Characteristic
Short description
Loading Space Optimization is a PTV feature to calculate the best way of arranging goods in a loading space or container.
Use
Every truck on the road is a cost factor. So minimizing the number of trucks is equal to saving money.
Detailed Consideration
To understand how Loading Space Optimization in xLoad works, the terms bin and item must be explained.
Bins and Items
A bin can describe the loading space on a truck or an over-sea container. You are able to define multiple different bin types to cover your fleet or containers.
A bin can represent any cuboid vehicle
The term vehicle describes what is being routed or planned for. Vehicles are used in route calculation, distance matrix calculation and effectively also in tour planning. In route calculation, vehicle properties like overall size, weight and speed are in focus. In tour planning, it is vehicle properties like capacity and availability.
Commonly a vehicle is motorized, like a truck - including its trailer or a car. However also a bike or even a pedestrian are included in this definition. loading space up to roughly the size of a standard 40 feet oversea container.
You can specify multiple bins the items should be arranged across.
Items describe the load pieces you want to spread across the given bins in an optimal manner. Like the bins the items are assumed to be cuboids. You are able to take into consideration the weight carrying capacity of each item. With that you can define the stackability of those items. Also the allowed orientation of each item(type) can be specified. It can either be placed on its initial bottom side or put on either other side. The item size is intended to be between parcel size up to the size of the bin.
Sequencing constraint
In the PackBinOptions, it is possible to define the unloading sequence of all the items. As a result, the algorithm will follow the order of the sequence to unload the items outside of bin.
In order to use this constraint,
- only one bin should be defined
- the number and type of the items defined in the sequence should be equal to the number and type of the items defined in the items list
Stacking restrictions
In the StackingOptions, it is possible to define some stacking restrictions.
These restrictions specify the stacking constraints between the itemTypes. It defines which itemType can be stacked, or not, on which itemType.
Usage
The optimization can follow two possible goals:
- Minimize loading meters
- Layered loading