290935

DHL C-TMS

Create a New Scheduling Engine

FUNCTIONAL SPECIFICATION - 10.7

17/11/11 - 3.0
Reference: FS 290935 NW-8KEMH2

FUNCTIONAL OVERVIEW

Client Requirement

It is assumed that this RIO will be managed in conjunction with the Project Rigel System Requirements Document v1.0 or higher.

Create a new scheduling engine in C-TMS to automatically schedule orders into shipments using consolidation rules and shipments onto trips based on Carrier Routes and Route Templates.

Key points to be taken into account include cut off times of trips based on departure times, % cut off based on pre-defined capacity, management of Orders, Shipments and Trips based on statuses. Manual modification flags to be introduced Orders, Shipments and Trips. Carrier selection rules to be configured and maintained, Templates to hold core scheduling rules. Trunking schedule also to be maintained in C-TMS to allow cross-dock management.

Solution

A new scheduling engine will be created to automatically assign shipments to new and existing trips based on the new wholesale schedule route templates and carrier routes setup.

The following functionality is required within the new scheduling engine within C-TMS:

• Start / stop on demand
• Schedule Orders into Shipments (290936/NW-8KEMAG)
• Consolidate Shipments (290936/NW-8KEMAG)
• Consolidate Parcels onto Pallets
• Schedule Shipments onto Trips
• Consolidate deliveries into Trip Stops (by post code sector)
• Create Trips based on the Wholesale Schedule (standard HUK Transport Plan) which will be defined as Route Templates
• Ability to manually select multiple Orders and apply to a Shipment where rules do not drive automated scheduling (290936/NW-8KEMAG)
• Trip capacity to be governed by trailer type at Route Template level
• Collections to be scheduled as well as deliveries
• Trip Product compatibility (i.e. Chill) to be governed via Route Template
• Geographical feasibility of Trip to be driven from Route Template based on (From Loc, To Loc, Postal Region to first, second, third and fourth sector level, Planning Region)
• Capacity management at Route Template level, this is to manage the capability to add a parcel on top of a pallet even when the vehicle is 100% full based on its pallet capacity
• Limit drop capacity percentage at route template level

The following scheduling rules are required and must be user maintainable based on access control capability:

• Specified carrier & service level
• Validate shipments against own fleet route templates
• Overspill pallet shipments become unscheduled if they exceed the maximum capacity of the defined vehicle (by default largest capacity vehicle within database). This should be determined by priority of service level on the Shipment
• Any Shipment that contains Hazardous Goods that are not being scheduled onto a Parcel Carrier Trip should not be scheduled automatically, this should be done manually by a planner
• Include / exclude Client / Customer from automatic scheduling by Client / Customer and / or Cost Centre
• Cost based carrier selection based on consignment, weight and service charge via Contracts
• Carriers to be ranked by Client / Customer

The below list will form the basis of how the carrier selection engine will select and allocate carriers to orders/shipments.

1. Customer Owner? Or Client?
2. Product Type
3. Geography From & To Location
4. Service Type
5. Timings (loading cut-off, delivery window)
6. Resource
7. Cost - cost per pallet, shipment, distance,
8. Preferred ranking

Trip planning will be changed to enable multiple orders to be consolidated into a shipment and for the shipment then to be assigned to a new trip or an existing trip.

Where Orders and Shipments are allocated to a 3PL or Parcel Carrier the requirement will generally be to create a trunk leg only to the carrier’s hub location. This should be configurable by carrier as in some instances the actual radial delivery Trip will need to be created as well. These Route Templates will need to be configurable at Zone level (i.e. multiple post codes or countries grouped together) and Export work will need to be scheduled onto a specific Trip and excluded from integrated scheduling.

Where only a trunk is created there needs to be the capability to notify the carrier of any specific requirements such as Trailer Type constraints for the delivery location. This will need to be captured in any EDI interface and also output files from C-TMS.

It will be necessary to be able to hold trunking schedules within C-TMS such as the Baxter trunk schedule and any 3PL or Parcel Carrier trunk schedules so that these trips are created with the correct cut off times. Any allocation of Orders and Shipments to these carriers must adhere to the trunking schedule cut off times as well as any configured trunk vehicle capacities. These trunk legs will need to be created in any instance where the delivery or radial leg of a Trip departs from a location other than the From Location on the Order. A cross-dock order will need to be created and automatically scheduled onto the associated trunk leg. This should work for all Orders scheduled either via the new scheduling engine or via the Paragon Interface. ??

A new ‘Wholesale Schedule Maintenance’ screen will be developed within C-TMS to store the route template data for the standard HUK transport plan.

For Baxter the following process should be adopted in relation to the scheduling engine:

• When a new Order is created validate orders against scheduling process to allocate parcel carriers.
• If the latest delivery date is the same as the current date allocate to the carrier and map accordingly from the Delivery Method and Route Code tables. If the Trip status is less than ACCEPTED then add to the Trip otherwise create a new Trip. If the latest delivery date is later than the current date leave the Order unscheduled to be planned in Paragon.

The proposed automated scheduling engine should also consider the trunking requirements for Baxter and automatically schedule collections on trunks where applicable.

The current operational cycle is as follows:

• Monday - Plan
• Tuesday – Trunk stock from Baxter NDC to outbases
• Wednesday - Carry out deliveries and collections
• Thursday – Return stock to Baxter NDC on trunk

Based on this process the trunks could be created a day in advance to allow the scheduling of the return legs of the collections.