Using Routes and Loads in Fulfillment Processing

This chapter provides an overview of routes and loads and discusses how to:

Set up routes.
Maintain route schedules and orders.
Manage loads.

Understanding Routes and Loads

Transportation routes are particularly helpful if you run a manufacturing or distribution center with a predefined shipment schedule for delivering goods to a network of customers or locations. You can establish routes consisting of defined sequences of stops, assigning a ship to customer or a location to each stop. You then set up a route schedule so that each route runs on certain days of the year (daily, weekly, monthly, or at other specified intervals). Whenever you create an order for a customer with a route assignment, the system searches for a route on which the customer or location has a defined stop and that matches the scheduled shipping date.

Defining routes enables you to tell customers accurately when their shipments will arrive and to ensure that orders are prepared in time for the next scheduled shipment. You can also use route assignments to streamline your fulfillment operations. For example, you can simplify the delivery process by sorting orders released to a pick batch ID by route stop and then packing the truck in reverse stop order.

Note. PeopleSoft Inventory does provide enterprise integration points (EIPs) for integrating with third-party transportation management systems (TMS) to maximize space utilization of loads and thereby minimize the costs of shipping goods. The TMS EIPs send demand information from materials stock requests and sales orders to the TMS system where the loads are optimized. A TMS EIP then uploads into PeopleSoft Inventory, the carriers, loads, and the dates based on a calculation that takes place within the TMS. If you are integrating with a TMS, then you might not be using the route and stop management features discussed in this chapter.

Shipment load assignments provides a method of grouping orders that should ship together. You can assign orders to loads at the following points in the fulfillment process:

Sales order or material stock request (MSR) entries.
Material picking feedback.
Shipments.

You can use these groupings to streamline fulfillment operations. For example, you might want to reserve, pick, or ship order lines based on their load assignments. In addition, you use load assignments to specify weight and volume restrictions for shipments.

Normally, you implement only one management feature. Consider the following feature advantages:

Route management, with predefined stops and schedules, gives you more control over your shipments.
Load management, where you create new loads on an ad hoc basis, is much less structured but offers greater flexibility.
Use both route and load management to take advantage of the weight and volume options available on the Manage Loads page, as well as transportation routes.

PeopleSoft Inventory does not perform cross-validation between route management and load management. Because both route and load definitions are associated with specific carriers and ship via IDs, assigning an order line to a load may invalidate a previously assigned route if the carrier or ship via is different from that on the route. The same is true in reverse, if you assign the order line to a route, you may invalidate a previously assigned load.

Important! If you modify the load ID for an order line, you do not receive a warning that an existing route assignment may be invalidated. Conversely, you do not receive a warning if you modify the line’s route.

Common Elements Used in This Chapter

Route Code	Identifies a predefined shipment schedule for delivering goods.
Carrier ID	Indicates which transportation carrier travels a route.
Ship Via	Indicates which shipment method the route uses.
Route Group	A collection of routes.
Copy	Accesses a copy page where you can copy a route or route group, and apply it to another route or route group.

Setting Up Routes

To create route codes, use the Create Route Codes (ROUTE_INV) component. To create route groups, use the Create Route Groups (WAVE_INV) component.

Before you can use routes in fulfillment processing, you must define route options in several different areas of the system. To create route calendars, use the Maintain Route Calendar (ROUTE_CAL_INV) component. To assign transportation routes to a group, use the Assign Route Group (WAVE_ROUTE_INV) component. To assign customers or locations to a transportation stop, use the Assign Route Stop (ROUTE_STOP_INV) component.

To set up routes:

Enable route options for the business unit.

On the Inventory Definition - Business Unit Options: Shipping Options page, select the Use Routes option to indicate that the business unit uses transportation routes in its shipping operations. Route options for PeopleSoft Order Management and Inventory pages, processes, and reports are available only if you activate this flag. Conversely, if you inactivate the Use Routes flag, you delete all existing route data for the business unit.
Establish default route closing times and route stop increments.

On the Setup Fulfillment-Shipping page, define a route close time and a route stop increment. The route close time, which indicates what time each day routes should close, becomes the default closing time on the Maintain Route Calendar page. The route stop increment determines the intervals by which stop numbers increase when you add new stops to the route.
Establish route codes.

On the Create Route Codes page, define transportation routes and assign a carrier and a shipment method to each route.
Assign stops to routes.

On the Assign Route Stop page, assign ship to customers or locations to routes and define the stop sequence for each route.
Create route groups, if needed.

On the Create Route Groups page, define codes for route groups. On the Assign Route Group page, collect routes into route groups. You can assign a route to more than one group.
Create a route schedule.

On the Maintain Route Calendar page, specify which routes leave on which days of the year. Define a schedule for each route in the business unit.

Pages Used to Set Up Routes

Page Name	Object Name	Navigation	Usage
Create Route Codes	ROUTE_INV	Inventory, Fulfill Stock Orders, Routes and Loads, Create Route Codes	Define transportation routes and associate each route with a carrier and a shipment method.
Create Route Groups	WAVE_INV	Inventory, Fulfill Stock Orders, Routes and Loads, Create Route Groups	Define transportation route groups.
Assign Route Stop	ROUTE_STOP_INV	Inventory, Fulfill Stock Orders, Routes and Loads, Assign Route Stop	Assign customers or locations to a route and to define the route’s stop sequence.
Copy Route	ROUTE_STOP_INV2	Click the Copy link on the Assign Route Stop page.	Copy a route stop definition from one route to another.
Assign Route Group	WAVE_ROUTE_INV	Inventory, Fulfill Stock Orders, Routes and Loads, Assign Route Group	Gather routes into a group.
Copy Route Group	WAVE_ROUTE_INV2	Click the Copy link on the Assign Route Group page.	Copy the routes from one route group to another.

Defining Route Codes

To define route codes, use the Create Route Codes (ROUTE_INV) component.

Access the Create Route Codes page.

After you define a route, you cannot modify the route code. To change a code, delete it and insert a new one. You can change the descriptions, carriers, and ship via assignments based on the following scenarios:

You cannot delete a route with unshipped or uncanceled orders assigned to it.
If the route has a calendar schedule or stop with no assigned orders, the system displays a warning, but you can still delete the route.

Deleting the route automatically deletes the route’s schedule and assigned stops.
When you change the carrier or shipment method, unshipped or uncanceled orders assigned to a route are not updated.

Defining Route Groups

To define route groups, use the Create Route Groups (WAVE_INV) component.

Access the Create Route Groups page.

After you define a route group, you cannot modify the group codes. If you want to change a code, you must delete it and insert a new one. You can modify the descriptions at any time.

Note. Deleting a route group automatically deletes any existing assignments for the group.

Assigning Route Stops

To create route stop assignments, use the Assign Route Stop (ROUTE_STOP_INV) component.

Access the Assign Route Stop page.

Stop No (stop number)

Represents a delivery at a customer or location in a route. The interval by which the number increases when you add stops to the route is determined by the default route stop increment defined on the Setup Fulfillment-Shipping page.

SetID

To establish a route stop for an external customer, select the setID to which the customer belongs, then select a ship to customer code and an address sequence number.

Location

Establish a route stop for an internal issue or interunit transfer.

Validate Lines

After you add or delete stops, click to update the route stop numbers according to the increment defined on the Setup Fulfillment-Shipping page.

Note. Although you cannot change the setID, ship to, and address combination or the location for existing route stops, you can update the stop number, effective date, and status at any time. If unshipped or uncanceled orders exist for the route, a warning appears when you delete the stop or change the status to Inactive.

Copying Routes

Access the Copy Route page.

Select the business unit containing the route that you are copying, then indicate which route code you want to copy.

Assigning Customers to Route Groups

To assign customers to routes, use the Assign Route Group (WAVE_ROUTE_INV) component.

Access the Assign Route Group page.

Select the route code for each route that you want to add to the group.

Copying Route Groups

Access the Copy Route Group page.

Select the business unit containing the group that you are copying, then indicate which route group you want to copy.

Maintaining Route Schedules and Orders

You can establish a schedule for each route, specifying which days of the year it runs. In most cases, a shipping supervisor sets up the route calendar once a year, but you can define or modify schedules at any time. You can decide whether each route runs daily, weekly, monthly, or at other intervals (every other Monday, for example).

Using a route calendar, you can:

Change an entire schedule or specific schedule dates.
Add and delete dates.
Change route closing times.
Close routes on selected dates or completely.
Close a route ahead of schedule.

To close routes, do one of the following:

Use the Maintain Route Calendar page to close routes manually.

You can close particular schedule dates for a route, close all open dates, or delete the route schedule entirely.
Run the Close Routes process (IN_ROUTECLS) to close routes automatically for a one or all business units.

This process closes all routes that exceed their default closing times for a given day and updates the Closed flag on the Maintain Route Calendar page.

Pages Used to Maintain Routes and Orders

Page Name	Object Name	Navigation	Usage
Maintain Route Calendar	ROUTE_CAL_INV	Inventory, Fulfill Stock Orders, Routes and Loads, Maintain Route Calendar	Establish and maintain route schedules; close routes before their scheduled closing times.
Route Scheduling Option	ROUTE_CAL_INV2	Click the Generate Schedule Dates link on the Maintain Route Calendar page.	Generate a regular schedule for a route.
Close Routes	RUN_INV_RTE_CLS	Inventory, Fulfill Stock Orders, Routes and Loads, Close Routes	Automatically close all transportation routes that exceed their default closing times for the day. To close routes manually use the Maintain Route Calendars page.

Creating and Maintaining Route Calendars

To create and maintain Route Calendars, use the Route Calendar Maintenance (ROUTE_CAL_INV) component.

Access the Maintain Route Calendar page.

Note. When you change or delete a schedule date, unshipped or uncanceled orders are not updated.

Route Start Date	Identifies when the route’s schedule begins. The default is today’s date; if you change the starting date, you must select a date between today and the end of the entered year.
Route End Date	Identifies when the schedule ends. The default is the last day of the entered year; if you change the ending date, you must select a date between the starting date and the end of that year.
Route Close Time	The default is the value entered on the Setup Fulfillment-Shipping page.
Validate Lines	Enter a new time and click this button to change the closing time for all of the route’s open schedule dates. To change the closing time for a particular date, enter a new time in the appropriate grid row.
Generate Schedule Dates	Click to access the Route Scheduling Option page, where you can determine the route’s schedule for the period defined by the route starting and ending dates.
Delete Schedule Dates	Deletes the entire route schedule.
Close	You can close a particular date on the route schedule by selecting the check box for that date. To close all schedule dates, click the Select All button; to open all closed schedule dates, click the Deselect All button.

Scheduling Routes

Access the Route Scheduling Option page.

Note. PeopleSoft Inventory does not consider the business unit’s closure calendar when generating route dates. You must manually coordinate the route schedule with the business unit’s closure dates.

Monthly	The route leaves once a month, on the day corresponding to the Route Start Date. For example, suppose that the starting date is April 28, the route leaves on the 28th of every month.
Daily	The route leaves every “x” days, depending upon the number you enter in the Every x Days field. The default is 1 day, or daily. You can specify that the route should leave every other day (every 2 days), every third day, and so on.
Weekdays	The route leaves on weekdays (Monday through Friday), at the intervals that you specify in the Every x Days field. For example, if the starting date is Monday, you can schedule the route to leave on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays by entering a value of every 2 days.
Weekly	The route leaves on the specified day of the week, at the intervals that you indicate in the Every x Weeks field. For example, you can schedule the route to leave every Monday or every other Tuesday.

See Also

Establishing Operation Closure Dates

Closing Routes

Access the Close Routes page.

To prevent the assignment of orders to inactive routes, indicate whether to close routes after their scheduled closing time elapses.

Note. PeopleSoft Inventory considers routes to be open, even beyond their scheduled closing time, until you close them automatically or manually. To ensure that the system reflects route status accurately, run the Close Routes process often.

Assigning Order Lines to Routes

If you have activated route options for the business unit, you can assign order lines to routes at the following points in the fulfillment process:

Sales order or MSR entries.
Material Picking Feedback component.
Express Issues component.
Shipments.

The following batch processes make route assignments:

Sales order EDI transaction.
Create Par Replenishment Requests (INPGCDMD).
Build Inventory Demand (PO_REQINVS).
Apply Planning Updates (INPAPLAN).

Online Route Assignments

When you enter an MSR on either the Create/Update Stock Request component or the Express Issue page, saving the page automatically initiates a search for an appropriate route to which to assign the order line. PeopleSoft Inventory calculates a scheduled shipping date based on the requested arrival date. Using the scheduled shipping date to search for a route, the system then:

Attempts to find a route on which the customer or location has a defined stop that matches the scheduled shipping date.
If route matches are not found, checks for the earliest available date for any route with which the customer or location is associated.
If still no route matches, checks for the earliest available date for any route in the business unit, whether or not the customer or location has a defined stop on this route.

The route search considers whether carrier and ship via information is available.
Assigns the order line to the route and updates the scheduled shipment and arrival dates, route, stop number, carrier, and ship via information as necessary when it locates an appropriate route.
Provides the option to accept the changes or decline the route assignment if the scheduled ship date, ship via, or carrier for the suggested route differ from the value already assigned to the order.
Leaves the route unassigned if the search is unsuccessful.

To search for a route from PeopleSoft Order Management, the system:

Initiates a route search when saving from the Order Schedule - Ship page, if the Inventory business unit associated with the order uses routes.
Attempts to find a route matching the Inventory business unit, ship to customer, address, carrier, and ship via specified on the order form.
Assigns the route code, stop number, scheduled ship date, scheduled arrival date, carrier, and ship via to the order line when finding a match.
Displays a message for you to accept or decline the route assignment if the scheduled arrival date for the suggested route is later than that requested by the customer.
Leaves the route unassigned if a match is not found.

Important! If you override the Inventory business unit, location, ship to, address sequence number, carrier, ship via, or scheduled ship date at any time during the entry of an MSR, express issue, or sales order, PeopleSoft erases any previously determined route assignment for the order. In this case, you do not receive a warning that the route assignment is being canceled. When you save the page, the system initiates a new route search.

You can also assign order lines to routes manually (to make a route assignment for a customer or location without a stop on an established route, for example). If you are entering an MSR, use the Shipment Detail page to add a stop for the customer. Select a route code and accept the route.

If you are entering a sales order, use the following pages to assign route codes:

Order Entry Form-Order Line Entry: Ship Options.
Detail Override/Exceptions line on the Express Sales Order Entry component.

In all cases, you can cancel the route assignment if the scheduled ship date, carrier, or ship via is different from that already assigned to the order line.

Note. PeopleSoft Inventory does not support automatic or manual route assignment for return-to-vendor (RTV) transactions.

Background Process Route Assignments

The following transactions and processes assign routes automatically:

EDI Sales Orders.

When processing an EDI sales order, the system automatically searches for an appropriate route to which to assign the order. The logic for EDI route assignment is the same as that for online order entry, except that if the system does not find a route matching the scheduled shipping date, the route remains unassigned.
Create Par Replenishment Requests.

When the Create Par Replenishment Requests process generates a stock request, it searches for the next available route associated with the specified location. Upon locating a route, the process assigns the route code, route stop number, ship via, carrier, and scheduled ship date to the order line. Unlike online transactions, in which you have the option of declining the route assignment if the scheduled ship date is different from that on the order, the Create Par Replenishment Requests process accepts the route’s scheduled ship date automatically, whether or not this date matches the process’ default date (the current date).
Build Inventory Demand.

If the destination business unit uses routes, the Build Inventory Demand process searches for a route to which to assign the order line when creating an MSR from a requisition. Upon locating a route, the process assigns the route code, route stop number, ship via, carrier, and scheduled ship date to the order line. If the scheduled ship date differs from the current ship date, Build Inventory Demand does not assign the route.
Apply Planning Updates.

The Apply Planning Updates process assigns routes under limited circumstances. For new material stock requests, Apply Planning Updates makes an assignment only if the destination business unit has a route whose scheduled shipping date coincides with the date already assigned by PeopleSoft Supply Planning. If such a route exists, the process automatically assigns it to the order line.

For rescheduled orders, route assignment requirements differ depending upon whether the order line has already appeared on a picking plan. When processing lines have not appeared on picking plans, the Apply Planning Updates process conducts a route search whenever no route code is specified for the order. The order line can be assigned only to those routes on which the location already has a defined stop. Upon locating an appropriate route, the process automatically assigns it to the order line.

Note. If the rescheduled date is not valid for a route previously assigned to the order, that assignment is canceled. In this case, you do not receive a warning that the route is being unassigned.

The Apply Planning Updates process does not assign routes to order lines that have already appeared on picking plans. You can reassign routes for these lines manually on the Maintain Stock Request page.

See Also

Replenishing Par Locations

Introduction to Sales Order Entry

Using Purchase Order Sourcing

Accepting Stock Requests from PeopleSoft Supply Planning

Changing Route Assignments

You can modify existing route assignments when you:

Change orders or stock requests.
Perform material picking feedback.
Ship orders.

To change a route assignment on the Maintain Stock Request page, select a route code and accept the route. Be aware that accepting a route for which the scheduled ship date, carrier, or ship via are different from that already assigned to the order line overrides the order’s original parameters. When you save the page and the order line does not already have a route assignment, and if route options are active for the business unit, PeopleSoft Inventory automatically searches for an appropriate route.

If the scheduled ship date for the returned route is different from the original scheduled date, a warning appears, giving you the option of accepting the change or declining the route assignment.

After the order line appears on a picking plan, PeopleSoft Inventory does not initiate an automatic route search, nor does it validate new routes you assign manually.

Note. If you override the location, ship to, address sequence number, carrier, ship via, or scheduled ship date for an order line that already has a route assignment, a warning appears and that route assignment is canceled.

You can also change a route assignment manually on the Material Picking Feedback - Demand Detail page and on the Shipping/Issues - Order Details page. In these cases; however, any changes you make override the original assignment: PeopleSoft Inventory does not search for valid routes, nor does it update the scheduled ship date, carrier, or ship via. Overriding the carrier or ship via on either of these pages cancels existing route assignments.

See Also

Changing, Canceling, and Holding Orders

Entering Picking Feedback Online

Using the Shipping/Issues Component

Fulfilling Orders by Route

Route assignments help you to manage the entire fulfillment process, from reservations to shipment. You can use routes or route groups as selection criteria for the:

Reserve Materials process.
Manage Loads page.
Order Release process.
Material Picking Feedback page.
Picking Confirmation process.
Shipping/Issues component.
Packing Slip report.
Bill of Lading.

In addition, you can expedite the picking, loading, and unloading of orders by sorting the order lines during the Order Release process in forward or reverse route-stop order and print the route and route stop on the Shipping Document report and on shipping carton labels.

Managing Loads

Use the Manage Loads component to create shipment loads for orders. You can assign order lines to the newly created loads here, or you can define the load parameters and then make the actual assignments at other points in the fulfillment process.

This section discusses how to:

Combine order lines for shipping.
Retrieve orders.

Pages Used to Manage Loads

Page Name	Object Name	Navigation	Usage
Manage Loads	LOAD_CONS_INV	Inventory, Fulfill Stock Orders, Routes and Loads, Manage Loads	Combine order lines into a load for shipping and view actual load weight and volume against the ship via maximum weight and volume capacity.
Load Selection Criteria	LOAD_CONS_SP	Click the Search link on the Manage Loads page.	Search for orders that you want to retrieve for load management.

Combining Order Lines for Shipping

Access the Manage Loads page.

When you assign an order to an existing load ID in the Create/Update Stock Request component, the carrier and ship via defined here become the default values for the order. You can modify a load using the Manage Loads page.

Orders that appear in the Assigned Orders group box are considered part of the load. Orders that match the search criteria appear in the Unassigned Orders group box.

Load Status	Defines whether you can modify an existing load ID on other pages in PeopleSoft Inventory. Values include: Closed: You cannot add or delete orders to the load. Once the page is saved with this status, no changes can be made. However, unassigned orders can still be viewed. Open: You can add orders to the load. Shipped: The load has shipped. Only orders that also have a load status of Shipped can be added.
Validate	Click to remove any unshipped orders from the load automatically. For example, suppose that you assign five orders to the load and the load ships with only three of the orders, you can remove the remaining two orders from the shipped load.
Add to Load	To add orders to a load, select the check box next to the order and click this button. The order then appears in the Assigned Orders group box.
Select All	To assign all of the orders that match the selection criteria, click this button and then click the Add to Load button.
Remove from Load	If you have assigned an order in error, remove the order from the load by selecting the check box next to the order and then click this button. The order returns to the Unassigned Orders group box.
Deselect	Click to remove all selected orders from the Assigned Orders group box.
Deselect All	Click to remove all selected orders from the Unassigned Orders group box.
Details	Click to transfer to the Stock Requests Inquiry page, where you can view information about a particular order.

To cancel all order assignments, click the Select All button and then the Remove from Load button to move the orders back to the Unassigned Order group box.

If you want to create a load ID to be used later, you can save the page without assigning any orders to the load.

If you have defined maximum weight and volume information for the ship via, PeopleSoft Inventory displays the running total for the orders assigned to the load. If you define shipping weight and volume information for the item in the business unit in the Define Business Unit Item component, the page displays the shipping weight and volume in the ordering unit of measure for all order lines that have not yet shipped, as well as in the shipping unit of measure for order lines that have shipped.

If you have not defined this information in the Define Business Unit Item component, any weight and volume information defined in the Define Item component appears for the ordering and shipping units of measure. If you define shipping weight and volume information for the ship via, the line unit of measure is converted to the ship via unit of measure and the page displays the total for the load. If the ship via does not have shipping weight and volume information defined, the page does not display a total, but the line weight and volume information appear in the appropriate unit of measure.

Note. After you ship the load, change the load status to Shipped and modify the load to include orders that were added at the time of shipment.

Retrieving Orders

Access the Load Selection Criteria page.

If you do not enter search criteria, the system retrieves all orders with a status of Unfulfilled, Releasable, Released, Confirmed, Shipped, or Depleted that have not been assigned to a load ID.

Important! PeopleSoft Inventory does not perform cross-validation between routes and loads. Assigning a load ID to an order that already has a route assignment may invalidate the route.

Shipment Aged Days

Enter a value to select orders with a shipment date greater than the specified number of days. For example, if you enter 7, PeopleSoft Inventory selects any orders that shipped seven days ago or later.

See Also

Understanding Routes and Loads

Maintaining Route Schedules and Orders

Stop No (stop number)	Represents a delivery at a customer or location in a route. The interval by which the number increases when you add stops to the route is determined by the default route stop increment defined on the Setup Fulfillment-Shipping page.
SetID	To establish a route stop for an external customer, select the setID to which the customer belongs, then select a ship to customer code and an address sequence number.
Location	Establish a route stop for an internal issue or interunit transfer.
Validate Lines	After you add or delete stops, click to update the route stop numbers according to the increment defined on the Setup Fulfillment-Shipping page.