Planning Interactively

John is a logistics coordinator at a shipping company, and needs software that will manage his company’s shipments. He needs the ability to view all of his customer’s domestic and international export orders, and consolidate them to ship as efficiently as possible. To accomplish this, he needs an easily managed dashboard to plan his orders. For some shipments, John uses automatic planning, but he still needs to verify the result of the optimizations. For other shipments, he needs to plan the transport requirements manually. Therefore, Depending on the scenario, he requires different information and functions to be available at different times. The specific and differentiated presentation of information possible in TM allows him to plan efficiently.

Amongst others, the transportation cockpit includes the following elements:

• Requirements list (freight units)
• Capacity lists (vehicle resources and schedules)
• Order list (freight orders, but may also contain freight bookings as transactional or agreed capacities)
• Order details

The transportation cockpit is a central element in the transportation planning process and facilitates numerous tasks.

The transportation cockpit can be used for the following tasks:

• Manual planning
• Creation of transportation proposals
• VSR optimization
• Load planning
• Carrier selection
• Triggering of a tendering process
• Creation of delivery proposals
• Creation of freight bookings

The cockpit requires users to enter multiple profiles that dictate the content of the generated result lists. The selection profile specifies which freight units or freight orders are relevant for a particular objective. The planning profile outlines how the selected freight units will be planned. Additionally, the capacity selection profile limits the planning run based on the transportation resources that are available for use.

Once the profiles are determined, planners can utilize the cockpit to create freight bookings or manage existing freight orders. The layout of the transportation cockpit offers flexible settings that control the information displayed and the available processing options. A combination of selection and planning profiles and a layout can be assigned to a specific profile and layout set. This ensures that each planning scenario is consistently shown in the designated layout, while another can utilize a different layout.

For instance, in one scenario, a planner might need to plan for liquids being transported in tank trucks and would need to see the volume of the product. In another scenario, the liquids might be in barrels on pallets, requiring the planner to see the pallet count instead. Switching between different layouts on the fly is possible, especially if a multi-step planning process leads to varying needs at each stage.

In the standard layout, the main screen is divided into four quadrants (views). The maximum number of views in any layout is 6. The standard layout contains the following views:

• Freight units to be planned
• Available capacities that can be used for planning
• Freight order/booking list
• Freight order/booking details

Each view has processing options using menus and buttons within the views. Processing options include the following actions:

• Merge / split freight units
• Apply default routes to freight units 
• Remove resources from freight orders
• Cancel freight orders
• Schedule and check freight orders

Each menu or button can be personalized in the planning layout definition.

Watch the simulation Define Saved Searches and Views in the Transportation Cockpit to learn more about how you can navigate the transportation cockpit and adapt its views to your needs.

If a user works with several screens, they can choose a separate layout for each screen. The transportation cockpit can be deployed in multiple windows on up to three screens.

Both manual and automatic planning are provided for in the cockpit. In relation to automatic planning, transportation proposals can be generated automatically and the optimizer allows planners to plan requirements onto resources and freight bookings or orders. Optimizer planning also creates detailed log information that can be analyzed using the explanation tool.

The following options exist for manual planning:

• Drag a freight unit onto a resource, thereby creating a new freight order. Add resources/MTrs.
• Drag a freight unit onto a freight booking, thereby adding the freight unit to this freight booking.
• Drag a freight unit onto a freight order, thereby extending the freight order.
• Command line planning and buttons provide additional options on top of the drag and drop functionality.

This video introduces the integration of Business AI in cloud-based ERP solutions with the example of conversational planning being integrated into SAP Transportation Management.

Conversational Planning with AI* is embedded in the transportation cockpit (*some contractual requirements apply for use of AI-based functionality). AI-powered conversational planning can assist a planner in making manual planning decisions. The transportation cockpit user interface is enhanced with a natural language conversational interface that allows users to seamlessly perform UI actions, execute multiple commands, and retrieve planning context information (that might not be displayed in the cockpit).

Commands can be either typed or spoken, and contextual information available in TM data can be automatically retrieved. Data that is not available in TM, but only in an LLM, can also be used; an example of such commands is "Plan all products that need to be refrigerated and transported to the city of Berlin on the smallest truck".

This new way of working enables a completely new way of interacting with TM in the transportation cockpit, delivering flexibility, efficiency and broader accessibility.

Interactive planning on the map allows you to:

• Assign freight units/freight orders to resources
• Add an intermediate location to a freight unit or a freight order
• Search by proximity
• Show related transshipment locations

Options

• Drag and drop
• Context menu

The map can be displayed in a separate screen area in the transportation cockpit or in full screen. However, having the map displayed in a separate screen area enables the planner to see the selected freight units, freight orders/bookings, transportation units, and resources on the map directly.

When you display the map, you can choose whether all of the planning objects or only selected ones will be displayed. Furthermore, in a display profile, you can choose which planning objects will be displayed on the map, such as freight orders or freight units. You can call up the display profile with the toolbar.

You can carry out your planning on the map. If, for example, you select unplanned freight units and start planning from the context menu, the system shows the possible assignments of the freight units to the resources. Select the assignments that you require.

You can also assign unplanned freight units or multi-relations containing unplanned freight units to resources using drag and drop. When you do so, you can either assign the freight units to the resource or the resource to the freight units. You can use the proximity search in the context menu to find unplanned freight and transportation units within a specific radius of a resource or location.

If you want to split a stage displayed on the map, you can assign an unplanned freight unit or multi-relation to a location using drag and drop. Once you have selected the required planning option, the system will add the chosen location to the freight unit stage and update the map accordingly. This process also applies to freight orders. You can also display transshipment locations that are not necessarily part of your planning activities. You display these locations by choosing Show Related Transshipment Locations from the context menu.

If a freight order does not have a vehicle assigned to it, you can assign it by using drag and drop. To do so, you assign the freight order to a single vehicle resource or a multi-spot containing at least one vehicle or passive vehicle resource and select the relevant planning option from the menu. You can use the proximity search in the context menu to find available resources within a specific radius. You can also specify the exact position of a resource at any time in the context menu of the map. The system displays all of your transportation planning activities on the map. When you leave the display of the map, your planning activities are also displayed in the table view of the transportation cockpit.

You can use the context menu of the map to start the address search and display the search results on the map. The address search is based on the geocoding of the location. This allows you to perform several address searches and display the search results simultaneously on the map. You can use the context menu of the map to hide the search results individually or entirely.

You can use the context menu of a connection line to determine a route display along actual street routes (georoutes). This function is dependent on the geographical information system available in the system. Alternatively, you can use a resource's context menu to display the connection lines of all freight orders assigned to this resource.

Visibility:

• Usage of trucks and trailers
• Load utilization of trucks and trailers
• Downtimes and nonworking times
• Execution status and reported times for freight orders, trailer units, and their activities
• Notifications for overload, empty movements, and time conflicts

Usability & Flexibility:

• Time zoom in and out
• Aggregated and detailed view
• Hierarchical views
• Single and dual view (horizontal and vertical)

When performing transportation planning, a planner usually considers two main aspects: availability of resources and utilization of the used resources. With the conventional use of the transportation cockpit, the sequential order of freight orders using a particular resource and resource availability for a specific timeframe is not (graphically) shown. Using a Gantt chart, often used in project planning as well, helps to visualize the availability of resources and the sequential order of transports. The Gantt chart is fully integrated into the transportation cockpit.

Transportation planning can now also be done using a Gantt chart. In the Gantt chart, freight orders and vehicle resources are displayed as a time bar, and planners can manually plan transports using drag and drop.

The Gantt chart provides a visual platform for performing transportation planning. With an intuitive and graphical user interface, the Gantt chart enables you to perform transportation planning visually, interactively, and more efficiently.

The Gantt chart is a screen area in the transportation cockpit, which can be enabled in a page layout. All standard functionalities, such as positioning the Gantt chart anywhere on the transportation cockpit and maximizing the screen area to full screen, are available in a Gantt chart.

The Gantt chart displays planned and unplanned freight orders and resources in a time bar. It is configurable; additional sets of information should be displayed next to the time bar. The time bar itself shows the activities planned for the document and resource. Depending on the layout chosen, the planner can use a single view, which only indicates planned and unplanned freight orders or resources exclusively, or a dual view (as shown in the figure, Gantt Chart: Display of Resources and Documents) that displays two entities next to each other. Similar to the dual view in the transportation cockpit, the dual view can be configured vertically or horizontally. The scrollbars of both screen areas can be synchronized.

A zoom bar on top of the screen area can zoom in and out to see a more detailed view of a day or week or a more general view of a month.

An essential factor for transportation planning is the utilization of a vehicle. The utilization of the vehicle can be displayed with the utilization view, which can be enabled when needed. The utilization view shows the utilization of the vehicle over time in a graph. The graph is displayed in a detail line below the actual resource or document. In this case, the single-view option is chosen, which enables the user to see all the execution information on one screen. Multiple loading acts are only displayed as one item in the Gantt chart. This keeps the chart clean and easy to understand.

The main benefit of this functionality is a good overview of the status of the trucks. Re-planning can be done by drag and drop. Freight orders can be fixed or unfixed by just clicking one button. Furthermore, navigating directly to the resources or trailer units is possible.

The main focus is the planning of road transport. The truck and trailer planning can be done easily. When execution events change the planning necessary, this can be immediately done via this overview.

Interactive planning can be performed in the Gantt chart using drag and drop. Unplanned freight orders can be assigned to resources. Likewise, resources can be assigned to freight orders. The freight order is dropped on the resource time bar. If the freight order is not dropped on the same date it was initially planned, the date where it was dropped is taken over into the freight order. Scheduling is only performed when requested using the Scheduling button on top of the Gantt chart. The dual-view can be selected to display unplanned freight orders on top and the available resources below. This enables the user to work with one window to plan freight orders. The dual view can either be displayed horizontally or vertically. The size of each area can be changed by dragging with the mouse.

The Gantt chart enables the planning of unplanned freight orders by dragging on vehicle resources and creating transportation units. When dragging and dropping the loading activity of one freight order into the time bar of another freight order, both freight orders are combined.

Overlap means a resource has been planned multiple times and is therefore not executable. For example, if a trailer is already scheduled and newly planned during the next step, an overlap is caused, which is displayed as a red line to the user.

Similar to the utilization view, an overlap view shows if several documents on a resource overlap. This overlap can be overcome by scheduling the resource.

Watch the simulation Perform Interactive Planning to learn more about interactive planning options in the transportation cockpit.

Drivers can get assigned to existing freight orders and vehicle resources. It is also possible to create freight orders to which the system assigns drivers automatically as soon as they are created. This function is available only for road freight orders and trucks. One or more drivers can be assigned to an existing freight order or to the individual transportation stages of an existing freight order. In a driver team, the individual drivers take turns driving—the person not driving sleeps.

A prerequisite of this process is that drivers are created as business partners with business partner role Driver. The properties of the driver are as follows:

• Home location
• Organizational Unit
• Validity Period
• Absences (for example, sickness, vacation)
• Non-working times (for example, shift sequences from Monday to Friday)
• Last planned location and availability time
• Qualifications

Automatic assignment of drivers to freight orders happens if the driver assignment is requested via the freight order type and the driver is assigned to the resource master data of the vehicle resource as the default driver. Other than that, manual assignment of drivers is possible in the transportation cockpit as follows:

• Drag and drop:

  It is possible to drag and drop drivers from the list of drivers in the transportation cockpit to the freight order being planned in the road freight order hierarchy or in the road freight order list. Suppose it has been specified in the freight order type that drivers have to be assigned per transportation stage. In that case, it is possible to drag and drop drivers in the road freight order hierarchy to the individual transportation stages.

• Manual creation and change:

  It is possible to enter or change drivers manually in the Driver column in the road freight order hierarchy or in the road freight order list. If specified in the freight order type that drivers have to be assigned per transportation stage, it is possible to enter or change drivers for individual transportation stages in the Driver column in the road freight order hierarchy. Suppose the driver assignment has been activated in the order details area in the layout of the transportation cockpit. In that case, it is possible to select a freight order in the road freight order hierarchy or in the road freight order list and manually enter or change a driver in the details for this freight order.

• Dialog box:

  Finally, it is possible to select a freight order in the road freight order hierarchy or in the road freight order list and choose the Assign Driver button. A dialog box appears in which drivers can be entered. Then, the user can decide in the dialog box whether to replace the currently assigned drivers with new drivers or add drivers to the existing ones.