Re:A container ship lost a record 1,800 containers
by eru on Tuesday December 08, 2020 @02:21AM
(#25342771)
A big search space is not a detriment to optimization. It just keeps you from reaching provable optimality, but doesn't keep you from saving on costs compared to doing nothing.
Same for the rest of what you describe: yes, a perfect system would be a lot of hassle, but making any effort at all is sure to yield benefits.
You don't need to change the billing model necessarily. The customers don't have to know that you are doing this kind of optimization.
Of course, the more you can expose incentives to your customers, the more efficient you can get.
But even if your containers arrive in arbitrary order and you have to make your decisions on where to place them 'online', ie before the next container arrives; as long as you have any choice left at all, you can try your hand at optimization techniques.
Same for the rest of what you describe: yes, a perfect system would be a lot of hassle, but making any effort at all is sure to yield benefits.
You don't need to change the billing model necessarily. The customers don't have to know that you are doing this kind of optimization.
Of course, the more you can expose incentives to your customers, the more efficient you can get.
But even if your containers arrive in arbitrary order and you have to make your decisions on where to place them 'online', ie before the next container arrives; as long as you have any choice left at all, you can try your hand at optimization techniques.