Order Grouping

Order Grouping will optionally assign a relative sequence number to each shipment. When loads are constructed in optimizer, the load itinerary will be constrained by the relative value of the Shipment Sequence Number.

Order Grouping is controlled by the Order Grouping Source in the Global Settings:

Commodity: This mode can be used by food distributors when using refrigerated equipment: the Shipment Sequence Number will force frozen goods to be loaded first, closest to the refrigeration unit (in the nose of the trailer); goods requiring refrigeration will be loaded next; ambient temperature goods will be loaded last, farthest from the refrigeration unit. When the setting is Commodity, the value for each shipment will be established using the Shipment Sequence Number for the Shipment’s Commodity.
Shipping Location: When based on Shipping Location, the Shipment Sequence Number will force shipments for one group of destinations to be loaded before another. This mode can be used by shippers that ship from different docks in the same shipping location depending on the target location (for example, stores vs. other warehouses). It can also be used to force loads to be constructed so that they adhere to a predefined vendor sequence. By grouping shipments with common Shipment Sequence Numbers, loading sequencing requiring multiple equipment shifts will be avoided. Similar and possibly superior results can be achieved using Skeleton Routes.

When the setting is Shipping Location:

If Order Grouping Enabled is true enabled for the shipment’s Origin Shipping Location, the Order Grouping Sequence will be set based on the value in the Destination Shipping Location.
If Order Grouping Enabled is False for the Origin Shipping Location, a Shipment Sequence Number will not be assigned to the shipment.

There are two Opt Parameters that support Order Grouping functionality:

Maximum Number of Order Grouping Violations: This will define the maximum number of deviations that will be permitted from the Shipment Sequence Number. It is expected that this parameter will be non-zero only when Order Grouping Source is Shipping Location. Assuming this Maximum is set to 1 and Warehouse locations are assigned a lower relative Shipment Sequence Number than Store locations, the loading sequences for the following loads would be legal:

Order Grouping and Loading Sequence

Load 1 (0 deviations)	Load 2 (1 deviation)	Load 3 (1 deviation)	Load 4 (1 deviation)
Whse Shipment(s)	Whse Shipment(s)	Store Shipment(s)	Store Shipment(s)
Store Shipment(s)	Store Shipment(s)	Whse Shipment(s)	Whse Shipment(s)
	Whse Shipment(s)	Store Shipment(s)

Order Grouping Violation Penalty: Each time the defined Shipment Sequence Number is violated, optimizer will add the monetary value specified in the Order Grouping Violation Penalty to the total cost for the solution. With the maximum set to 1, this penalty cost could be incurred a maximum of one time per load. These costs will not be represented in Transportation Manager and therefore would not be represented in the actual financial costs associated with the load. All penalties amounts in Transportation Planner are expressed in the base system currency.

These parameters will allow optimizer to weigh the overhead represented by an implied cost for equipment shifting at the origin with the savings that would be realized by minimizing total distance.