Adding Transportation Modes (Simulation)

The Transportation Modes table is an often used optional input table to run a simulation. Mode attributes like fill levels and capacities are specified in this table to control the size of shipments, which will be explained first in this documentation. Rules of precedence when using multiple fill level / capacity fields and when using On Volume / Weight / Quantity transportation simulation policies will be covered also.

Fill Levels and Capacities

1. We are on the Transportation Modes input table.
2. Mode Name – a unique name for the mode. Note that each Mode used in the Transportation Policies table in the Mode Name field needs to have a matching record in this Transportation Modes table.
3. Volume Capacity and its UOM field – the maximum amount of product a shipment on this mode can take, in terms of volume.
4. Volume Fill Level and its UOM field – the amount of product a shipment needs to have on it at a minimum to be considered full enough to dispatch, in terms of volume.
5. This record indicates that for the Truck mode, 10,000 cubic foot is the maximum volume of product that can be put on a shipment and a shipment can be dispatched if at least 500 cubic foot of product is on the shipment.
6. These 3 records are the Modes that are used for transportation policies with simulation policy = On Volume. Since their simulation policy values in the Transportation Policies table set the capacity and fill levels (except for the capacity of the V1000 mode), they are not set here. For the V200 mode for example, the fill level is 200 cubic foot (the lowest fill level at which it can be dispatched) and the capacity is 1000 cubic foot, as it switches to the next mode (V1000) from 1000 cubic foot onwards.

The same capacity and fill level fields as for Volume are also available in this table for Quantity and Weight (not shown in the screenshot above).

Setting Multiple Fill Levels and/or Capacities

When utilizing more than 1 of the Fill Level fields, the one that is reached first is applied. For example, if a shipment’s weight has reached the weight fill level, but its volume has not yet reached the volume fill level, the shipment is allowed to be dispatched.

Similarly, if more than 1 Capacity field has been populated, the one that is reached first is applied. For example, if a shipment’s volume has reached the volume capacity but not yet the weight capacity, it cannot be filled up further and will be dispatched.

On Quantity / Weight / Volume Simulation Policies and the Modes Table

As mentioned above, when transportation simulation policies of On Quantity / Weight / Volume are being used, the fill levels and capacities of these Modes are specified in the simulation policy value field on the Transportation Policies table. If also using the Transportation Modes table to set any fill level and/or capacity for these modes, user needs to take note of the effects this may have:

1. Setting a capacity for the highest volume / weight / capacity mode on the Transportation Modes table makes sense as this is not set through a simulation policy value on the Transportation Policies table.
2. Setting a fill level on the Transportation Modes table that is higher than the one set through the simulation policy field on the transportation policies table does raise the fill level and can create a situation where shipments of certain sizes are not allowed, typically resulting in lower service metrics. For example, if the V200 On Volume mode has a simulation policy of 200 in the transportation policies table, 200 CFT is the volume fill level for this mode. If on the Transportation Modes table a volume fill level of 300 is set for this mode, then shipments of sizes between 200 and 300 CFT are not allowed anymore (V0 for 0-200 CFT, V200 for 300-1000 CFT, and V1000 from 1000 CFT upwards).
3. Setting a fill level on the Transportation Modes table that is lower than the one set through the simulation policy field on the transportation policies table does not have any effect.
4. Setting a capacity on the Transportation Modes table that is higher than the one set through the simulation policy field on the transportation policies table does not have any effect.
5. Setting a capacity on the Transportation Modes table that is lower than the one set through the simulation policy field on the transportation policies table does lower the capacity and can again create a situation where shipments of certain sizes are not allowed, typically resulting in lower service metrics. For example, if the V200 On Volume mode has a simulation policy of 200 in the transportation policies table, 200 CFT is the volume capacity for the V0 mode (the lowest volume mode, used between 0-200 CFT). If on the Transportation Modes table a volume capacity of 100 CFT is set for this V0 mode, the simulation will enforce this capacity and shipments of sizes between 100 and 200 CFT are not allowed anymore.