in time; determining, by the processor, at least one first container exchange option between the at least one first party and the at least one second party based at least in part on benefit of exchange (BoE), wherein each container exchange option of the at least one first container exchange option comprises a combination for container exchange at the first port and the second port, a type of carrier for exchange, a time for exchange and duration of use of the at least one container having the first characteristics by the second party and at least one surplus container having the second characteristics by the first party, and the BoE for the at least one first party and the at least one second party, wherein the BoE is determined, at least in part, by multiplying number of containers with number of days to be used by the least one second party evaluated against qualitative parameters; automatically recommending, by the processor through a user interface, the at least one container exchange option to the at least one first party and the at least one second party; and responsive to a selection of any container exchange option of the at least one first container exchange option by the at least one first party and the at least one second party, generating, by the processor, a first contract having terms and conditions for the selected container exchange option for the at least one first party and the at least one second party for exchanging the containers.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising: 60 generating a repository having the container data by processing the information associated with containers obtained by synchronization of the one or more port databases of the plurality of ports and the one or more party databases of the plurality of parties; and processing the containers data to map the container data to each port and each party.

3. The method of claim 1, further comprising: in response to rejection of the recommendation by the at least one first party of the plurality of parties or the at least one second party, identifying, by the processor, based upon the determining, at least one third party of the plurality of parties having a deficit of one or more containers, having the first characteristics, at the first port at a second time, and a surplus of one or more containers, having the second characteristics, at the third port at the second time; selecting, by the processor, the at least one first party and the at least one third party for offering a container exchange opportunity to enable the at least one first party to supply the one or more surplus empty containers to the at least one third party at the first port based on the first container characteristics, and the at least one third party to supply the one or more surplus empty containers to the at least one first party at the second port based on the second container characteristics, wherein the surplus empty containers satisfy, at least partially, the deficit of empty containers in a given point in time; determining at least one second container exchange option between the at least one first party and the at least one third party based at least in part on the BoE; automatically recommending, by the processor through a user interface, the at least one second container exchange option to the at least one first party and the at least one third party; and 61 responsive to a selection of any container exchange option of the at least one second container exchange option by the at least one first party and the at least one third party, generating a second contract having terms and conditions for the at least one second container exchange option for the at least one first party and the at least one third party for the container exchange.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the recommendation is provided as alerts over the user interface of the at least one first party and the at least one second party.

5. The method of claim 1, further comprising: in response to rejection of the recommendation by the at least one first party of the plurality of parties or the at least one second party, identifying, by the processor, based upon the determining, at least one third party of the plurality of parties having a deficit of one or more containers, having the first characteristics, at the first port at a second time, and a surplus of one or more containers, having the second characteristics, at the third port at the second time; selecting, by the processor, the at least one first party, at least one second party and the at least one third party for offering a container exchange opportunity to enable the at least one first party to supply the one or more surplus empty containers to the at least one second party and the at least one third party at the first port based on the first container characteristics, and the at least one third party and the at least one second party to supply the one or more surplus empty containers to the at least one first party at the second port based on the second container characteristics, wherein the surplus empty containers satisfy, at least partially, the deficit of empty containers in a given point in time; 62 determining at least one second container exchange option between the at least one first party the at least one second party and the at least one third party based at least in part on the BoE; automatically recommending, by the processor through a user interface, the at least one second container exchange option to the at least one first party and the at least one third party; and responsive to a selection of any container exchange option of the at least one second container exchange option by the at least one first party and the at least one third party, generating a second contract having terms and conditions for the at least one second container exchange option for the at least one first party and the at least one third party for the container exchange.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the forecasting the container inventory for each party at each port for a defined time is performed by processing the container data obtained based on frequently updated real-time data.

7. A system for container inventory management, comprising: a computer memory to store a program code; and a processor to execute the program code to: obtain, by a processor, information associated with containers from one or more port databases of a plurality of ports and one or more party databases of a plurality of parties; process, by the processor, the information associated with containers to obtain container data associated with each party of the plurality of parties for each port at a given time; forecast, by the processor, a container inventory for each party at each port for a defined time, by processing the container data; determine, by the processor, based on the forecasting, at least one first party of the plurality of parties having a surplus of one or more surplus empty containers, having a first container characteristics, at a first port of the plurality of ports at a first time and a deficit of one or more empty containers having a second container characteristics at a second port of the plurality of ports at the first time, wherein the first container characteristics comprising a first set of a number of containers, type of containers, size of containers and quality of containers and wherein the second container characteristics comprising a second set of a number of containers, type of containers, size of containers and quality of containers; identify, by the processor, based upon the determining, at least one second party of the plurality of parties having a deficit of one or more containers, having the first characteristics, at the first port at the first time, and a surplus of one or more containers, having the second characteristics, at the second port at the first time; select, by the processor, the at least one first party and the at least one second party for offering a container exchange opportunity to enable the at least one first party to supply the one or more surplus empty containers to the at least one second party at the first port based on the first container characteristics, and the at least one second party to supply the one or more surplus empty containers to the at least one first party at the second port based on the second container characteristics, wherein the surplus empty containers satisfy, at least partially, the deficit of empty containers in a given point in time; determine, by the processor, at least one first container exchange option between the at least one first party and the at least one second party based at least in part on benefit of exchange (BoE), wherein each container exchange option of the at least one first container exchange option comprises a combination for container exchange at the first port and the second port, a type of carrier for exchange, a time for exchange and duration of use of the at least one container having the first characteristics by the second party and at least one surplus container having the second characteristics by the first party, and the BoE for the at least one first party and the at least one second party , wherein the BoE is determined, at least in part, by multiplying number of containers with number of days to be used by the least one second party evaluated against qualitative parameters; automatically recommend, by the processor through a user interface, the at least one container exchange option to the at least one first party and the at least one second party; and responsive to a selection of any container exchange option of the at least one first container exchange option by the at least one first party and the at least one second party, generate, by the processor, a first contract having terms and conditions for the selected container exchange option for the at least one first party and the at least one second party for exchanging the container.

8. The system of claim 7, wherein the processor is further configured to execute the program code to: generate a repository having the container data by processing the associated with containers obtained by synchronization of the one or more port databases of the plurality of ports and the one or more party databases of the plurality of parties; and process the containers data to map the container data to each port and each party.

9. The system of claim 7, wherein the processor is further configured to execute the program code to: in response to rejection of the recommendation by the at least one first party of the plurality of parties or the at least one second party, identify based upon the determining, at least one third party of the plurality of parties having a deficit of one or more containers, having the 65 first characteristics, at the first port at a second time, and a surplus of one or more containers, having the second characteristics, at the third port at the second time; select the at least one first party and the at least one third party for offering a container exchange opportunity to enable the at least one first party to supply the one or more surplus empty containers to the at least one third party at the first port based on the first container characteristics, and the at least one third party to supply the one or more surplus empty containers to the at least one first party at the second port based on the second container characteristics, wherein the surplus empty containers satisfy, at least partially, the deficit of empty containers in a given point in time; determine at least one second container exchange option between the at least one first party and the at least one third party based at least in part on the BoE; automatically recommending, by the processor through a user interface, the at least one second container exchange option to the at least one first party and the at least one third party; and responsive to a selection of any container exchange option of the at least one second container exchange option by the at least one first party and the at least one third party , generating a second contract having terms and conditions for the at least one second container exchange option for the at least one first party and the at least one third party for the container exchange.

10. The system of claim 7, wherein the processor is further configured to provide the recommendation as alerts over the user interface of the at least one first party and the at least one second party. 66

11. The system of claim 7, wherein the processor is further configured to execute the program code to: in response to rejection of the recommendation by the at least one first party of the plurality of parties or the at least one second party, identify based upon the determining, at least one third party of the plurality of parties having a deficit of one or more containers, having the first characteristics, at the first port at a second time, and a surplus of one or more containers, having the second characteristics, at the third port at the second time; select the at least one first party, at least one second party and the at least one third party for offering a container exchange opportunity to enable the at least one first party to supply the one or more surplus empty containers to the at least one second party and the at least one third party at the first port based on the first container characteristics, and the at least one third party and the at least one second party to supply the one or more surplus empty containers to the at least one first party at the second port based on the second container characteristics, wherein the surplus empty containers satisfy, at least partially, the deficit of empty containers in a given point in time; determine at least one second container exchange option between the at least one first party the at least one second party and the at least one third party based at least in part on the BoE; automatically recommend by the processor through a user interface, the at least one second container exchange option to the at least one first party and the at least one third party; and responsive to a selection of any container exchange option of the at least one second container exchange option by the at least one first party and the at least one third party, generate a second contract having terms and conditions for the at least one second container exchange option for the at least one first party and the at least one third party for the container exchange. 67

12. The system of claim 7, wherein the container inventory for each party at each port for a defined time is forecasted by processing the container data obtained based on frequently updated real-time data.