Determining the Best Site/Warehouse to Fulfill an Order

When you fulfill customer orders, use the Multi-Site Item Sourcing form to determine the driving distance between each site/warehouse and the Ship To address, using the Google Distance API. You can use the distance, along with the quantity available at the warehouse and the planned production time, to select the best source site and warehouse for an order.

Note:  The CloudSuite Industrial client must be able to access the internet in order to display distance and map information.

The distance calculation service provided by Google is accessed via a Web service. Specify the connection information:

  1. On the Order Entry Parameters form, click the Integration tab.
  2. Specify this information:
    Distance API URL
    Leave this field blank to use this URL for the Google Distance Matrix Web Service: http://maps.googleapis.com/maps/api/distancematrix. If the URL changes, specify the new value here.
    Map API URL
    Leave this field blank to use this URL for the Google Map API: http://maps.google.com/maps. If the URL changes, specify the new value here.
    Unit
    Specify KM to calculate the distance using kilometers, or MILE to calculate using imperial measure. KM is the default value.
    Note:  If you leave the URL fields blank, the system uses the example URLs specified below. However, these URLs are subject to change. If the default values are not working, go to the Google Web site to verify the URLS, and then update these fields accordingly.
  3. Save your changes.
  4. On the Customer Order Lines form, select an order line with a status of Ordered or Planned.
  5. Click Multi-Site Source to open the Multi-Site Item Sourcing form. The current item, ship to address and current quantity ordered are passed to the Multi-Site Item Sourcing form. The ship to address is the drop-ship, if available, or otherwise the customer ship to.
  6. The distance between each site/warehouse and the ship to address is calculated and displayed when the form opens. The grid is sorted by the distance, then by the quantity available, to place the warehouse with least distance on the top of the grid.

    If an error occurs when the system contacts the Google API, an error message is displayed in the Message field. If you see a message that you exceeded an allowed limit, see the section on "Notes About the API and Calculations" below.

  7. Optionally, select a row (site and warehouse) to display a map that shows the route from that site/warehouse to the specified ship to address.
  8. Compare the requested order quantity to the quantity available at each warehouse.
  9. If the available quantity is not sufficient to meet the order quantity, click Get Projected Date to view the time required to manufacture this item at a selected site. This button is enabled when APS is configured and enabled, and when an item is specified and a site/warehouse is selected. (External supply or manufacturer time is not considered.)

    If an error occurs when the system makes a CTP call to the APS engine, an error message is displayed in the Message field, overwriting any previous message in that row.

  10. Based on the item availability at the various warehouses, and the distance from the warehouse to the ship to address, select from the grid the best warehouse for this order line.
  11. Click Select to return the selected site and warehouse values to the Customer Order Lines form and close the Multi-Site Item Sourcing form.
Note: When using the Multi-Site Item Sourcing Form Standalone, if you open this form by itself, you must specify the item number and the ship to address. Then click the Filter-in-Place button to call the Google Maps API. The Get Projected Date button is disabled in this mode.
Note: 

Be aware of these notes about and restrictions on the use of the Google Distance API:

  • The Google API used in the Multi-Site Item Sourcing form requires the information specified in the Order Entry Parameters form under "Setup," above.
  • The mode of transport is set to "Driving" and cannot be changed. If the selected addresses cannot be reached by driving - for example, if there is an ocean between them - the distance is set to zero.
  • Distance is calculated regardless of the shipping method specified for the order.
  • The route chosen is not necessarily a truck route. There are special routing databases available from other companies for detailed truck routing and distance calculation.
  • Each query sent to the API is limited by the number of allowed elements, where the number of origins multiplied by the number of destinations defined the number of elements. The API has these limits:
    • 100 elements per query
    • 100 elements per 10 seconds
    • 2500 elements per 24 hour period.

    If you exceed these limits, an error message is displayed in the Message field on the Multi-Site Item Sourcing form.

    Google Maps API for Business customers have higher limits (625 elements per query, 1,000 elements per 10 seconds, and 100,000 elements per 24 hour period). You can purchase additional elements through Google.