Car Transportation Planning
WhitepaperPlanning of processes utilizing Ab Ovo’s solutions
The Challenge
The current market, characterized by shrinking margins and tighter delivery schedules, has heightened the complexity of planning and scheduling processes in finished vehicle transportation. Efficient resource utilization is now a key priority. Implementing an Advanced Planning & Scheduling solution not only offers substantial cost savings for planning departments but also enhances delivery reliability and flexibility. Ultimately, this results in a healthier bottom line and a strengthened competitive advantage.
Route Optimization
Finished vehicle or car transportation is a complex logistics puzzle wherein the main challenge is to have a network route plan for thousands of shipment locations with a limited number of trailers for the given pick-up and delivery time windows. KPI’s tracked include measuring resource utilization and performance in terms of late shipments, empty distance traveled and total cost, among many other variables. The goal is to improve control over business practices.
Load Optimization
Loading and unloading cars from trailers is a critical, time-consuming process with various constraints and regulations. Car transportation faces limits on loading weight and height, varying by location. Diverse car and trailer types, along with loading position constraints, complicate FTL and LTL shipment dispatch planning. Meeting quality and performance standards in this daily economic and planning challenge is essential.
The Ab Ovo Planning Solution
We are one of the leading solution providers in the area of Advanced Planning & Scheduling (APS). Our solutions enable organizations to optimize and integrate their business processes and increase their utilization. Our solution solves the daily puzzle of supply chain planning so companies can transport more goods with fewer resources. This enables businesses to gain a competitive edge by lowering costs and shortening delivery times and by maximizing the productivity of existing personnel.
Over the last 20 years, we have developed a range of industry solutions for logistic puzzles. The advantage of using an industry solution is that it will have a positive impact on the project lead time and cost. In the area of landside logistics, we have developed industry solutions for intermodal transport, road logistics, terminal management and retail logistics.
Our customers in the logistics domain include Rhenus Logistics, Staalduinen Logistics, HUPAC, Kuehne Nagel, KLG Europe, Contargo, Zufall, DB Schenker and DSV. These applications (or combinations of them) cover roughly 80% of all car transportation industry processes, and the remaining 20% are often unique and company specific.
Advanced Planning & Scheduling
APS is a solution that uses real-time and historical data from planning & execution management systems such as your TMS or ERP as well as other data sources as inputs. With predictive analytics and algorithms, it presents users with the optimum and most efficient use of valuable resources, whether they be people, products or other assets.
The APS solutions from Ab Ovo help transform logistics processes from a backward-looking approach to a forwardlooking model, applying predictive analytics to the diversity of data mentioned. With APS’ improved data quality and integration of disparate data sources, our solutions clearly differentiate from the more traditional TMS and route optimization solutions.
Routing & Optmization Solution
Ab Ovo’s planning solution is developed and implemented as a complete transportation planning solution based on the Quintiq Logistics Planner Industry Solution. The planning solution also incorporates all of the rules imposed on road transport (such as collective agreement legislation). It includes userfriendly mapping data and additional functionalities can easily be added.
One can import orders directly from the TMS system after which the planner plans orders on the various transportation rides. The system optimizes the routes of the trucks; however, the planner can identify orders to exclude them from optimization (if desired). In addition, a communications interface can be implemented between the planning system and the onboard computers in the trucks. This allows the planner to quickly adjust the schedule when disruptions occur.
When the transport routes have been selected, the planning system communicates the results back to the TMS system, so that the administrative handling of a transport request can be quickly and efficiently executed. When planning, the planner is supported by the system through features including load planning, automatic axle load control and the ability to determine whether a truck is allowed to deliver to a certain address associated with a specific environmental zone.
Business Benefits
ROI: The solution’s benefits bolster a short time to ROI.
Reduced costs (i.e., penalties): More information concerning the planning process can be leveraged to improve it. The improvements can be measured by means of parameters (KPI’s) and expressed in many ways; in terms of costs (penalties because of delayed shipments) is obvious, but other types of values are possible: efficiency, SLA, goodwill.
Planning optimization: With all the constraints considered, it leads to better planning and a clear understanding of the interdependencies.
Quality improvement: Stronger insight into the actual process leads to a better and more feasible planning situation with less (last-minute) disturbances.
Selected Ab Ovo Clients
