This document will continue to evolve as existing sections change and new information is added. All updates appear in the following table:
| Date | Feature | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| 04 JAN 2019 | Created initial document. |
This guide outlines the information you need to know about new or improved functionality in Oracle Transportation & Global Trade Management Cloud Release 19A. Each section includes a brief description of the feature, the steps you need to take to enable or begin using the feature, any tips or considerations that you should keep in mind, and the resources available to help you.
Give Us Feedback
We welcome your comments and suggestions to improve the content. Please send us your feedback at otm-doc_us@oracle.com. Please indicate you are inquiring or providing feedback regarding the Oracle Transportation & Global Trade Management What’s New in Update 19A.
| Action Required to Enable Feature |
||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Feature |
Automatically Available |
End User Action Required |
Administrator Action Required |
Oracle Service Request Required |
Transportation Operational Planning
Multicontainer MIP Algorithm with Compartment Minimization
This enhancement provides you with an enhanced MULTICONTAINER MIP (mixed-integer programming) algorithm that simultaneously minimizes the number of equipment groups used as well as minimizing the number of the compartments used when solving the container optimization problem.
In previous versions, the MULTICONTAINER MIP algorithm provided an optimal item to equipment group assignment, but did not extend that optimization to the compartment level. The enhanced MULTICONTAINER MIP algorithm now evaluates both the item to equipment group and item to compartment decision providing you with solutions that minimize both the number of compartments required and the number of equipment groups used.
For example:
Given these two equipment groups - Equipment Group 1 with 5 compartments and Equipment Group 2 with 2 compartments.
| Equipment Group 1 | Maximum Weight (LBs) | Equipment Group 2 | Maximum Weight (LBs) | |
| Compartment number 1 | 5,000 | Compartment number 1 | 5,000 | |
| Compartment number 2 | 9,000 | Compartment number 2 | 5,000 | |
| Compartment number 3 | 8,000 | Capacity | 10,000 | |
| Compartment number 4 | 4,000 | |||
| Compartment number 5 | 5,000 | |||
| Capacity | 31,000 |
Given these 4 orders to load.
| Orders | Amount (LBs) |
| Order Number 1 | 12,980 |
| Order Number 2 | 8,800 |
| Order Number 3 | 3,960 |
| Order Number 4 | 4,840 |
| Total | 30,580 |
The QUICK PACKING ALGORITHM solution - which is the default setup for container optimization - requires two pieces of equipment (1 Equipment Group 1 and 1 Equipment Group 2) and loads the orders into the compartments as shown below.
QUICK PACKING ALGORITHM solution
| Equipment Group 1 | Maximum Weight (LBs) | Order | Amount Loaded |
| Compartment number 1 | 5,000 | Order number 2 | 5,000 |
| Compartment number 2 | 9,000 | Order number 1 | 9,000 |
| Compartment number 3 | 8,000 | Order number 1 | 3,980 |
| Compartment number 4 | 4,000 | Order number 3 | 3,960 |
| Compartment number 5 | 5,000 | Order number 2 | 3,800 |
| Capacity | 31,000 | Loaded | 25,740 |
| Equipment Group 2 | Maximum Weight (LBs) | Order | Amount Loaded |
| Compartment number 1 | 5,000 | Order number 4 | 4,840 |
| Compartment number 2 | 5,000 | 0 | |
| Capacity | 10,000 | Loaded | 4,840 |
The MULTICONTAINER MIP is able to split and load the 4 orders into the compartments so that they all fit into 1 piece of equipment (1 Equipment Group 1) minimizing both the number of compartments used and the equipment required.
MULTICONTAINER MIP
| Equipment Group 1 | Maximum Weight (LBs) | Order | Amount Loaded |
| Compartment number 1 | 5,000 | Order number 1 | 4980 |
| Compartment number 2 | 9,000 | Order number 2 | 8800 |
| Compartment number 3 | 8,000 | Order number 1 | 8000 |
| Compartment number 4 | 4,000 | Order number 3 | 3,960 |
| Compartment number 5 | 5,000 | Order number 4 | 4,840 |
| Capacity | 31,000 | Loaded | 30,580 |
Steps to Enable
The MULTICONTAINER MIP algorithm option is available in the CONTAINER OPTIMIZATION Logic Configuration and is located in the Container Optimization Algorithms group.
- Go to the Logic Configuration Type=CONTAINER OPTIMIZATION
- Under the Container Optimization Algorithms group do the following:
- Set the USE MULTICONTAINER MIP parameter to TRUE
- Set the default USE QUICK PACKING ALGORITHM to FALSE
NOTE: The default CONTAINER OPTIMIZATION OBJECTIVES will minimize the number of equipment groups and compartments used. If this minimization is not consistent with your rates i.e., the best fit/highest utilization of compartments and equipment groups could actually be more expensive, then you will want to set the CONTAINER OPTIMIZATION OBJECTIVES OPTIMIZE COST to TRUE - this will allow the algorithm to consider cost as well as utilization in the optimization objective.
Tips And Considerations
The MULTICONTAINER MIP evaluates ALL of the available equipment group and compartment options simultaneously and selects the best equipment group and the equipment group compartment option. In larger problems, where there are many equipment groups and many orders, the computational requirements and processing time required to solve the problem may make the MULTICONTAINER MIP algorithm an impractical option. If you will be solving problems that contain many equipment groups and/or involve a large number of orders you will need to evaluate the trade-off between run-time and improved solution quality associated with using the MULTICONTAINER MIP algorithm.
The MULTICONTAINER MIP algorithm does not handle 3D load config, and does not consider order priority, and various item-to-item and item-to-resource incompatibility constraints.
The MULTICONTAINER MIP algorithm can only be used in exclusive use scenarios where ALL ship units are marked for exclusive use - the MULTICONTAINER MIP algorithm cannot be used in a scenarios where some ship units are and some are not marked for exclusive use.
---