A decision support system using soft computing for modern international container transportation services

A software system has been developed for modern maritime container transportation. This system contains six modules: the demand forecasting, the stowage planning, the shipping line optimization, the slot pricing and allocation, the container distribution, and the contribution analysis. The first three modules will be presented in this paper. The system constructs problem models and uses exponential smoothing, regression analysis, neural network, linear programming, genetic algorithm and sequence alignment methods to solve relevant issues. The reliability and practicality of the software and the algorithms included are confirmed by practical applications or analyzing their estimation accuracy. The system has been tested with the actual transportation and proves to be an effective decision-making tool in maritime transport coordination. The proposed system may help companies significantly increase profit.