Trade Transport and Logistics

LTL Distribution

Description Daily an enormous amount of pallets and parces are transported nationally and internationally. Using a cross-dock and possible linehaul network at night, the fleet is applied in an optimal way. However, when making the optimal rounds for deliveries the next day, the collections are partly unknown. In current practice many operations are still (from an organizational point of view) based on tactical zip-code based routes. However, the challenge on the other hand is to utilise your fleet optimally, given the dynamics and patterns of each day. This leads to daily adjustments in the deliveries / collections part, but also in the linehaul network.

Challenges Optimal planning of vehicles within limited time constraints: which orders should be done by truck and in which sequence, given the various restrictions, time windows and business rules. Are the rounds for deliveries and/or pickups optimal and do they respect all service requirements?

Real-time dispatching for the casual pickups during the day: what is the best truck given their actual position and taking business rules into account? What is the best truck based on depot profiles and templates? What is the best solution if we get delays, traffic jams or other changes during the day?

What is the linehaul network between the depots during the night for the cross-dock operation? Are there opportunities to use stand-bye trailers or to applying bypasses, to have a high utilisation factor and a high service. Is there a clear loadplan for loading the trucks and to optimize the warehouse operations?

How many trucks do I need from which type and capacity? What is the proposed delivery / collection area for each driver? What is the impact of seasonal patterns or new customer requirements for this?

Solution

ORTEC solutions for Trade Transport and Logistics are characterized by 3 points: the services include business process knowledge, implementation know how and strong user service. The products include strong process models, user interfaces and real-time import/export features related to TMS, ERP and/or mobile devices.

ORTEC Transport & Distribution (ORTEC TD or OTD) supports the daily planning of all pickups and deliveries. Insight is given in working time, driving time and capacity utilisation, both for delivery and collection part. All business rules are taken into account including driving time legislation and service requirements.

ORTEC Transport & Distribution supports the real-time dispatch of the (unknown) pickups, taking actual position and volumes into account. Proposals are given from which the user can select, based on service or cost. By using advanced filtering techniques, the dispatcher has insight in possible bottlenecks later in the day, and react on it accordingly. Visibility on possible alerts for taking action is key to have a high span of control and a prompt reaction during the execution.

SHORTREC is the powerful batch solution for computing optimal rounds for deliveries and pickups. SHORTREC can be used for tactical purposes, when considering new customers or seasonal patterns,, to compute the optimal fleet mix and the impact of a higher service. Within SHORTREC you can compute and compare several scenario's and release the best solution towards execution.