An Index to Evaluate Carrier Competence in Container Inventory Management

Container inventory management (CIM) is an important activity in liner shipping business. The container inventory imbalances (CIIs) can primarily be attributed to global trade imbalances. Well planned, accurately forecasted, realistically allocated, and effectively managed container flows ensure that material and goods are globally supplied on time, in a cost-efficient way. The CIM decisions are usually influenced by many factors (Edirisinghe, Zhihong, & Wijeratne, Container Inventory Management: Factors influencing Container Interchange, 2016). However, there is no standard fool-proof CIM system in place that could effectively and efficiently control these factors (Edirisinghe & Zhihong, Virtual Container Pool: Solution to Container Inventory Imbalance, 2016)