Systems and methods for automated parallelization of transport load builder

• US 20070027573A1
• Filed: 07/28/2005
• Published: 02/01/2007
• Est. Priority Date: 07/28/2005
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: SAP SE
• Original Assignee: SAP AG (SAP SE)
• Inventors: Hessedenz, Hans-Juergen
• Granted Patent: US 8,423,391 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 700/216
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/04 Forecasting or optimisation specially adapted for administrative or management purposes, e.g. linear programming or "cutting stock problem" market predictions or forecasting for commercial activities G06Q30/0202
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/06 Resources, workflows, human or project management; Enterprise or organisation planning; Enterprise or organisation modelling
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/08 Logistics, e.g. warehousing, loading or distribution; Inventory or stock management

Abstract

Systems and methods are provided for creating a transport load for one or more stock transfers. In one exemplary embodiment, the systems and methods may include providing a parallel processing profile to be associated with the distribution plan. The method may also include building one or more packages of one or more transportation lanes, wherein building one or more packages comprises providing a lanes table of the one or more transportation lanes. The lanes table may comprise information associated with each of the one or more transportation lanes. The method may further include selecting the one or more transportation lanes for each package based on the information and the parallel processing profile, and generating the transport load for each package.

Claims

1. A method for creating a transport load for one or more stock transfers, the method comprising:

providing a parallel processing profile to be associated with the distribution plan;

building one or more packages of one or more transportation lanes, wherein building one or more packages comprises providing a lanes table of the one or more transportation lanes, the lanes table comprising information associated with each of the one or more transportation lanes, and selecting the one or more transportation lanes for each package based on the information and the parallel processing profile; and

generating the transport load for each package.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

defining a parallel processing profile to be associated with the distribution plan, wherein defining the parallel processing profile comprises;

defining a profile name to be associated with the profile;

setting a transport load application to be associated with the profile;

setting a maximum number of transport load processes to be associated with the transport load application; and

setting a maximum package size, wherein the maximum package size is the maximum number of the one or more transportation lanes to be grouped in one package.

3. The method of claim 2, further comprising:

determining whether a profile is specified prior to creating the transport load, wherein determining whether the profile is specified comprises;

determining whether the profile name is specified by a user of the application.

4. The method of claim 2, wherein building one or more packages further comprises:

setting a remaining package size, wherein the remaining package size is equal to the maximum package size.

5. The method of claim 4, wherein the information includes a source location, a destination location, and a sequence number for each transportation lane.

6. The method of claim 5, further comprising:

selecting one of the source locations of the one or more transportation lanes in the lanes table;

counting the number of transportation lanes with the same source location as the selected source location;

determining whether the number of transportation lanes with the selected source location exceeds the remaining package size; and

grouping the transportation lanes with the same source location based on the information for each of the one or more transportation lanes and the determination of whether the number of transportation lanes with the selected source location exceeds the remaining package size.

7. The method of claim 6, further comprising:

adding the transportation lanes with the selected source location to a current package to be processed if the number of transportation lanes is not greater than the remaining package size;

deleting the transportation lanes added to the current package from the lanes table; and

setting the remaining package size to equal the remaining package size less the number of transportation lanes added to the current package.

8. The method of claim 7, further comprising:

adding the transportation lanes with the selected source location to a current package if the number of transportation lanes with the selected source location is greater than the remaining package size and if the number of transportation lanes with the selected source location is not greater than the maximum package size;

waiting until at least one transport build process is available;

starting the transport build process for the current package; and

setting the remaining package size equal to the maximum package size.

9. The method of claim 8, further comprising:

adding the transportation lanes with the selected source location equaling the remaining package size to the current package if the number of transportation lanes with the selected source location is greater than the remaining package size and the maximum package size;

determining a surplus of transportation lanes, wherein the surplus is determined by subtracting the number of transportation lanes added to the current package from the number of transportation lanes with the selected source location;

adding the surplus of transportation lanes to a buffer table; and

deleting the transportation lanes added to the current package and the surplus of transportation lanes from the lanes table.

10. The method of claim 9, further comprising:

determining whether the sequence number of the transportation lanes has changed.

11. The method of claim 10, further comprising:

starting a distribution plan process for the current package if the number has not changed; and

setting the remaining package size to the maximum package size.

12. The method of claim 11, further comprising:

determining whether more source locations exist in the lanes table; and

moving the transportation lanes from the buffer table to the lanes table based on the determination of whether more transportation lanes exist in the lanes table.

13. The method of claim 12, further comprising:

waiting until all current transport load processes are finished processing; and

moving to a next source location in the lanes table.

14. The method of claim 5, further comprising:

determining the sequence number for each transportation lane.

15. The method of claim 14, wherein determining the sequence number for each transportation lane further comprises:

assigning a current sequence number to one;

building a second lanes table, wherein the second lanes table identifies the source location and destination location of each transportation lane;

identifying each transportation lane from the second lanes table with the source location which is not a destination location of another transportation lane;

assigning the identified transportation lanes the current sequence number;

removing these transportation lane from the second lanes table; and

increasing the current sequence number by one.

16. The method of claim 15, further comprising:

identifying each transportation lane from the second lanes table with the source location which is not a destination location of another transportation lane;

assigning the identified transportation lanes the current sequence number until no more transportation lanes exist in the second lanes table.

17. A load system for creating a transport load for one or more stock transfers, the system comprising:

a processor; and

a memory,

wherein the processor and the memory are configured to perform a method comprising;

providing a parallel processing profile to be associated with the distribution plan;

building one or more packages of one or more transportation lanes, wherein building one or more packages comprises providing a lanes table of the one or more transportation lanes, the lanes table comprising information associated with each of the one or more transportation lanes, and selecting the one or more transportation lanes for each package based on the information and the parallel processing profile; and

generating the transport load for each package.

18. The distribution system according to claim 17, the method further comprising:

defining a parallel processing profile to be associated with the distribution plan, wherein defining the parallel processing profile comprises;

defining a profile name to be associated with the profile;

setting a transport load application to be associated with the profile;

setting a maximum number of transport load processes to be associated with the transport load application; and

setting a maximum package size, wherein the maximum package size is the maximum number of the one or more transportation lanes to be grouped in one package.

19. The distribution system according to claim 18, the method further comprising:

determining whether a profile is specified prior to creating the transport load, wherein determining whether the profile is specified comprises;

determining whether the profile name is specified by a user of the application.

20. The distribution system according to claim 18, wherein building one or more packages further comprises:

setting a remaining package size, wherein the remaining package size is equal to the maximum package size.

21. The distribution system according to claim 20, wherein the information includes a source location, a destination location, and a sequence number for each transportation lane.

22. The distribution system according to claim 21, the method further comprising:

selecting one of the source locations of the one or more transportation lanes in the lanes table;

counting the number of transportation lanes with the same source location as the selected source location;

determining whether the number of transportation lanes with the selected source location exceeds the remaining package size; and

grouping the transportation lanes with the same source location based on the information for each of the one or more transportation lanes and the determination of whether the number of transportation lanes with the selected source location exceeds the remaining package size.

23. The distribution system according to claim 22, the method further comprising:

adding the transportation lanes with the selected source location to a current package to be processed if the number of transportation lanes is not greater than the remaining package size;

deleting the transportation lanes added to the current package from the lanes table; and

setting the remaining package size to equal the remaining package size less the number of transportation lanes added to the current package.

24. The distribution system according to claim 23, the method further comprising:

adding the transportation lanes with the selected source location to a current package if the number of transportation lanes with the selected source location is greater than the remaining package size and if the number of transportation lanes with the selected source location is not greater than the maximum package size;

waiting until at least one transport build process is available;

starting the transport build process for the current package; and

setting the remaining package size equal to the maximum package size.

25. The distribution system according to claim 24, the method further comprising:

adding the transportation lanes with the selected source location equaling the remaining package size to the current package if the number of transportation lanes with the selected source location is greater than the remaining package size and the maximum package size;

determining a surplus of transportation lanes, wherein the surplus is determined by subtracting the number of transportation lanes added to the current package from the number of transportation lanes with the selected source location;

adding the surplus of transportation lanes to a buffer table; and

deleting the transportation lanes added to the current package and the surplus of transportation lanes from the lanes table.

26. The distribution system according to claim 25, the method further comprising:

determining whether the sequence number of the transportation lanes has changed.

27. The distribution system according to claim 26, the method further comprising:

starting a distribution plan process for the current package if the number has not changed; and

setting the remaining package size to the maximum package size.

28. The distribution system according to claim 27, the method further comprising:

determining whether more source locations exist in the lanes table; and

moving the transportation lanes from the buffer table to the lanes table based on the determination of whether more transportation lanes exist in the lanes table.

29. The distribution system according to claim 28, the method further comprising:

waiting until all current transport load processes are finished processing; and

moving to a next source location in the lanes table.

30. The distribution system according to claim 21, the method further comprising:

determining the sequence number for each transportation lane.

31. The distribution system according to claim 30, wherein determining the sequence number for each transportation lane further comprises:

assigning a current sequence number to one;

building a second lanes table, wherein the second lanes table identifies the source location and destination location of each transportation lane;

identifying each transportation lane from the second lanes table with the source location which is not a destination location of another transportation lane;

assigning the identified transportation lanes the current sequence number;

removing these transportation lane from the second lanes table; and

increasing the current sequence number by one.

32. The distribution system according to claim 31, the method further comprising:

identifying each transportation lane from the second lanes table with the source location which is not a destination location of another transportation lane;

assigning the identified transportation lanes the current sequence number until no more transportation lanes exist in the second lanes table.

33. A computer-readable medium which stores a set of instructions which when executed performs a method for creating a transport load for one or more stock transfers, the method comprising:

providing a parallel processing profile to be associated with the distribution plan;

building one or more packages of one or more transportation lanes, wherein building one or more packages comprises providing a lanes table of the one or more transportation lanes, the lanes table comprising information associated with each of the one or more transportation lanes, and selecting the one or more transportation lanes for each package based on the information and the parallel processing profile; and

generating the transport load for each package.

34. The computer readable medium of claim 33, further comprising:

defining a parallel processing profile to be associated with the distribution plan, wherein defining the parallel processing profile comprises;

defining a profile name to be associated with the profile;

setting a transport load application to be associated with the profile;

setting a maximum number of transport load processes to be associated with the transport load application; and

setting a maximum package size, wherein the maximum package size is the maximum number of the one or more transportation lanes to be grouped in one package.

35. The computer readable medium of claim 34, further comprising:

determining whether a profile is specified prior to creating the transport load, wherein determining whether the profile is specified comprises;

determining whether the profile name is specified by a user of the application.

36. The computer readable medium of claim 34, wherein building one or more packages further comprises:

setting a remaining package size, wherein the remaining package size is equal to the maximum package size.

37. The computer readable medium of claim 36, wherein the information includes a source location, a destination location, and a sequence number for each transportation lane.

38. The computer readable medium of claim 37, further comprising:

selecting one of the source locations of the one or more transportation lanes in the lanes table;

counting the number of transportation lanes with the same source location as the selected source location;

determining whether the number of transportation lanes with the selected source location exceeds the remaining package size; and

grouping the transportation lanes with the same source location based on the information for each of the one or more transportation lanes and the determination of whether the number of transportation lanes with the selected source location exceeds the remaining package size.

39. The computer readable medium of claim 38, further comprising:

adding the transportation lanes with the selected source location to a current package to be processed if the number of transportation lanes is not greater than the remaining package size;

deleting the transportation lanes added to the current package from the lanes table; and

setting the remaining package size to equal the remaining package size less the number of transportation lanes added to the current package.

40. The computer readable medium of claim 39, further comprising:

adding the transportation lanes with the selected source location to a current package if the number of transportation lanes with the selected source location is greater than the remaining package size and if the number of transportation lanes with the selected source location is not greater than the maximum package size;

waiting until at least one transport build process is available;

starting the transport build process for the current package; and

setting the remaining package size equal to the maximum package size.

41. The computer readable medium of claim 40, further comprising:

adding the transportation lanes with the selected source location equaling the remaining package size to the current package if the number of transportation lanes with the selected source location is greater than the remaining package size and the maximum package size;

determining a surplus of transportation lanes, wherein the surplus is determined by subtracting the number of transportation lanes added to the current package from the number of transportation lanes with the selected source location;

adding the surplus of transportation lanes to a buffer table; and

deleting the transportation lanes added to the current package and the surplus of transportation lanes from the lanes table.

42. The computer readable medium of claim 41, further comprising:

determining whether the sequence number of the transportation lanes has changed.

43. The computer readable medium of claim 42, further comprising:

starting a distribution plan process for the current package if the number has not changed; and

setting the remaining package size to the maximum package size.

44. The computer readable medium of claim 43, further comprising:

determining whether more source locations exist in the lanes table; and

moving the transportation lanes from the buffer table to the lanes table based on the determination of whether more transportation lanes exist in the lanes table.

45. The computer readable medium of claim 44, further comprising:

waiting until all current transport load processes are finished processing; and

moving to a next source location in the lanes table.

46. The computer readable medium of claim 37, further comprising:

determining the sequence number for each transportation lane.

47. The computer readable medium of claim 46, wherein determining the sequence number for each transportation lane further comprises:

assigning a current sequence number to one;

building a second lanes table, wherein the second lanes table identifies the source location and destination location of each transportation lane;

identifying each transportation lane from the second lanes table with the source location which is not a destination location of another transportation lane;

assigning the identified transportation lanes the current sequence number;

removing these transportation lane from the second lanes table; and

increasing the current sequence number by one.

48. The computer readable medium of claim 47, further comprising:

identifying each transportation lane from the second lanes table with the source location which is not a destination location of another transportation lane;

assigning the identified transportation lanes the current sequence number until no more transportation lanes exist in the second lanes table.