OTM (Oracle Transportation Management) Shipment Management module have a shipment planning feature which allows you to optimise your load. However, there is a catch that is not known to users. The optimisation is as good as your masterdata. These are some quick tips to have a basic optimisation in shipment planning.
Basic Optimisation
For basic optimisation, you will need the following conditions to get it up and running.
- Assume a constant settings
- Obtain a base masterdata
Basic optimisation rule will require some constant settings. The common constant setting to use is time. You will need to assume your shipment planning without time constraint or configuration. With this assumption, you can focus on a base masterdata set. This set of masterdata will consist of :
- Rates
- Itinerary
- Equipment
- Transport Modes
Advanced Optimisation
The basic optimisation provides the minimum start point for all shipment planning. Advanced optimisation will restore the time duration as a factor for your optimisation. The additional masterdata will include :
- Distance
- Transit Time
- Package count
- Routes Information
You can provide shipment planning in OTM into two key flavors
- Basic optimisation
- Advanced optimisation
The options will determine the amount of masterdata required. Subsequently, this translates to your project scope, time and efforts. If you are new to OTM shipment planning, do go for basic optimisation configuration. This will help you familiarise with the base masterdata. Only then, you can tackle the advanced one.
Danny Kwok 