3 ms·
Ships actually use very precise algorithms to calculate the relative cost of labor vs. inventory getting delayed, using factors like the depreciation of the car
by qq66 12y ago
Ships actually use very precise algorithms to calculate the relative cost of labor vs. inventory getting delayed, using factors like the depreciation of the cargo, the spot price of fuel, and even changing interest rates in the market.
Oil tankers in the middle of the ocean, for example, will speed up and slow down as spot prices of oil increase or short-term interest rates decrease, since the inventory cost of their cargo has gone up and then down.
- el_benhameen 12y agoThat's absolutely fascinating. Do you have a source for further reading on those optimizations? I haven't been able to find anything with a bit of googling.
- toomuchtodo 12y agoUnfortunately, most of the papers I found by googling are behind paywalls :(
- v3rt 12y agoI for one would still appreciate a link - I think those of us on academic networks should be able to see most papers behind paywalls
- toomuchtodo 12y agoGoogle for "oil tanker algorithms"
- qq66 12y agoThis page has a link to an Excel spreadsheet that calculates optimum speed as a function of fuel price and other factors: http://www.intertanko.com/Members-Information/benchmark/Optimum-speed-calvulator/ http://www.intertanko.com/Members-Information/benchmark/Opti...
- Serow225 12y agooil tankers will sometimes even park themselves out in the ocean for weeks in order to not burn fuel while waiting for the projected price of their cargo to be optimal at the time they actually steam into port. Oil tankering optimization is a very complex and interesting problem!
- matthewwiese 12y agoThis sounds very interesting! Do you recommend any articles to read on the topic?