Pallet and Load Building

Reduce the Labor, Reduce the Freight, Reduce the Cost

ORTEC's Pallet and Load Building is a software solution that enables companies to size customer and replenishment orders by optimizing pallet and load building at order creation. The functionally robust solution helps build plans for mixed pallets, optimized pallet patterns and trailer loads that maximize vehicle capacity. ORTEC Pallet and Load Building employs customer-driven business rules to provide optimal truck load plans that take into account loading direction and deployment, weight and cube restrictions, crushability factors, stacking rules, loading sequence and more.

Many companies set artificially low cube and/or weight limits for orders out of fear for ‘trailer full’ shortages or illegal axle weights.  However, ORTEC customers have eliminated this fear by enabling deployment planners and customer service representatives (CSRs) with advanced load planning calculations, as well as providing the warehouse with loading instructions and 3D renderings of each shipment.  Planners and CSRs can now safely add extra pallets to each order without risk to customer service levels.  The end result is shipping the same amount of products with fewer truck loads, helping to reduce transportation costs.

How ORTEC Optimizes Pallet & Load Building

When optimizing pallet and load building, ORTEC performs calculations considering a number of different constraints, including:

• Product height, length, and width;
• Product weight;
• Axle position;
• Axle weight;
• Center of gravity;
• Stacking rules;
• Customer rules;
• Hazmat rules;
• Equipment dimensions & characteristics (unlimited equipment types);
• Temperature;
• Multi-Temp zones;
• Stop sequence for multi-stop shipments;
• Loading sequence for multi-stop loading;
• Customer rules; and
• Product compatibility.

 
Typical Results:

• Distribution Replenishment Orders = approximately 4-7% increase in trailer utilization;
• VMI Orders = typically 5-11% increase in trailer utilization;
• Retail Mega Orders (i.e., for Walmart) = about 4-7% increase in trailer utilization;
• Reduce planning time by as much as 50%;
• Reduce the number of cut orders or ‘trailer full’ shortages; and
• Increase labor productivity at the warehouse.

Benefits for Your Customers:

• Reduces product damage;
• Increased safety when unloading;
• Reduce the dock time at your customers by as much as 15%; and
• Increase service levels by eliminating cut orders.

ORTEC Pallet and Load Building is available as an SAP-embedded solution, meaning it is written in ABAP (SAP’s proprietary language) and coded into SAP. Users of SAP-embedded Pallet and Load Building never leave SAP to use ORTEC, nor do they need a new database since ORTEC uses existing master data such as product weight and dimensions, within SAP to perform optimization. Table extensions are added for other inputs such as trailer/container dimensions. By embedding the solution in SAP, ORTEC provides users with an opportunity to maximize their SAP investment. In addition, ORTEC provides Windows-based solutions that have been integrated to most major ERP systems.

ORTEC has been providing supply chain solutions to customers since 1981.  Currently, ORTEC optimizes more than 225,000 shipments on a daily basis for customers including Coca-Cola Refreshments, Dot Foods, Georgia-Pacific, and Tesco. 

For more information, download this pallet and load building white paper.