OTM Planning Tips

If you are working on OTM (Oracle Transportation Management), one of the challenging points is shipment planning error. It can really frustrating when you are trying the make sense of the planning error with OTM log files. This is a summary of OTM planning tips which I find useful.

Be Systematic

Experience will tell you that things get worst when we panic. If you are a beginner to shipment planning, it is advisable to be systematic and follow your checklist. These are some of tips which may helps.

• Setup a baseline masterdata which works. This could be rates, itinerary, equipment or planning parameter.
• Plan your testing data and test matrix properly. Majority of shipment planning error is due to order data.
• Configure and test often. Sometimes, the error is due to a mixture of wrong data.
• Make use of constraints to force the results you wanted. If this fails, remove all constraints to check if order can be planned. Then, you can add and test the required constraints one by one.
• Focus your OTM log file to include planning and planning details. The error usually happen to be at the last page of the log file.
• Always check status e.g. planning hold or inactive rates.
• Take a break if you are stuck for a long time. You will find a new perspective if you are refresh.

Practice Makes Perfect

There is no shortcut to learning shipment planning in OTM. The only way is to practice. You should only ask someone to guide you if you are really stuck. This is because the steps to find out your own mistake is more memorable than getting it fixed quickly by others.

OTM shipment planning is a challenging but fun step. I realise the only way to learn is to practice and be exposed to different data. You must always be positive and systematic in finding the issue.