Location Role Profiles

This page is accessed via Shipment Management > Location Manager. From the Roles tab, click New Location Role Profile.

The Location Role is an action qualifier. It calculates distance values and rates.

Note: Max Freight Idle Time is not honored when planning with Network Routing or order movement planning.

Select a Location Role. The following roles are available:
- Airport: A location that ships products via air. Orders sent by air must be sent from a location with the role of airport.
- Bill To: A location to which shipment bills are sent.
- Breakdown Location: The place where the breakdown of the equipment, driver or power unit occurred. It can be an existing location or a random spot such as the side of the highway.
- Carrier: A location for a service provider. Most service providers should choose a Carrier role. If the location is not an airport, port or carrier, you may use the Ship From/Ship To role to define it more generically.
- Consolidation Pool: A location where many shipments come into and are consolidated together to be distributed to other locations. See Additional constraints section below.
- Cust Account: A location held by a customer's account.
- Customer: A location for a customer at the corporation level. Not a shippable location.
- Deconsolidation Pool: A location where shipments arrive and their orders are split into smaller shipments to be sent to their final destinations. See Additional constraints section below.
- Dispatch Location: A service provider branch office that receives tender offers. Create Dispatch Locations when dispatch - level tendering. The property glog.tender.dispatchRegion.locationType, if set to "SOURCE", tells OTM to use the source location of the shipment to look up a dispatch location contact. If set to "DESTINATION" OTM will use the destination location of the shipment to look up a dispatch location contact. This property and logic is used both by planning and tendering when looking up the contact for a shipment.
- Equipment Pool: This location is used for managing empty pieces of equipment. The system can plan to take out empty pieces of equipment before loading freight. Additionally it can bring in empty pieces of equipment after loading freight. Define the equipment pool locations to use by setting the EQUIPMENT POOL ROLE logic configuration parameter.
- Inactive Airport: You may have a large number of airports in your database (location table) that do not have any corresponding flights. Most of these airports may also be considered minor airports and are not typically used for shipping. When you define a flight itinerary, typically you use the radius method to find the closest airports to the source and destination locations. Unfortunately, most of the time the closest airports are typically the minor ones that do not have any associated flights. This option lets you mark these minor airports as inactive.
- Port: A location that ships products via ocean carrier. Orders sent by sea must be sent from a location with the role of port.
- Rail Junction: A location where two rail carriers interchange cars between each other.
- Rail Ramp: A location where a change of mode occurs between a truck carrier and a train carrier. At this location, containers and trailers are lifted on or off railroad equipment.
- Rail Station: An industry defined and registered location that is used to report events or conduct business. A shipper or customer location is located in the same geography as the RAIL STATION but reporting is done by the "CITY" or RAIL STATION and not by the customer location.
- Remit To: A location to which payments for services are sent.
- Ship From/Ship To: A location where shipments are shipped to as well as shipped from.
- Shipping Agent: A location that is automatically created when you define a shipping agent.
- XDock: A location that acts as a cross-dock. See Additional constraints section below.
Note: You must assign a role to a location before you can successfully build a shipment.
Enter a Calendar ID. Apply a business calendar that identifies the location's business hours. If a calendar is not assigned to the location, then a 24-hours-a-day, 7-days-a-week schedule is assigned.

In your calendar, use the LOAD and RECEIVE activities. This allows Oracle Transportation Management to determine the arrival time and departure time at a stop.

The property glog.optimization.scheduling.driveSimulator.suppressWaitTimeIfWorkPeriodNotDefined allows you to suppress the wait time caused due to unavailability of work periods on the calendar.
Enter the Percentage Activity Before Location Open to define the percent of work that can happen before the location opens.
Enter the Percentage Activity After Location Close to define the percent of work that can happen after the location closes or past the order's late pickup/delivery.
Enter a Max Freight Idle Time. This should be bigger than the value of the Multileg Service Time Calc Step parameter and Arbitrary Service Time Calc Step. Otherwise, the service time may not be able to generate a result. Note that there is a difference between Null and 0. Null means 365 days, which means that goods can stay at this location for as long as 365 days before shipping out on another shipment.
The Planning Handling Cost per Volume and the Planning Handling Cost Volume fields allow you to specify variable planning handling costs. Network routing logic will consider planning handling costs, as well as transportation costs, to determine which routes to take for a set of orders. For example, if there is a choice between two cross docks, and one makes more geographical sense but has a high handling cost, and the other is a little out-of-route but has a cheaper handling cost, OTM may choose the cheaper cross dock. The planning handling cost is used only for the routing selection. The computed handling cost is not saved.
If mixed freight (e.g., a rainbow pallet) will be allowed, select the Allow Mixed Freight option.
Note: Prior to 6.3, a single transport handling unit (THU) to take mixed items could be set here. Now, you need to include this THU in the THU profile on the order release line as well as the THU profile here (if you define a THU profile here). You also need to attach appropriate packaging reference unit (PRU) to the THU to indicate that it is a mixed THU that takes only mixed items but does not take SAME or LIKE items. See Order Release Line help for details.
Enter a Transport Handling Profile ID if desired.

Additional Constraints

There are several location roles that offer different constraint fields than the ones described in the previous section. Those location roles include:

Consolidation Pool
Deconsolidation Pool
XDock (cross-dock)

Consolidation and Deconsolidation Pools

The available fields for these two location roles are:

Calendar ID: Same as above.
Fixed Handling Time is the minimum amount of time needed to handle a shipment's cargo at the location. For example, if you know that it takes at least 2 hours to handle each shipment, then define your fixed handling time as 2 hours. The handling time is available only for cross docks because it models the facility where trucks arrive, are unloaded into a warehouse-like setting, are re-grouped, and loaded onto other trucks. This is the time that is required for that processing.
The Variable Handling Time and the Variable Handling Weight fields are used together to specify a varying amount of time needed to handle a shipment's cargo. For example, you can use the fields to specify that this location requires 30 minutes for each 10,000 pounds of cargo handled. The weight unit of measure used is the one defined in your user preferences. Like Fixed Handling Time, Variable Handling Time is only available for cross docks.
Max Freight Idle Time is the maximum time freight can sit at a location.
Using the Create Pool Handling Shipment field creates handling shipments as part of the pool shipment building process. Clear the check box to create bulk plan pools without handling shipments.

XDock

The available fields for this location role are:

Calendar ID: Same as above.
Select the Inbound check box if you want to emphasize optimization inbound to the cross-dock. If you clear the check box, then Oracle Transportation Management will optimize outbound from the cross-dock instead.
Using the Create Xdock Handling Shipment field creates handling shipments as part of the cross-dock building process. Clear the check box to bulk plan cross-docks without handling shipments.
Fixed Handling Time: Same as above.
The Variable Handling Time and the Variable Handling Weight: Same as above.
Max Freight Idle Time: Same as above.

Location Activity Time Definitions

One activity time definition can be shared across many locations. Additionally, Special Services are a part of Activity Time Definition, so, one activity time definition is created usually via the first method (outside location manager), and then joined by different locations via Location Manager.

Depending on the location role you selected, different fields appear that allow you to further define each location. The majority of location roles have the following fields available:

Enter an Activity Time Definition ID. The following fields populate after saving the location, based on data entered on the Activity Time Definition page:
- The Special Service ID indicates services that can happen at that stop such as Load, Border crossing, and so on.
- Flex Commodity Profile ID can either be a THU Profile, a flexible commodity profile, both, or neither.
- Service Provider Profile ID
- Equipment Group Profile ID
- Fixed Stop Time is the minimum amount of time a shipment must be stopped at that location. For example, if you know that it takes at least 2 hours to load or unload a shipment, then define your fixed stop time as 2 hours.
- Variable Stop Time is the amount of time a shipment must be stopped at that location, but the time varies depending on certain circumstances. Variable stop times can be set according weight, volume, and ship units. You can only enter one value for ship units, weight, or volume.
- Enter the Ship Units if you are not specifying either weight or volume. You can define a stop time based on the number of ship units on the shipment.
- Enter the Weight if you are not specifying either ship units or volume. You can specify a stop time based on the weight characteristics of the shipment. An example is if you wanted to add 30 minutes for every 10,000 pounds shipped.
- Enter the Volume if you are not specifying either ship units or weight. Volume related stop times work similarly to weight stop times. For example, you can specify that for every 100,000 cubic inches, there needs to be a stop time of 30 minutes.
- Equipment Reference Unit ID and Equipment Reference Unit Count columns display information about the equipment reference unit associated with the activity time definition.
Click Save for each location activity time you enter.

Location Transport Handling Unit Capacity

Click New to define location transport handling unit capacity.

Location Role Profile Calendar

A business calendar can be specified on the location role profile to identify the location’s business hours. In the calendar, you can use the LOAD and RECEIVE activities, to determine the arrival time and departure time at a stop. If a calendar is not assigned to the location, then a 24-hours-a-day, 7-days-a-week schedule is assigned.

For example, the normal calendar allows a facility to be open 9am to 5pm for receiving. The location wants to restrict handling of frozen goods during 9am – 11am only. You can add the commodity profile containing a commodity of 'Frozen' and have a calendar for 9am to 11am. Then this commodity calendar would override the location role profile’s calendar and the service time would take in the constrained work period ranges.

Flex Commodity Profile	Commodity Set
Cold Goods	Frozen, dairy
Ambient Goods	Dry goods, canned foods bread
Frozen	Frozen goods
Bakery	Breads, bagels

Flex Commodity Profile	Calendar ID
Cold Goods	Calendar 1
Ambient Goods	Calendar 2
Frozen	Calendar 3
Bakery	Calendar 4

As we see in this example, a commodity can belong to multiple profiles, and that can lead to the following:

If the stop is handling orders that are for Dairy and Bagels, they correspond to unique Flex Commodity Profiles Cold Stuff and Bakery respectively and in this case OTM will intersect Calendar 1 and Calendar 4.
If the stop is handling orders that are just for Bread, which belongs to two profiles, both calendars 2 and 4 are feasible. OTM will pick the first calendar it finds; it could be Calendar 2 or Calendar 4.
If the stop is handling orders that are for Bread and Bagels, for Bread, there are two profiles ('Ambient goods' or 'Bakery'). For bagels, there is just one profile 'Bakery'. In this case, OTM will first try to choose a profile that contains all the commodities being processed, Bakery in this case.

The examples above discuss scenarios related to commodity and flex commodity profile, but the same thing applies to location profiles, or mode profiles. The same consideration is done when choosing a source location profile, when there are orders from multiple sources being processed.

Rule Summary:

The location profile detail calendar will override the location role profile's calendar, if both exist.
When there is more than one valid location profile detail calendar, they will intersect
When multiple profiles are valid, any one profile will be considered.

Adding a Location Role Profile Calendar window

Click New to access the Location Role Profile Calendar window.
Enter a Calendar ID.
Enter a Flex Commodity Profile ID.
Enter a Mode Profile ID.
Enter an Inbound Location Profile ID.
Enter an Outbound Location Profile ID.
Click Save.

Location Role Profile Handling Time

At cross docks and other throughpoints (e.g., pools, ports, etc), goods arrive on incoming shipments, and then depart on outgoing shipments. For an order at a throughpoint, time is usually required between the end of the incoming shipment and the start of the outgoing shipment. This time might include, for example, how long it takes to move the order from one dock door to another, or how long it takes to prepare documents required for the outgoing shipment. Handling times for this through-point location can be based on the order source and destination. (For example, an order going to a foreign destination will need a longer time at the cross dock for the completion of import/export documentation.)

For an order going through this throughpoint,the most specific matching entry in the grid will be used to determine the handling time. For example, if one entry has 5 hours for an order source region representing France, and another entry has 10 hours for an order source region representing Paris, only the 10 hour entry will apply for an order release from a source location in Paris. An order source/destination region of null (blank) is allowed and will match to any source /destination location but is less specific than a non null entry.

The handling times are used to adjust the order movement operational pickup/delivery dates.

Note: This grid is not used to create any handling shipments.

You can define those times here.

Define the Order Source and Destination Regions. These fields are used to match an order to an entry.
Enter the Fixed Handling Time.
Click Save for each record entered.