Commitment Allocation by Equipment Reference Unit
This enhancement allows the definition of Commitment Allocation with a Commitment Allocation Type of Equipment Reference Unit (ERU). This feature will be beneficial to support scenarios where the Commitment Allocation to Carriers and/or Freight Forwarders is based on pallets (modeled as ERUs) versus shipments, FEUs or TEUs. In this setup, the logic follows the following pattern - pallets are Ship Units, Ship Units have Equipment Reference Units, and the decision was made to enhance allocation based on the Equipment Reference Unit.
The Equipment Reference Unit Allocation Type can be found by navigating to Contract and Rate Management > Contract Management > Commitment Allocation.
Commitment Allocation Type Equipment Reference Unit
Business Benefit
Historically, when OTM has allocated shipments to carriers based on Ship Unit Count, issues have arisen when Ship Unit size has varied. A carton, a pallet, a crate, a drum, etc. would all be valid Ship Units, even though they represent significantly different volumes and weights. With a single container potentially containing multiple ship units, this meant Ship Unit Count proved to be an inconsistent metric for allocation. Since the capacity of any piece of equipment can be expressed in ERUs, this enhancement will both allow greater flexibility in defining the measure that will be used for allocation, and provide greater consistency in the results of the allocation.
Steps to Enable
The Planning Parameter Set should be set for Service Provider Assignment as illustrated.
Parameters to Configure
The Commitment Allocation should contain the specified ERU, Which is a DRUM in this example and a BIN in the next.
Allocation Configuration for DRUM
Allocation Configuration for BIN
After planning Orders into Shipments, you will want to look at the usage. In this case there were 2 sets of orders, BINS and DRUMS and each one was intended to use a different allocation strategy.
Please note that the ERU does NOT have to be configured on the Order Ship Unit if it is already configured on the Packaged Item or the Transport Handling Unit. The place to view the ERU used and the count is on the Shipment Ship Unit.
Shipment Ship Unit as Viewed Through S-Equipment
A Smart link is provided from the shipment to view the Commitment Allocation. This is a quick way to see the usage.
Allocation Smart Link
This is the Allocation Usage for the Drum
Allocation Usage for Drum
This is the allocation Usage for the BIN.
Allocation Usage for Bin
Tips And Considerations
Required PPS Configuration
- CHECK EQUIPMENT CAPACITY IN REFERENCE UNITS
- PLAN SHIPMENTS WITH CARRIER CAPACITY
- MODE PROFILE FOR CARRIER COMMITMENT
- Optional Parameters if using Arbitrary Shipments
- SPA EVALUATE VIA POINTS AND VOYAGES
Other items:
- Leg MUST also contain the SERVICE PROVIDER PROFILE if using Arbitrary Shipments.
- One additional point is that the Equipment is most likely constrained by the ERU that is also used in the Allocation.
- Shipments may have more than one ERU but caution is advised that they are consistent with the allocation. Other "parallel" allocations may use a different ERU and that is supported but shipment must not have more than one of these defined ERUs at the same time.