Load builder

• US 8,452,671 B2
• Filed: 10/01/2003
• Issued: 05/28/2013
• Est. Priority Date: 10/01/2003
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: SAP SE
• Original Assignee: SAP AG (SAP SE)
• Inventors: Zieger, Martin C.
• Primary Examiner(s): SHEIKH, ASFAND M
• Application Number:
  US10/676,401
• Publication Number:
  US 20050075951A1
• Time in Patent Office: 3,527 Days
• Field of Search: None
• US Class Current: 705/28
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/043 Optimisation of two dimensional placement, e.g. cutting of clothes or wood
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/08 Logistics, e.g. warehousing, loading or distribution; Inventory or stock management
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/087 Inventory or stock management, e.g. order filling, procurement or balancing against orders

Abstract

Embodiments of the invention include a system for simulating the loading of a shipment of a set of products. The shipment may be loaded into a set of transports. The simulation may include attempts to fill each transport. The simulation may include evaluating a set of constraints on the shipment. The constraints may include a complex logical statement.

Claims

1. A computer-implemented method comprising:

receiving a demand order including a set of products to be shipped;

simulating a loading of a shipment of the set of products into a set of transports;

evaluating, by a computer system, a shipping rule including a constraint for the shipment during the simulating, the shipping rule permitted to be a complex logical statement;

attempting to fill each transport in the set of transports in simulating the loading of the shipment; and

detecting a skipping of a range of the constraint and adjusting the simulating of the loading of the shipment in response to the skipping, wherein the range includes a maximum bound and a minimum bound.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

simulating one of a balanced load and a straight load of the shipment in the transport.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the complex logical statement is defined by a user.

4. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

upsizing the shipment to fill the transport.

5. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

downsizing the shipment to match a maximum capacity of the transport.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the shipping rules include at least one constraint including one of a weight constraint, a volume constraint, and a product combination constraint.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein simulating includes incrementing an amount of a first product in the shipment by one shipping unit.

8. The method of claim 7, wherein the shipping unit is a pallet.

9. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

increasing the amount of the set of products in the shipment a proportionate number of shipping units of each product.

10. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

attempting to fill at least one transport, the at least one transport having multiple destinations.

11. The method of claim 1, wherein the range of the constraint is skipped when the loading of a shipping unit does not exceed a minimum bound of the constraint and adding another shipping unit exceeds the maximum bound of the constraint.

12. The method of claim 11, wherein adjusting the simulating of the loading of the shipment in response to the skipping comprises:

removing all shipping units from the simulating of the loading of the shipment after detecting the skipping;

changing a last shipping unit of the set of products which lead to the skipping with a shipping unit of another set of products; and

loading the remainder of the shipping units.

13. The method of claim 11, further comprising:

storing a last load configuration that indicates the loading of a shipping unit that does not exceed the minimum bound of the constraint.

14. The method of claim 13, wherein adjusting the simulating of the loading of the shipment in response to the skipping comprises:

backtracking the simulating of the loading of the shipment to the last load configuration; and

changing a last shipping unit of the set of products which lead to the skipping with a shipping unit of another set of products.

15. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

generating a set of loading configurations.