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Optimal loading (2)
Published on July 25, 2007
Return on Investment
Regardless of the actual items that need to be loaded, software tools allow for an increase of 5 to 20 percent in load space utilization. Great savings are possible es-pecially with the recent introduction of truck tolls and fuel price increases. Planning times and capacities can also be reduced with the aid of the software. According to ORTEC LOGIPLAN, companies that work with LoadDesigner achieve a return on investment within the first twelve months.
The company Degussa AG has integrated this load space optimization system into their distribution processes in the Plexiglas business unit in order to keep the quality of their delivery and customer services at a consistently high level. In the past, plan-ners manually determined the load space required for transport based on a product range of approximately 2,300 different items. Aside from the enormous amount of time and effort associated with this process, there was no guarantee that the trans-port units would be loaded to full capacity or that the planned delivery amount actu-ally matched the designated means of transport. LoadDesigner put an end to this situation.
“Now in a minimal amount of time, we are able to calculate whether the designated vehicles can physically accommodate the dispatch orders. This leads to a clear improvement in planning competence. Not only does this allow more flexible planning of our workflows, it also further enhances quality in regard to punctual deliv-ery and customer information”, explains Karl-Heinz Hebling, head of dispatch for Degussa Plexiglas business unit.
Procurement and Distribution
LoadDesigner is not limited to distribution logistics; it is also used for procurement logistics. Pontmeyer, the largest wood import and wholesale company in the Nether-lands, integrated this optimization system into their procurement processes. As a re-sult, the company has optimized their merchandise buying process, now tailored to optimize load space utilization. Before implementation, planners had to perform a planning run every four weeks in order to determine the delivery needs of all branch offices. Order generation and transport calculation were done manually, which took up to ten days. With the software, the capacity utilization of the transport units can be calculated at the push of a button. This reduces the planning procedure to 20 min-utes.
All Transport Modes
LoadDesigner can be used for more than just standard and special containers. It can also calculate the optimal loading of trucks, rail cars, hatches or air freight containers. One special feature is that LoadDesigner is able to account for hazardous goods regulations and individual loading restrictions which have to be observed in the bev-erage logistics industry, e.g. explosive and flammable materials or even Co2 con-tainers.
Interdisciplinary solution
Along with capacity planning, LoadDesigner also supports offer calculations in being used as a simulation tool for load space calculation. In particular, forwarding agen-cies take advantage of this feature in order to precisely determine the type and re-quired amount of loading units when writing offers. Thus, they are able to make an accurate estimate of costs.
In addition, LoadDesigner impacts internal economic processes. Sales departments in the paper industry, for instance, are making increasing use of this tool. It enables them to conduct checks directly after receiving an order to make sure that the order amount fits into a certain transport unit or to determine the capacity range. Then, the customer can be informed immediately, allowing him to change his order accordingly. If inefficient load space utilization is noticed at the loading stage, it is often too late for corrections. In addition, LoadDesigner is frequently utilized as a controlling tool in the automobile industry, for example where it is used to control logistics services in-voices.
All in all, it’s clear that LoadDesigner can be used on a cross-industry basis by logis-tics services providers, forwarding and transport agencies and industrial companies, among others. The range of applications includes the load space planning of such diverse products as wood items, refrigerators, car parts, food items and chemicals.
