Planning methods
Load Building uses the following planning methods, or planning algorithms:
Direct Shipping
A shipment is transported directly from the start address to the end address. A load has only one shipment. If the available means of transport cannot carry the entire shipment, the shipment is divided over various vehicles. Order lines can be combined in a shipment if the addresses and the dates match. Each shipment created from the selected freight orders and freight order lines is put in a separate load.
The Direct Shipping algorithm can be useful if huge quantities of a particular item are specified in one order line.
Consolidation
This method combines shipments that travel a particular standard route or partially travel this route, into one load. If the shipments cannot be carried in one load, the load building engine creates the required number of loads. If no standard route is specified on the freight order lines for which the load plan is created, the load building engine looks for a standard route that covers the addresses of the freight orders for which the load plan is created. If more than one suitable standard route is found, the load building selects the standard route and carrier with the cheapest, fastest or shortest route according to the Carrier/LSP Selection Criterion set in the Generate Plan (fmlbd0280m000) session.
Example
One truck travels from Amsterdam to Geneva via Paris. The standard route includes the following cities: Amsterdam - Paris - Geneva. The execution frequency of the standard route is once a day, every day of the week.
Freight orders FO001 and FO002 require transportation along the standard route. The goods listed on FO001 go from Amsterdam to Paris, and those on FO002 from Paris to Geneva. The load date of FO001 and FO002 is September 10, 2003, and their latest unload date is September 12, 2003, 9:00 AM. FO001 and FO002 can be consolidated to create the following:
- Shipments: Amsterdam-Paris and Paris-Geneva.
- Load: Amsterdam-Geneva.
If no standard route exists for the addresses of the freight orders from which you create a load plan using the consolidation planning method, the order lines are planned as direct shipments. Standard routes are not mandatory, but if you define standard routes and use the consolidation planning method, you can create loads and shipments, as shown in the previous example.
Pooling
Multiple fixed addresses, such as distribution centers, ports, and so on, are visited. The transport route usually consists of several legs. At one of the legs, shipments travel the same way and are pooled together to go to their destination or to a distribution point. At the distribution point, the shipments are reallocated to various means of transport to be taken to their final destination.
Example
A shipment of 50 bicycles is sent from Amsterdam to New York, another shipment of 50 goes from Amsterdam to Philadelphia, and a third shipment of 20 bicycles goes from Amsterdam to Pittsburgh. The first leg of the transport route is from Amsterdam to Rotterdam. Rotterdam is the pooling point, where the bicycles are loaded aboard a ship. At the distribution point in New York, they are unloaded from the ship and reloaded onto trucks that take them to their respective final destinations in New York, Philadelphia, and Pittsburgh.
Route plans
The pooling method uses route plans to create loads and shipments. If the pooling planning method is used, and no route plan is specified on the freight orders for which the load plan is created, the load building engine looks for a route plan that covers the addresses of the freight orders for which the load plan is created. If more than one suitable route plan is found, the load building selects the route plan with the cheapest, fastest or shortest route according to the Carrier/LSP Selection Criterion set in the Generate Plan (fmlbd0280m000) session.
Shipments that have route plans whose main legs are identical, are pooled at the main leg. Route plans are linked to addresses. Addresses are defined in the Addresses (tccom4530m000) session. In the previous example, the leg Amsterdam-Rotterdam is the advance leg and Rotterdam-New York is the main leg. New York - Philadelphia and New York - Pittsburgh are the beyond legs. For the beyond legs, the shipments can be combined in separate loads as direct shipments, as in the previous example.
When the addresses of an originating order are covered by a route plan, the route plan will be added to the freight order header and defaulted to the freight order lines. Freight orders with identical route plans are combined into shipments and loads.
Standard routes for route plan legs
Standard routes can be defined for route plan legs if the addresses of the legs are included in the standard route. If New York - Philadelphia - Pittsburgh would be a standard route, the shipments would not necessarily have to be reallocated to separate loads in separate trucks, but the shipments could be loaded as one load into one large truck that travels the standard route.
For the best planning results, you are recommended to enter carriers for freight orders, and/or define carrier and transport means group combinations with specified transport categories, and define carriers and transport categories for standard routes and route plans.
In this way, you prevent the load building engine from selecting undesirable carrier and transport means group combinations, such as transport by ship where you need trucks.