Logic Configuration - Multistop

CHECK EQUIPMENT CAPACITY IN SEQUENCING

Multistop Sequencing

20B

This parameter provides the option to perform equipment capacity check inside the sequencing logic so that the stop sequences that are not equipment capacity feasible can be immediately rejected during sequence generation. The default is false.

See Multistop Sequencing in Multi-segment Shipments.

CHECK ITEM COMPATIBILITY IN SEQUENCING

Multistop Sequencing

21A

This parameter provides the option to perform item compatibility checks in sequencing. Valid options are:

  0. Do not check: OTM will not check item compatibility in sequencing. This is the default.

  1. By commodity: OTM will check only commodity compatibility in sequencing.

  2. By packaged item: OTM will check only packaged compatibility (i.e. whether two packaged items belong the same bulk mixing family) in sequencing.

  3. By commodity and packaged item: OTM will check both commodity and packaged item compatibility in sequencing.

See Multistop Sequencing in Multi-segment Shipments.

CHECK LIFO IN SEQUENCING

Multistop Sequencing

20B

This parameter provides the option to perform a LIFO (last-in-first-out) check inside the sequencing logic so that the stop sequences that are not LIFO feasible can be immediately rejected during sequence generation. The default is false.

This parameter will only work if this one is set to true: MULTISTOP USES LIFO PICKUP DROPOFF

See Multistop Sequencing in Multi-segment Shipments.

This parameter allows the multi-stop/multi-segment logic to create groups of single-segment shipments that can fit nicely together in work assignments. The logic uses the algorithms that create multi-segment shipments, and then breaks each of these multi-segment shipments into its individual segments, each of which is persisted as an individual shipment.

The options are:

• Do not convert (default): do not break up multi-segment shipments into individual shipments.
• Convert to Single Shipments: break up multi-segment shipments into individual single segment shipments.
  • On a shipment, a segment ends whenever all the freight is unloaded (i.e., whenever the shipment is empty).
• Convert to Single Petal Shipments: break up multi-segment shipments into individual single petal shipments.
  • On a shipment, a petal ends whenever all the shipment is empty at the first pickup location (or at any location defined in the parameter PETAL SOURCE LOCATION PROFILE).  A petal also ends at the end of the shipment.

Here is an example.  The multi-stop / multi-segment logic creates the following multi-segment shipment:

Stop 1 (P) - pick up order 1 at Depot
Stop 2 (PD) - deliver order 1 at Customer A / pick up order 2
Stop 3 (PD) - deliver order 2 at Depot / pick up order 3
Stop 4 (D) - deliver order 3 at Customer B.

• Convert to Single Shipments: there will be three individual single-segment shipments:
  • 1: Pick up order 1 at Depot and deliver at Customer A.
  • 2: Pick up order 2 at Customer A and deliver at Depot.
  • 3: Pick up order 3 at Depot and deliver at Depot
• Convert to Single Petal Shipments: there will be two individual single-petal shipments:
  • 1: Pick up order 1 at Depot and deliver at Customer A; pick up order 2 at Customer A and deliver at Depot.
  • 2: Pick up order 3 at Depot and deliver at Customer B

A segment or petal shipment may also drive empty back to the depot.

Each of the individual segment/petal shipments created from the same multi-segment shipment will be marked with the same Projected Tour Name, with a Projected Tour Sequence Number based upon its position in the original multi-segment shipment. The Work Assignment logic can then put these single-segment shipments into the same work assignment, if the Resource Scheduler logic parameter RS USE PROJECTED TOUR is turned on.

Note:The individual segment/petal shipments are not driven at the times that the individual segments would have been driven in the multi-segment shipment.

EXTRA TIME WINDOW OVERLAP BETWEEN STOPS

General

20B

This parameter is useful when order time windows or location calendars can determine the proper sequence for a multistop sequence.

See Tuning Time Window Effect in Multistop Sequencing.

This parameter provides an option to increase the required time window overlap between stops. This additional time is considered on top of the transit time between stops and the activity times at the stops to see if it is possible to get a stop location by its late arrival time. The default is 0 M.

IGNORE CAPACITY OVERRIDES IN TOP-OFF PASS

General

19

This parameter provides an option to ignore capacity overrides on the itinerary legs during shipment consolidation in the top-off pass. The default is false. Set this to "true" only when the enforced capacity overrides are required and only until the top-off stop which should also be last pick up stop.

See Topping off Multi-stop Shipments.

IGNORE PROXIMITY CHECKS FOR RETURN TO SOURCE

General

21C

This parameter allows the distance or time from the source location to the service area to be longer than any specified limit. When this parameter is set to true, while departing or returning to the shipment source location, OTM will not perform checks for maximum distance or time between pickups or deliveries. The default value is false.

See Distance-Based Parameters and Time-Based Parameters in the topic Bulk Plan Tuning Multi-stop Shipment Logic.

INSERT DC STOPS AFTER SEQUENCE GENERATION

Multistop Sequencing

20B

This parameter turns on the multi-segment sequencing when set to true. The default is false. When set to true, OTM identifies the DC (distribution center) stops and adds them to the stop sequence after the sequence generation step.

This helps improve the solution quality and run time in multi-segment multistop planning scenarios.

MAXIMUM DELIVERY STOPS ALLOWED

MAXIMUM PICKUP STOPS ALLOWED

Multistop Stop Constraints

6.3.2

This affects how multi-stop logic adds new stops onto a multi-stop shipment. These parameters limit pickup/delivery stops a multi-stop shipment can have.
There are similar stop constraints on the Itinerary "Pickup Stops Constraints" and Delivery Stops Constraints" that affect itineraries. When OTM is gathering the various constraints and parameters, it will read the constraints from the itinerary (if it exists) and from here. If the Itinerary constraint parameters exist, then the multi-stop logic will adhere to both parameters (i.e., it will use the minimum of the two values for max stops constraints, and the maximum of the two values for minimum stopoff constraints).

For example, if the itinerary has Pickup Stops Constraints = 5, and the logic parameter MAXIMUM PICKUP STOPS ALLOWED = 10, then the multistop logic will ensure that there are at most 5 pickup stops when forming a multistop shipment.

MAXIMUM STOPS ALLOWED

Multistop Stop Constraints

6.3.2

This affects how multi-stop logic adds new stops onto a multi-stop shipment. This parameter limits the stops a multi-stop shipment can have.
There is a similar Itinerary header constraint "Maximum Stops Allowed" that affects itineraries. When OTM is gathering the various constraints and parameters, it will look at both constraints. If the Itinerary constraint parameter exists, then OTM will adhere to both parameters.

For example, if the itinerary has Pickup Stops Constraints = 5, and the logic parameter MAXIMUM PICKUP STOPS ALLOWED = 10, then the multi-stop logic will ensure that there are at most 5 pickup stops when forming a multi-stop shipment.

MINIMUM STOPOFF VOLUME

Multistop Stop Constraints

6.3.2

This affects how multi-stop logic adds new stops onto a multi-stop shipment. OTM will only add a new stop onto the shipment if the new stop satisfies this minimum stop off constraint.

MINIMUM STOPOFF WEIGHT

Multistop Stop Constraints

6.3.2

This affects how multi-stop logic adds new stops onto a multi-stop shipment. OTM will only add a new stop onto the shipment if the new stop satisfies this minimum stop off constraint.

MULTISTOP ALLOW PICKUP AND DROPOFF AT SAME STOP

Multistop Consolidation

5.5 CU4

Determines if one shipment stop can perform both pickup and drop off activities.

Note: This parameter only applies to bulk planning. All manual actions will continue to ignore cost savings entirely unless the action has an override parameter available.

MULTISTOP ALLOWED

General

6.3

This can be used to turn on/off multi-stop functionality. The default value is true. The same Origin-Destination pair consolidation will happen even if this is set to false.

MULTISTOP CHECK TIME FEASIBILITY

General

Enabling this parameter causes the planning algorithm to consider time feasibility when determining the optimal route for multi-stop shipments. When deciding where to insert a stop on a shipment, the logic will estimate the transit time to the next stop in order to validate the pickup/delivery time window at that stop. If it is not time feasible, the logic will search for the next place to insert the stop which is time feasible.

MULTISTOP CLUSTER BUILDING ALGORITHM

Multistop Cluster Merge

21A

This parameter controls which cluster building algorithm is used. The options are:

• Legacy Cluster Building Algorithm
• MIP Cluster Building Algorithm

See Bulk Plan Multi-stop Shipment Clustering Merge Algorithm.

MULTISTOP CLUSTER MERGE MIP GENERAL PENALTY

Multistop Cluster Merge

21C

This parameter defines the penalty of creating an additional cluster within the cluster assignment MIP. A larger penalty will create fewer and larger clusters. A smaller penalty will create more and smaller clusters. The default value is 5 (the value should be greater than zero).

MULTISTOP CLUSTER MERGE STRATEGY

Multistop Cluster Merge

21A

This parameter determines how OTM handles those failed to merge direct shipments. The options are:  

•  0. Use cleanup cluster: OTM collects all the failed-to-merge direct shipments, and runs another iteration of forming clusters & building multi-stop shipments from clusters.

•  1. Push to next cluster: OTM re-assigns the failed-to-merge shipment to the unplanned cluster which is most similar to the shipment.

•  2. Iterate cluster generation: OTM collected the failed-to-merge shipment together with all the not-yet-consolidated direct shipments to run another iteration of forming clusters and building multi-stop shipments from clusters iteration.

See Bulk Plan Multi-stop Shipment Clustering Merge Algorithm.

MULTISTOP COLGEN NUMBER OF ITERATIONS

Multistop Consolidation

5.5 CU4

The number of iterations of the savings algorithm run to generate additional shipments in the algorithm. This parameter is shared by two multistop consolidation algorithm types. Column Generation and Iterative Savings.

When the MULTISTOP CONSOLIDATION ALGORITHM TYPE parameter is set to "Iterative Savings", the run time is almost proportional to number of iterations and quality of solution improves or remain same with increasing iterations.

MULTISTOP COLGEN SAVINGS ALGORITHM TYPE

Multistop Consolidation

5.5 CU4

The savings method that is used for generating additional shipments. The valid values are:
0-Concurrent - Select his value if using Iterative Savings as your MULTISTOP CONSOLIDATION ALGORITHM TYPE.
1-Sequential
2-Look Ahead

Replaces property glog.business.consolidation.multistop.isColgenMergeSavingsSequential

MULTISTOP COMBINE INBOUND AND OUTBOUND SHIPMENTS

General

23C

Setting this parameter to true will allow multi-stop logic to combine feasible inbound and outbound shipment pairs during a pre-process step in multi-stop. No cost saving check will be exercised during this pre-process step.

The default value is false.

The steps involved when using this parameter are as follows:

1. The application segregates the input set of shipments into sets of complete inbound outbound shipments with a specified source. 

2. Then the application merges the inbound-outbound set per source using multi-stop logic.

3. The application then sends all these shipments to the co-located logic pre-process step, and merges shipments which are co-located (if co-located logic is turned on). 

4. The final step is the regular multi-stop merging of all the shipments.

MULTISTOP CONSOLIDATION ALGORITHM TYPE

Multistop Consolidation

0.Concurrent Savings is the type of savings used to build consolidated shipments and allows for multiple pairs of shipments to be considered and combined simultaneously. Even though several shipments are formed concurrently during the concurrent savings approach, the logic is still single-threaded. If using priorities, priority will have an impact on how the shipments are paired and selected.

See also Bulk Plan Multi-stop Shipment Saving Algorithms.

1.Sequential Savings chooses one shipment at a time and consolidates others with that shipment until no further consolidation is possible. Sequential Savings reverse sorts (that is decreasing order) the shipments by first (weighted) cost and then weight.

Use this option if you want to use the parameter MULTISTOP SEQUENTIAL SAVINGS SORT METHOD.

See also Bulk Plan Multi-stop Shipment Saving Algorithms.

2.Look-Ahead Savings influences which pairs of shipments are chosen to be combined at any step by the alternate opportunities available to the shipments. So, to decide which shipment to combine next, Look Ahead uses the following formula to compute the savings:

Savings for a shipment = savings with first choice + (Look Ahead factor) * (difference between savings with first choice and second choice)

The shipment with the highest such savings is chosen for consolidation in each iteration.

See also Bulk Plan Multi-stop Shipment Saving Algorithms.

3.Column Generation takes all of the intermediate shipments generated during the savings algorithm and uses them to obtain the final set of multi-stop shipments. This approach takes all of these intermediate shipments, along with the final solution, and sends them to a solver to optimize. The result is a solution at least as good as the savings algorithm. Note that this is only true when cost savings is used instead of distance savings (i.e. when MULTISTOP COST SAVING CHECK TYPE is set to "4 - Calculate cost for all paired shipments" or MULTISTOP PERFORM THOROUGH SEQUENCE CHECKS is set to true).

The following parameters control the behavior of the column generation algorithm:

MULTISTOP COLGEN SAVINGS ALGORITHM TYPE

MULTISTOP COLGEN NUMBER OF ITERATIONS

See also Bulk Plan Multi-stop Shipment Column Generation Algorithm.

4.Complete Enumeration enumerates all possible combinations while maintaining the same business logic that is used in multi-stop algorithms to discard unnecessary combinations. These shipment combinations are passed into a solver to completely optimize and find the best set of shipments. The solution is generally the best but with a significantly longer run time. This approach is not for large problems and there is a property to control the size of the problem. The following parameters are associated. They control the behavior of the enumeration algorithm:

MULTISTOP ENUMERATION MERGE MAX SHIPMENTS

MULTISTOP ENUMERATION MERGE MAX MERGES PER SHIP

See also Bulk Plan Multi-stop Shipment Complete Enumeration Algorithm.

Note: Complete Enumeration and Column Generation both use FICO XPRESS OPTIMIZER to solve the multi-stop problem using Mixed Integer Programming (MIP). Both of these algorithms can be excessive even for small problems, especially the enumeration process. The enumeration process iterates through a lot of combinations, creating and evaluating shipments at each stage and is computationally intensive.

Note: This parameter must be set to Concurrent Savings or Sequential Savings in order to use capacity aware multi-stop functionality. See parameter Consider Carrier Capacities During Multistop.

5.Conopt Merge allows you to merge shipments if the total size (in terms of weight, volume, equipment reference units, etc.) of two shipments exceeds the full-equipment capacity. This algorithm allows splitting of the shipments during the shipment consolidation steps in order to produce full-capacity shipments. For example, consider 5 direct shipments from source A to destinations B, C, D, E, and F which are close to each other in the same geographical region. Suppose each of these shipments has 6 ship units (each weighing 10,000 LB) on an equipment with weight capacity 100,000 LB. Without this algorithm, OTM cannot split shipments inside multistop, so these shipments would not be consolidated into multistop shipments. However, this algorithm will allow splitting of these shipments, which will lead to three multistop shipments, thereby saving costs. This splitting relies on the Count Splittable check box on the order release ship unit being set. The Bulk Splittable check box (also on the order release ship unit) does not trigger this type of splitting. See the following in the Order Management Guide: Order Configuration and Order Modification Workflow.

Note that conopt merge will use the default set of container optimization logic parameters while splitting shipments in order to repack them more tightly. Therefore, the user settings in the container optimization logic configuration will not be used by this multistop split logic. However, similar to all existing multistop algorithms, all multistop logic parameters will be used to combine shipments to create multistop shipments and sequence the stops in them.

For multi-leg planning, you must use Conopt Merge with Network Routing based planning.

The following is NOT currently supported with the Conopt Merge algorithm:

• 3D load configuration
• Carrier capacities

These packing parameters are used with this option:

• MULTISTOP PACKING ALGORITHM
• MULTISTOP PACKING METRIC
• MULTISTOP PACKING OBJECTIVE

See also Bulk Plan Multi-stop Shipment Conopt Merge Algorithm.

6. Iterative Savings increases the search space to look for an optimal route. It follows an approach similar to concurrent savings to form routes at each iteration. This is an iterative algorithm meaning that it runs repeatedly, over and over. In each iteration, or run, multistop shipments are generated and considered as a potential candidate for the final result. Finally, the set-covering problem is solved to pick the cheapest solution so that all order releases/order movements are fulfilled.

The parameter MULTISTOP COLGEN SAVINGS ALGORITHM TYPE needs to be set to '0-Concurrent' when using the iterative savings algorithm.

These parameters impact this algorithm:

• MULTISTOP COLGEN NUMBER OF ITERATIONS
• MULTISTOP SAVINGS COST TOLERANCE PERCENTAGE.

These properties also impact this algorithm:

• glog.optimization.merge.savingsmerge.maxTournamentSize
• glog.optimization.merge.savingsmerge.randomizationSeed

See also Bulk Plan Multi-stop Shipment Saving Algorithms.

7. Clustering Merge enables OTM to build a multi-stop shipment from a set of shipments instead of a pair of shipments. This will boost performance since it sequences stops from all the shipments in one shot instead of from a pair of shipments. If all shipments can be merged together, then one shipment will be built. Otherwise, OTM will fall back to the original individual shipments.

See also Bulk Plan Multi-stop Shipment Clustering Merge Algorithm.

______________________________________________________

If using priorities, priority will have an impact on how the shipments are paired and selected if using Concurrent, Sequential or Column Generation. See the glog.business.consolidation.multistop.prioritysavingsalgorithm business property.

MULTISTOP CONSOLIDATION ALLOW MULTITHREADING

Multistop Consolidation

5.5 CU4

Set to True to enable multithreading. This does not affect the solution. The run time may increase for a small problem, but otherwise improves performance.

MULTISTOP COST SAVING CHECK TYPE

General

Use this parameter to configure whether the cost savings check takes place in multi-stop shipment planning.

Note: This parameter only applies to bulk planning. All manual actions will continue to ignore cost savings entirely unless the action has an override parameter available.

This parameter has the following values:

1 - Perform cost savings check after each iteration.

2 - Perform cost savings check at end of process.

3 - Do not perform cost savings check.

4 - Calculate cost for all paired shipments. Shipments will be rated, then sorted by cost savings, as opposed to the shipments not being rated and sorted by distance savings. OTM will force this parameter to a value of "4.Calculate cost for all paired shipments" whenever carrier capacities are being considered during multi-stop, see parameter Consider Carrier Capacities During Multistop. Carrier capacities are considered during multi-stop whenever the parameter Consider Carrier Capacities During Multistop is set to true and actual carrier capacities are detected for the collection of shipments upon which the multi-stop logic is operating.

This parameter needs to be set to check cost savings after each iteration, or for each pair, during shipment building.

MULTISTOP DISABLE SAME OD PAIRING

Multistop Consolidation

5.5 CU4

This parameter allows you to disable the same origin/destination pairing in order to enable complete enumeration. Valid values are true and false.

See also Bulk Plan Tuning Order Bundling Logic.

MULTISTOP DISTANCE METRIC THRESHOLD

Multistop Cluster Merge

21C

This parameter sets up the distance metric threshold (radius) for each cluster. When the distance metric between a shipment and the center of a cluster is greater than the metric threshold, OTM will not assign the shipment to that cluster. The default value is 1.

MULTISTOP DISTANCE METRIC WEIGHT

Multistop Cluster Merge

21A

This parameter provides a weighting for the distance metric in determining similarity between two direct shipments.

See Bulk Plan Multi-stop Shipment Clustering Merge Algorithm.

MULTISTOP ENUMERATION MERGE MAX SHIPMENTS

Multistop Consolidation

5.5 CU4

Maximum number of bundles (bundle constitutes 'number of shipments' to be paired inside Multistop consolidation logic) to be considered for complete enumerations, and do not exceed the maximum number of shipments permitted. If more than 30 bundles are present, then the concurrent savings algorithm will be used.

See also Bulk Plan Multi-stop Shipment Complete Enumeration Algorithm.

MULTISTOP ENUMERATION MERGE MAX MERGES PER SHIP

Multistop Consolidation

5.5 CU4

Maximum number of stops per shipment for complete enumeration.

See also Bulk Plan Multi-stop Shipment Complete Enumeration Algorithm.

MULTISTOP EQUIPMENT METRIC WEIGHT

Multistop Cluster Merge

21A

This parameter provides a weighting for the compatible equipment metric for determining similarity between two direct shipments.

See Bulk Plan Multi-stop Shipment Clustering Merge Algorithm.

MULTISTOP EXTRA DISTANCE PERCENTAGE TOLERANCE

General

Controls the amount of extra distance the multi-stop algorithm should tolerate when extra distance occurs. The value represents the percentage relative to the total miles of the two shipments.

When this is set to 0%, the algorithm discards all options with no distance savings. When the set to 100%, the algorithm ignores the distance saving check. By adjusting these parameters from 0% to 100%, you can trade off the solution quality with the algorithm performance.

MULTISTOP EXTRA DISTANCE TOLERANCE

General

Controls the amount of extra distance the multi-stop algorithm should tolerate when extra distance occurs. The value is in absolute miles.

When this is set to '0', the algorithm discards all options with no distance savings. When set to infinity, the algorithm ignores the distance savings check. By adjusting these parameters from 0 to infinity, you can trade off the solution quality with the algorithm performance.

MULTISTOP FAVOR SAME DOWNSTREAM SHIPMENT

General

5.5 CU4

When set to True, the pool cross-dock planning process tries to consolidate linehaul shipments based on the same destination and consolidates cross-dock inbound shipments based on outbound shipments.

When set to true, this affects performance because an additional pass is run in finding the best savings pairs. The logic is called twice, once to consolidate cross-dock inbound shipments and the other to consolidate cross-dock linehaul shipments.

This is not a hard rule. Multi-stop tries to put shipments with same downstream shipments together when equipment capacity allows.

Note: This parameter is only used when creating multi-stop shipments going into a cross dock. Overriding this parameter on any Scenario other than "Into XDock" will not have any impact on the solution.

MULTISTOP FAVOR SAME SHIP WITH GROUP

Multistop Consolidation

Determines if shipping with the same ship with group value on the order release constraints is emphasized.  

If this parameter is:

False: Orders with different ship with groups will not consolidate This is the default. The orders in a given bulk plan with non-identical Ship with Group values will be prevented from bundling into shipments. A blank or "null" Ship with Group value will bundle with all other orders with a value of blank or "null" but will not be considered a bundling candidate for an order with the Ship with Group field populated with any value. Similarly, multiple orders, in the same bulk plan with identical Ship with Group values, will be considered candidates for consolidation while other orders in that same bulk plan with different Ship with Group values will not.

True: Allow mixing (i.e. favor the same ship with group, but permit others). The multi-stop logic will allow orders with different Ship with Group values to be combined, but will give preference to orders with the same Ship with Group value. Oracle Transportation Management will attempt to ship orders together with the same Ship with Group value and will allow other Ship with Group values to be consolidated on the same shipment. There is a possibility for orders with the same Ship with Group value to not ship together when evaluating multi-stop consolidation opportunities across orders with different Ship with Group values.

When this parameter is true, OTM favors same Ship with Group based consolidation at the bulk plan level. When this is false, bulk plan logic can still favor same Ship with Group based consolidation if the property "glog.business.consolidation.bulkplan.favorSameSWGConsolidation" is set to true. If you want to consolidate same Ship with Group orders even though the consolidated shipment cost would be higher, you will additionally need to use the setting "MULTISTOP COST SAVING CHECK TYPE = 3. Do not perform cost savings check".

1. Note: Although this is a multi-stop parameter, it is also used outside of the multi-stop shipment building logic. When used outside of multi-stop, it is not always possible to determine which scenario applies. For this reason, scenario overrides should not be used for this parameter.

2. Also see Bulk Plan Cost Based Routing and Bulk Plan Tuning Order Bundling Logic for more details.

MULTISTOP ITERATE THRU ALL SEQUENCES

Multistop Sequencing

6.0

When this is set to true, the multi-stop algorithm will iterate through all generated stop sequences to find the sequence with the lowest cost. Note that all possible sequences will not always be generated. The generation of sequences is controlled by the multi-stop sequencing algorithm selected via settings in the multi-stop logic configuration. This parameter should be set to false when the parameter MULTISTOP COST SAVING CHECK TYPE is set to "3 - Do not perform cost savings check."

The default is false

MULTISTOP MAX DISTANCE BETWEEN CO-LOCATED STOPS

General

19B

This specifies the maximum distance within which two locations can be considered co-located. The default is 0, so the co-located multistop logic is not used in this case.

Note that the value of 0 is exclusively used to disable the co-located multistop logic. For considering any two locations with 0 distance between them as as co-located, the value of this parameter needs to be set to a small positive value (such as 0.01 MI).

See distance based parameters in Bulk Plan Tuning Multi-stop Shipment Logic.

MULTISTOP MAX DISTANCE BETWEEN STOPS

General

21C

This parameter specifies the maximum distance limit between certain pair of consecutive stops in a multi-stop shipment. This parameter will work only if IGNORE PROXIMITY CHECKS FOR RETURN TO SOURCE is set to true.

Note: This is an additional parameter and will still consider the parameters MULTISTOP MAX DISTANCE BETWEEN PICKUPS and MULTISTOP MAX DISTANCE BETWEEN DELIVERIES.

MULTISTOP MAX DISTANCE BETWEEN DELIVERIES

MULTISTOP MAX DISTANCE BETWEEN PICKUPS

MULTISTOP MAX RADIUS FOR DELIVERIES

MULTISTOP MAX RADIUS FOR PICKUPS

MULTISTOP MAX RADIUS PERCENTAGE FOR DELIVERIES

MULTISTOP MAX RADIUS PERCENTAGE FOR PICKUPS

General

6.1

An itinerary has fields that correspond to these distance based parameters (Max Distance Between Pickups, Max Distance Between Deliveries, Max Radius Between Pickups, Max Radius Between Deliveries, Max Radius Percent For Pickups, Max Radius Percent For Deliveries). If both the value on the itinerary and the value on the corresponding parameter are set, then the planning logic will use the small more constraining value.

MULTISTOP MAX TIME BETWEEN DELIVERIES

MULTISTOP MAX TIME BETWEEN PICKUPS

General

A well-formed multi-stop shipment is one that has pickups clustered together in time and distance and similarly deliveries. These two parameters are quick checks, they are not a hard constraint on service time. This only applies for LIFO.

MULTISTOP_MAX_TIME_BETWEEN_DELIVERIES: limits the time that can exist between any drop off stop from shipment 1 compared with any drop off stop from shipment 2. The duration between the last drop off for stop 2 and Earliest Dropoff for stop 1, cannot exceed this parameter. If not set, there is no limit.

MULTISTOP_MAX_TIME_BETWEEN_PICKUPS: any pickup stop from shipment 1 compared with any pickup stop from shipment 2. The duration between last pickup for stop 2 and the earliest pickup for stop 1 cannot exceed this parameter. If not set, there is no limit.

MULTISTOP MAXIMUM NUMBER OF SEQUENCES

Multistop Sequencing

6.3.4

This parameter can be used to set a limit on the maximum number of sequences that will be evaluated for a multistop shipment. The default is 10. Increasing the value of this parameter will improve the multistop solution quality; however this improvement will come at the expense of additional run time in the multistop logic. An optimal value should be set for this parameter based on the data set used.

If your data is very constrained (calendars, HOS, and so on)  some sequences may fail during the evaluation so a higher value may be required.

See Multistop Sequencing Algorithm.

MULTISTOP MAXIMUM SEGMENTS PER SHIPMENT

Multistop Sequencing

5.5 CU4

Enables you to specify maximum number of segments allowed per shipment. A segment is defined as starting when product is loaded on the equipment and ending when the equipment is completely emptied.

MULTISTOP OUT OF ROUTE DISTANCE PCT TOLERANCE

MULTISTOP OUT OF ROUTE DISTANCE TOLERANCE

General

Total Distance: -total trip distance derived by summing the distance between all stops on the shipment

Direct Distance: the distance from the first stop to the last stop.

Out of Route Distance: Total Distance minus the Direct Distance (needs to be <=OUT OF ROUTE DISTANCE TOLERANCE)

Out of Route Distance Percentage: Out of Route Distance/Direct Distance (needs to be <=OUT OF ROUTE DISTANCE PERCENTAGE TOLERANCE)

So the Out of Route Distance Tolerance and Out of Route Distance Percentage Tolerance needs to be within the specified limits as defined by the parameter otherwise, the check fails and the shipment is not built.

MULTISTOP PACKING ALGORITHM

Multistop Packing

6.4

This selects the packing algorithm to be used inside multistop logic when Multistop Consolidation Algorithm Type is Conopt Merge. The packing algorithm options are:
1. Quick Packing (default)
2. Enumerative
3. Single Container MIP
4. Column Generation.

Note: Used only when Multistop Consolidation Algorithm Type is 'Conopt Merge'.

MULTISTOP PACKING METRIC

Multistop Packing

6.4

This selects the packing metric to be used inside the Conopt Merge logic. You can pack by weight, volume, or weight and volume.

Note: Used only when Multistop Consolidation Algorithm Type is 'Conopt Merge'.

MULTISTOP PACKING OBJECTIVE

Multistop Packing

6.4

This selects the packing objective to be used inside the Conopt Merge logic. You can pack to minimize containers (default), maximize utilization, or minimize cost.

Note: Used only when Multistop Consolidation Algorithm Type is 'Conopt Merge'.

MULTISTOP PERFORM THOROUGH SEQUENCE CHECKS

Multistop Sequencing

5.5 CU4

When set to TRUE, more thorough checks are performed when determining the feasibility of a stop sequence in multi-stop. The more thorough checks will discover infeasibilities such as number of segment restrictions on rate offerings, time window constraints on orders/locations, etc and allow another stop sequence to be evaluated.

MULTISTOP PRIORITY METRIC WEIGHT

Multistop Cluster Merge

21A

This parameter provides a weighting for the order priority metric for determining similarity between two direct shipments.

See Bulk Plan Multi-stop Shipment Clustering Merge Algorithm.

MULTISTOP QUICK HOS CHECK IN SEQUENCING

Multistop Sequencing

6.4.2

This parameter provides the option of doing quick HOS (hours of service) check while generating multistop sequences. This parameter is helpful if there is a maximum duration for the shipment. The default is false.

Generated sequences can be infeasible due to various time-constraining factors such as HOS Rules. OTM can improve performance and solution quality by throwing out time-infeasible sequences during the sequence generation step by running quick time-feasibility checks on HOS.  For example, based on the HOS rules set up on the rate services, if maximum drive time of 12 hours is allowed, this quick HOS check will discard those multistop sequences that would certainly exceed 12 hours in total drive time.

If the parameter MULTISTOP SEQUENCE COST FOR TIME is greater than zero, the HOS check will be done automatically regardless of this setting.

MULTISTOP RATE DISTANCE ID

General

A rate distance ID to indicate the type of distance calculation Oracle Transportation Management uses when creating routes for multi-stop shipments. Oracle Transportation Management uses a rate distance to determine the best route based on the distance between the stops on a shipment. You can select one of the following methods for determining distance or a different one:

• Lookup: A saved value that represents the distance between two points.

• Estimate: Finds the longitude and latitude values at each location and calculates the distance from one to the other.

MULTISTOP RATE METRIC WEIGHT

Multistop Cluster Merge

21A

This parameter provides a weighting for the compatible rate metric for determining similarity between two direct shipments.

See Bulk Plan Multi-stop Shipment Clustering Merge Algorithm.

MULTISTOP SAME PREVIOUS STOP REWARD

Multistop Sequencing

6.1

This parameter rewards sequences that have two consecutive stops at the same location. If set to a positive number, the logic will make the sequences with end stops at the same locations look more favorable than the ones that do not. This is useful in cases where a particular location has both pickup and drop-offs happening and users would want them to be together.

Note that this parameters encourages the formation of sequences and is not a constraints. The logic might still produce sequences that have same location stops non-consecutive. If this happens, try increasing the rewards to attain the desired result.

MULTISTOP SAME SHIP WITH GROUP EMPHASIS

Multistop Consolidation

5.5 CU4

If two shipments are being combined to create a multi-stop shipment, and the orders have a common Ship With Group value, and the parameter MULTISTOP FAVOR SAME SHIP WITH GROUP is set to True, the value of the parameter is added to the calculated savings for the multi-stop shipment. Note that the calculated savings may be a distance value or a cost value. The calculated savings is either the difference in total distance between the two original shipments and the combined shipment, or the difference in cost. Decreasing the value of the parameter will decrease the emphasis on combining shipments with the same Ship With Group value into a multi-stop; increasing the value will increase the emphasis.

Setting the parameter MULTISTOP FAVOR SAME SHIP WITH GROUP to False ignores this parameter and places no additional emphasis on combining the shipments.

The default value for this parameter is set to a high value (1000000) which is interpreted within the algorithm as additional "savings" incurred when orders with the same ship with group values are combined together on the same shipment.

Set this to zero to encourage the multi-stop process to combine shipments with the same origin and destination locations but different ship with group values (or null ship with group value) when the parameter MULTISTOP FAVOR SAME SHIP WITH GROUP is set to TRUE.

Also see Bulk Plan Tuning Order Bundling Logic for more details.

MULTISTOP SAVINGS COST TOLERANCE PERCENTAGE

Multistop Consolidation

6.4.2

This parameter is used with the MULTISTOP CONSOLIDATION ALGORITHM TYPE 'Iterative Savings'. This helps OTM choose decent pairs of shipments to be considered for pairing while constructing multistop shipments. If there are many constraints on the orders being planned like hours of service (HOS), location calender, location capacity etc., which might result in failure when combining pairs of shipments, this parameter should be increased to explore more options. Increasing this parameter increases the number of pairs of shipments that will be considered. This should be increased to allow higher costs.

If the value of this parameter is very low, OTM will reduce the number of pairs of shipments that will be considered and you may get results similar to concurrent savings. If the value of this parameter is too large, OTM might be considering pairs of shipments which will give less savings if combined.

The default is 15%. The recommended range is 10 - 50%.

MULTISTOP SAVINGS LINKS PER NODE

Multistop Consolidation

5.5 CU4

0 - the default. It indicates that there are unlimited links per node.

>0 - if set to a positive integer, it specifies the max number of savings to store per node. This is mainly used to control the memory consumption of the engine. Small non-zero numbers while helping memory could degrade performance of the engine and the quality of the solution produced.

MULTISTOP SAVINGS LOOK AHEAD FACTOR

Multistop Consolidation

5.5 CU4

Default value is 2. It accepts non-negative integers as valid values. This is interpreted as the weight to be associated with the second factor (Look Ahead factor) in the formula for calculating savings for a shipment.

MULTISTOP SEQUENCE COST FOR DISTANCE

Multistop Sequencing

6.4.2

This parameter specifies the distance based cost to be considered during sequence generation. This value relates to the unit distance; either miles or kilometers. The default is 1.0.

MULTISTOP SEQUENCE COST FOR TIME

Multistop Sequencing

6.4.2

This parameter specifies the time based cost to be considered during sequence generation. Generated sequences can be infeasible due to various time-constraining factors. OTM can improve performance and solution quality by throwing out time-infeasible sequences during the sequence generation step itself by running time-feasibility checks. The default value is 0.0.

This value is representative of your rates, such as $100/hour. If this is populated, then the parameter MULTISTOP QUICK HOS CHECK IN SEQUENCING will run automatically.

MULTISTOP SEQUENCING ALGORITHM

Multistop Sequencing

5.5 CU4

This provides sequencing options for the shipment stops. Options are as follows:

1.Insertion: Each stop for the second shipment is inserted into the first shipment at different points to form a combined shipment. Best when number of stops is low, or when using Sequential Savings for MULTISTOP CONSOLIDATION ALGORITHM TYPE.

2.2-Opt: Looks to find a sequence with a lower cost by replacing any 2 of the links (say first after step 1 and second after step 2, in essence, there are 3 sub-sequences) in a 2-Opt sequence by a set of 2 other links that would form a new sequence. For example, you have 8 stops and you know the cost of the initial sequence. By making a swap, there is a new sequence (i.e. 1,3,4,5,6,7,8,2). If this sequence results in a lower cost, the initial sequence is replaces with this one and 2-Opt runs again until there is no improvement after running all swaps.

The parameter MULTISTOP SEQUENCING NUMBER OF OPT ITERATIONS is used to set the number of iterations, or runs, in the 2-Opt or 3-Opt sequencing algorithm.

3.3-Opt: Similar to 2-Opt except 3 links are chosen (4 sub-sequences)

4.Complete Enumeration: Oracle Transportation Management goes through all possible sequences by enumerating in a proper order and chooses the sequence that is feasible and minimizes the total cost. Best when number of stops is low for performance reasons.

5.MIP: In the MIP Sequencer algorithm, OTM solves a mixed integer programming (MIP) formulation of the stop-sequencing problem. This algorithm provides high quality sequences (as good as Complete Enumeration), and it also runs much faster than the Enumeration algorithm for a high number of stops.

6.Time Window MIP: In the time window MIP algorithm, OTM takes time constraints into consideration (location calendar, order pick-up & delivery date). This algorithm can provide the optimal solution, but also can be time consuming for high number of stops. The trade off between solution quality and performance could be adjusted by the property glog.business.consolidation.multistop.tWMipSequencerMaxTime. It sets the upper bound for time to spend on searching for the optimal solution.

Example - If a problem is complex with lots of stops you can select a different algorithm to use. For example, you may have the following defined:

Low Stops maximum = 4

High stops minimum = 8

Multistop sequencing algorithm  = 3-Opt

Multistop sequencing algorithm for High Stops = 2-Opt

Multistop sequencing algorithm for Low Stops = Enumeration

For 4 stops or fewer, the Enumeration algorithm is used; 5-7 stops, 3-Opt is used; and 8 stops or more, the 2-Opt algorithm is used.

The Multistop Maximum Number of Sequences parameter controls the number of sequences generated for any algorithm.

See also Generating Stop Sequences in the topic Bulk Plan Tuning Multi-stop Shipment Logic.

MULTISTOP SEQUENCING ALGORITHM FOR HIGH STOPS

Multistop Sequencing

5.5 CU4

This has the same options as Multistop Sequencing Algorithm above but you can select a different algorithm depending on the total number of stops in case it is a very complex problem. The minimum number of high stops is defined in the "MULTISTOP SEQUENCING HIGH STOPS MINIMUM" parameter.

See Multistop Sequencing Algorithm for an example.

See also Generating Stop Sequences in the topic Bulk Plan Tuning Multi-stop Shipment Logic.

MULTISTOP SEQUENCING ALGORITHM FOR LOW STOPS

Multistop Sequencing

5.5 CU4

This has the same options as Multistop Sequencing Algorithm above but you can select a different algorithm depending on the total number of stops in case it is a very simple problem. The maximum number of low stops is defined in the "MULTISTOP SEQUENCING LOW STOPS MAXIMUM" parameter.

See Multistop Sequencing Algorithm for an example.

See also Generating Stop Sequences in the topic Bulk Plan Tuning Multi-stop Shipment Logic.

MULTISTOP SEQUENCING ALLOW DROPOFF REVISIT

Multistop Sequencing

5.5 CU4

If set, this parameter allows a multi-stop shipment to visit the same location more than once (on more than one stop) to drop-off orders. This may be desired if there is a restriction such as time window or routing sequence preventing two different order bundles from being dropped off on the same stop at the location.

If you set this to true, you probably want to set the parameter MULTISTOP USE UNMERGED STOPS IN SEQUENCING LOGIC to true, otherwise revisits may not happen.

This is False by default so multiple visits are not allowed unless the parameter value is changed.

See also Generating Stop Sequences in the topic Bulk Plan Tuning Multi-stop Shipment Logic.

MULTISTOP SEQUENCING ALLOW PICKUP REVISIT

Multistop Sequencing

5.5 CU4

If set, this parameter allows a multi-stop shipment to visit the same location more than once (on more than one stop) to pickup orders. This may be desired if there is a restriction such as time window or routing sequence preventing two different order bundles from being picked up on the same stop at the location.

If you set this to true, you probably want to set the parameter MULTISTOP USE UNMERGED STOPS IN SEQUENCING LOGIC to true, otherwise revisits may not happen.

This is False by default so multiple visits are not allowed unless the parameter value is changed.

See also Generating Stop Sequences in the topic Bulk Plan Tuning Multi-stop Shipment Logic.

MULTISTOP SEQUENCING HIGH STOPS MINIMUM

Multistop Sequencing

5.5 CU4

This parameter determines when the default Multistop Sequencing Algorithm is used and when the MULTISTOP SEQUENCING ALGORITHM FOR HIGH STOPS is used based on the number of stops.

See Multistop Sequencing Algorithm for an example.

See also Generating Stop Sequences in the topic Bulk Plan Tuning Multi-stop Shipment Logic.

MULTISTOP SEQUENCING LOW STOPS MAXIMUM

Multistop Sequencing

5.5 CU4

This parameter determines when the default Multistop Sequencing Algorithm is used and when the MULTISTOP SEQUENCING ALGORITHM FOR LOW STOPS is used based on the number of stops.

See Multistop Sequencing Algorithm for an example.

See also Generating Stop Sequences in the topic Bulk Plan Tuning Multi-stop Shipment Logic.

MULTISTOP SEQUENCING NUMBER OF OPT ITERATIONS

Multistop Sequencing

6.4.2

This parameter is used to set the number of iterations, or runs, in the 2-Opt or 3-Opt sequencing algorithm. The default is 1. Increasing the value of this parameter will help generate better sequences, but this will cause higher run-time.

MULTISTOP SEQUENTIAL SAVINGS SORT METHOD

Multistop Consolidation

21A

This parameter allows you to choose which method to use in determining the first shipment from which to build a multi-stop shipment using the Sequential Savings merge algorithm.

Valid values are:

 "0. Cost descending": With this parameter, the first shipment to merge is the highest cost shipment. This is the same behavior as prior to the enhancement. This is the default.

 "1. Savings descending": This can be selected to instead use the highest savings shipment pair to start the merging for a new multi-stop shipment. This setting will generally produce a better overall solution, but will also increase the run time for multi-stop shipment creation. The run time will be more comparable to that of the Concurrent Savings merge algorithm. This setting is most useful in scenarios (such as capacity aware multi-stop) where sequential savings must be used instead of other merge algorithms.

The above parameter MULTISTOP CONSOLIDATION ALGORITHM TYPE must be set to Sequential Savings to use this parameter.

MULTISTOP SORT SAME OD PAIR SHIPS BY VOLUME

Multistop Consolidation

5.5 CU4

The default is to sort order bundles with the same origin and destination by weight. Set this to check by volume if you are likely to hit a volume constraint before the weight constraint.

MULTISTOP START OR END AT DEPOT REWARD

Multistop Sequencing

6.1

If this is set to a positive number, the logic will make the sequences with start and end stops at depot locations look more favorable than the ones that do not. Setting this to a small value such as 50 should suffice in most cases.

Note that this parameters encourages the formation of sequences and is not a constraint. The logic might still produce sequences that have same location stops non-consecutive or start or end stops at locations that are not at depots. If this happens, try increasing the rewards to attain the desired result.

MULTISTOP TIME WINDOW METRIC WEIGHT

Multistop Cluster Merge

21A

This parameter provides a weighting for the time window metric for determining similarity between two direct shipments.

See Bulk Plan Multi-stop Shipment Clustering Merge Algorithm.

MULTISTOP USE RATE CENTRIC SEQUENCING

Multistop Sequencing

19B

This planning parameter allows for evaluating multiple multi-stop sequences. This is particularly useful when contrasting fleet carriers that may have been utilizing depot functionality with additional HOS implications, with common carriers that do not. When you set this parameter to true, the multistop process within a bulk plan evaluates different stop sequences for differing rates to find the best stop sequence for the best rate. Default: False.

See also Generating Stop Sequences in the topic Bulk Plan Tuning Multi-stop Shipment Logic.

MULTISTOP USE RETURN MILES IN SEQUENCING

Multistop Sequencing

5.5 CU4

When checking stop sequences, Oracle Transportation Management totals the miles of stops using various stop sequences. Whether the miles to the starting location should be included may change the optimal sequence.

See also Generating Stop Sequences in the topic Bulk Plan Tuning Multi-stop Shipment Logic.

MULTISTOP USE ROUTING SEQUENCE CONSTRAINTS

Multistop Sequencing

5.5 CU4

Set to true to use routing sequence logic. When set to false, the routing sequence logic is bypassed, thereby improving run time. When bypassing the routing sequence logic, any routing sequence constraints that are set on orders, locations, corporations, etc. will not be honored.

The default value is true, which means routing sequence logic will work as normal.

See also Bulk Plan Tuning Order Bundling Logic.

MULTISTOP USE UNMERGED STOPS IN SEQUENCING LOGIC

Multistop Sequencing

5.5 CU4

This allows more stop sequences to be considered. When set to true, each stop on the two shipments being merged by the multi-stop logic may be split into multiple stops, one for each order bundle on the stop. This allows more stop sequences to be considered and can result in a better solution, but it will also increase run time.

The default is false.

MULTISTOP USES LIFO PICKUP DROPOFF

General

Setting this parameter instructs the multi-stop algorithm to sequence stops based on a last-in-first-out model.

Deactivating this parameter instructs the multi-stop algorithm to sequence stops so that orders can be picked up and dropped off in any sequence, as long as the dropoff occurs after the corresponding pickup.

Note: This parameter is also used outside of the multi-stop shipment building logic, so scenario overrides should not be used for this parameter.

MULTISTOP USE SAVINGS MERGE AFTER CLUSTER MERGE

Multistop Cluster Merge

21C

This parameter defines what to do after the initial cluster merge. The default value is zero.

This parameter has the following values:

• 0 - Only use cluster merge (Perform multiple passes of cluster merge. This is only appropriate when there is no time window or calendar constraints. )

• 1 - Parameter tuning (Runs only the initial cluster merge. See the note below.)

• 2 - Use sequential saving after cluster merge

• 3 - Use concurrent saving after cluster merge (This is the most robust option.)

Note: To see intermediate results of a cluster merge, select the value 1 (parameter tuning) to tune all cluster merge relevant parameters.

MULTISTOP WEIGHT DISTANCE SEQUENCING FACTOR

Multistop Sequencing

6.1

This parameter uses the rolling loaded weight-distance on a shipment as a stronger factor in determining the best stop sequence for the shipment. As this value is increased, the rolling loaded weight-distance on a shipment becomes a stronger factor in determining the best stop sequence. Setting the parameter to a very small number will have the effect of using weight-miles only as a tie-breaker when the number of miles for two different stop sequences are essentially the same.

The value you enter is divided by 1000 before being applied within the logic. The interface does not allow a positive value smaller than 0.01. A value of 0.01 is treated as 0.00001 in the logic.

The default is 0.0.

TOP-OFF DISABLE SAME OD PAIRING

General

23B

When set to false, this parameter will allow top-off orders to pass through same origin-destination pairing logic. (Also see Topping off Multi-stop Shipments.)

The default is true.

USE CONOPT MERGE IN TOP-OFF PASS

General

19

This parameter provides an option to use the Conopt Merge algorithm for shipment consolidation in the top-off pass (i.e. when top-off shipments are brought in for consolidation with the consolidated core shipments). The default is "False", so the multistop consolidation algorithm set through logic parameter MULTISTOP CONSOLIDATION ALGORITHM TYPE will be used for shipment consolidation in the top-off pass.

See Topping off Multi-stop Shipments.