SAP Transportation Management (SAP TM) - Release 9.0
Document Version: 1.3 – 2014-02-20
White Paper SAP TM Planning Configuration
SAP AGS Business Solution Architecture
Ekaterina Tarchinskaya
Rodion Schuster
Christopher Suerie
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Document History
Version
Date
Change
1.0
2013-12-14
Initial version of White Paper
1.1
2014-01-16
1st review
1.2
2014-01-30
Final review (internal release)
1.3
2014-02-20
Reviewed version after internal release
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Table of Contents
1
About This Document .................................................................................................................................... 6
2
2.1
Transportation Planning ............................................................................................................................... 7
Selection Profiles ..................................................................................................................................................... 8
2.1.1
Selection Profile Attributes .................................................................................................................... 8
2.1.2
Geographical Selection Attributes ...................................................................................................... 10
2.1.3
Time-Related Selection Attributes ....................................................................................................... 11
2.1.4
Additional Selection Attributes ............................................................................................................ 17
Planning Profile ...................................................................................................................................................... 19
2.2.1
General Data .......................................................................................................................................... 19
2.2.2
Planning Horizon ................................................................................................................................... 19
2.2.3
Profile Assignments .............................................................................................................................. 26
2.2.4
Business Document Type .................................................................................................................... 28
2.2.5
Manual Planning and Manual Planning Strategies .............................................................................30
2.2.6
Scheduling ............................................................................................................................................. 32
2.2.7
Check ..................................................................................................................................................... 34
2.2.8
Loading and Unloading Duration ......................................................................................................... 35
2.2.9
Parallel Processing Profiles .................................................................................................................. 37
Optimizer Settings................................................................................................................................................. 38
2.3.1
General data .......................................................................................................................................... 38
2.3.2
Planning Strategies ............................................................................................................................... 38
2.3.3
Transportation Proposal ..................................................................................................................... 40
2.3.4
Optimizer Runtime ................................................................................................................................ 45
2.3.5
Rough Planning and Capacity Constraints ......................................................................................... 47
2.3.6
Transshipment Locations ....................................................................................................................50
Planning Costs Settings ........................................................................................................................................ 52
2.4.1
General Data .......................................................................................................................................... 52
2.4.2
Freight Unit Costs ................................................................................................................................. 52
2.4.3
Direct Shipment Options ...................................................................................................................... 55
2.4.4
Means-of-Transport Settings .............................................................................................................. 56
2.4.5
Costs Functions .................................................................................................................................... 74
2.4.6
Cost Values in the Optimizer Explanation Tool .................................................................................. 75
Carrier Selection Settings ..................................................................................................................................... 78
2.5.1
General Data .......................................................................................................................................... 78
2.5.2
Settings for General Carrier Selection ................................................................................................ 79
2.5.3
Settings for Carrier Selection for Tendering ...................................................................................... 92
2.5.4
Settings for Carrier Selection for Direct Shipment ............................................................................ 93
Capacity Selection Settings..................................................................................................................................94
2.6.1
General Data ..........................................................................................................................................94
2.6.2
Capacity Selection ................................................................................................................................94
Incompatibility Settings ........................................................................................................................................96
2.7.1
General Data ..........................................................................................................................................96
2.7.2
Incompatibility Selection ...................................................................................................................... 97
2.2
2.3
2.4
2.5
2.6
2.7
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References.................................................................................................................................................... 99
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1
About This Document
The main objective of this document is to describe in a setting-by-setting manner two profiles - the selection
profile and the planning profile - which mainly configure the planning process in SAP Transportation Management
(SAP TM). It is evident that both profiles and their proper definition play an important role in overall transportation
planning in SAP TM and affects its outcome. Hence, this paper represents an attempt to gather in single
document the information on planning-related settings.
This document does not intend to provide all details and capabilities of transportation planning within SAP TM.
Instead, it gives some insights about the selection profile and the planning profile and describes the settings
based on simple examples. Therefore, this document is of interest to all SAP TM users. After reading the
document at hand, the reader will have a better understanding of how to adjust the selection and the planning
profiles in SAP TM.
As it is mentioned in the title, the settings described and examples used in this document are based on the SAP
TM release 9.0. Nevertheless, most of the content and settings described are relevant and present in the
descending and ascending releases of the SAP TM release 9.0. Follow-on versions of this document will reflect the
changes related to the new SAP TM releases.
The content of this document is not part of SAP product documentation. SAP
does not guarantee the correctness of the information provided. You may not
infer any product documentation claims against SAP based on this
information.
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2
Transportation Planning
One of the intentions of SAP TM is to provide its users with the ability to plan and optimize their transportation
activities. The planning process can be determined by using the most cost effective and timely transportation
routes from source to destination locations while considering numerous constraints, costs, and penalties. Which
constraints are relevant and how costs and penalties are to be calculated in a specific scenario largely depends on
the scenario itself. Therefore, one should carefully and thoughtfully model the scenario and adjust planning
settings in order to sufficiently map all the business requirements into the system and obtain in return the most
accurate planning and optimization results which would correspond to the needs of SAP TM users.
In SAP TM, the planning process relies on the following three pillars:
•
Master Data
Master data objects for planning contain transportation network (locations, transportation lanes,
transportation zones, etc.) and resources.
•
Selection Profiles and Settings
Selection settings are used to specify what should be planned in a certain scenario. For example,
selection settings outline the geography for which a transportation plan shall be created.
•
Planning Profiles and Settings
Planning settings are the core of the planning process and specify how it is to be executed. For
example, a planner may only be allowed to schedule standard trucks and not a helicopter for
emergency transports. This information dictates how the actual transportation is to be carried out.
Which resources can be used and at what cost is specified in the planning settings.
The document will cover only two of the stated planning pillars. Therefore, it is structured as follows. In Section 2.1
selection profiles and settings are examined. Sections 2.2 - 2.9 deal with planning profiles and settings. Section 3
outlines references and SAP Notes used in this document.
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2.1
Selection Profiles
In the following section of this document, the configuration settings of selection profiles and selection attributes
are presented.
2.1.1
Selection Profile Attributes
2.1.1.1
General Data
General Data
Value
Selection Profile
Text Value
Description
Text Value
Maximum Number of Selected Objects
Natural Number
Table 1 General Data Settings in Selection Profile Attributes
The selection profile is a user-specific grouping of business documents considered for planning. What objects
relevant for planning are selected largely depends on the context of the planning scenario. These objects can be
freight units, freight unit stages, freight orders, freight bookings, and transportation units. The system takes into
account the selection profile during manual planning, VSR optimization, and carrier selection.
The selection profile can be created via the path menu SAP NetWeaver Business Client by choosing Application
Administration  Planning  Selection Profiles  Create Selection Profile.
In the General Data area, the unique name and the description of the selection profile are defined.
In the Maximum Number of Selected Objects, one can define the maximum number of business documents the
system is to take into account during planning.
2.1.1.2
Profile Assignments
Profile Assignments
Value
Time-Related Sel. Attributes
List Selection
Geographical Sel. Attributes
List Selection
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Profile Assignments
Value
Additional Sel. Attributes
List Selection
Table 2 Profile Assignments Settings in Selection Profile Attributes
Figure 1 Selection Profile Assignments
In the selection profile, one can define the selection attributes by which the system is to retrieve the business
documents for planning. It is possible to assign the following selection attributes to the selection profile (Figure 1):

Time-Related Selection Attributes
With this profile, one can define the demand horizon.
The time-related selection attributes can be created via the menu path SAP NetWeaver Business Client by
choosing Application Administration  Selection Profile Attributes  Time-Related Selection Attributes 
Create Time-Related Selection Attributes.

Geographical Selection Attributes
With this profile, one can define source and destination locations for the selection of the business documents.
The geographical selection attributes can be created via the menu path SAP NetWeaver Business Client by
choosing Application Administration  Selection Profile Attributes  Geographical Selection Attributes 
Create Geographical Selection Attributes.

Additional Selection Attributes
With this profile, one can define additional attributes for database queries.
The additional selection attributes can be created via the menu path SAP NetWeaver Business Client by
choosing Application Administration  Selection Profile Attributes  Additional Selection Attributes 
Create Additional Selection Attributes.
In the system, it is possible to create these three attributes independent of each other and the selection profile.
Also, it is then possible to reuse the same selection attributes in different selection profiles. The selection profile
retrieves objects relevant for planning according to settings specified in the attached selection attributes.
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2.1.2
Geographical Selection Attributes
2.1.2.1
General Data
General Data
Value
Geographical Sel. Attributes
Text Value
Description
Text Value
Both Locations
Select/Deselect
Table 3 General Data Settings in Geographical Selection Attributes
In the Geographical Sel. Attributes and the Description, the unique name and the description of the geographical
profile are defined.
Both Locations setting defines whether the selected business object must comply with the selected geographical
criteria of source and destination selections, or it is sufficient if only their source or destination matches its
criterion. The source/destination selection settings are described below.
2.1.2.2
Selection
Selection
Value
Source Locations
List Selection
Source Zones
List Selection
Destination Locations
List Selection
Destination Zones
List Selection
Table 4 Selection Settings in Geographical Selection Attributes
The geographical profile consists of four sections:

Source Locations

Source Zones

Destination Locations

Destination Zones
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Within each section, one can define an inclusive or exclusive set of location values that determine which freight
units or other planning-related objects are relevant for planning. Each section allows to define specific values or
ranges of values, using the logical greater than, less than, or not equal to, to provide precise selection for planning.
2.1.3
Time-Related Selection Attributes
2.1.3.1
General Data
General Data
Value
Time-Related Sel. Attributes
Text Value
Description
Text Value
Table 5 General Data Settings in Time-Related Selection Attributes
In the Time-Related Sel. Attributes and the Description, the unique name and the description of the time
selection profile are defined.
2.1.3.2
Demand Horizon
Demand Horizon
Value
Absolute or Relative Horizon
Use Absolute Horizon
Use Relative Horizon
Round Horizon to Full Days
Select/Deselect
Time Zone for Rounding the Horizon
List Selection
Factory Cal. For Offs./Dur. Calc.
List Selection
Table 6 Demand Horizon Settings in Time-Related Selection Attributes
Within the time-related selection attributes, one can define the demand horizon that is assigned to the selection
profile. The demand horizon outlines dates for pickup and delivery. The system then chooses planning-related
objects whose pickup date and time and/or delivery date and time lie within the relevant demand horizon.
Absolute or Relative Horizon allows to define the demand horizon as absolute or relative.
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With the absolute horizon option, one can define the demand horizon precisely by maintaining the exact start and
end date and time of the demand horizon. Using the absolute horizon, one can specify explicit dates for the pickup horizon and/or the delivery horizon.
If using the relative horizon option, the demand horizon is defined not with precise dates but instead with the
specified duration (in days) starting from the current date. If the demand horizon is not desired to start from the
current date, it is possible to use an offset. The general logic of these features is described more in detail in
Section 2.2.2 Planning Horizon.
Round Horizon to Full Days specifies whether or not the system rounds the demand horizon to complete days. In
the time-related selection attributes, this setting is available in case relative demand horizon is selected.
Therefore, if this setting is set, the first day of the relevant demand horizon starts at 00:00 and the last day
rounds till 23:59 o’clock. Also to keep in mind, the Round Horizon to Full Days setting is set by default.
.
Time Zone for Rounding the Horizon specifies the time zone in which the horizon is to be calculated. In the timerelated selection attributes, this setting is available in case relative demand horizon is selected.
Factory Cal. For Offs/Dur.Calc. If a factory calendar is specified, then the system takes into account non-working
days when calculating the start of the horizon according to the calendar. In this case, the planning horizon always
begins on a working day. In the time-related selection attributes, this setting is available in case relative demand
horizon is selected.
2.1.3.3
Pick-up
Pick-up
Value
Ignore Pick-up
Select/Deselect
For Relative Horizon
Value
Pick-up in Days
Time Value (hh:mm)
Additional Duration (hh:mm)
Time Value (hh:mm)
Offset Direction
Past
Future
Offset in Days
Time Value (hh:mm)
Additional Offset (hh:mm)
Time Value (hh:mm)
For Absolute Horizon
Value
Start Date
Date
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Pick-up
Value
Start Time
Date
End Date
Date
End Time
Date
Table 7 Pick-up Settings in Time-Related Selection Attributes
Within the time-related selection attributes, it is possible to define a separate pick-up horizon and delivery
horizon. Assigned checkbuttons Ignore Pick-up/Ignore Delivery allow choosing whether both horizons are used
in the selection, only one of them, or neither.
In case the Use Relative Horizon (Figure 2) option is selected, the following settings are enabled in the profile:

Pick-up in Days
In the system, the pick-up demand horizon is specified not in precise dates and time but by entering the
duration (in days) starting from the current date and time.

Additional Duration (hh:mm)
In the system, it is possible to determine the precision of the planning horizon down to hours and minutes.
The logic of how additional duration is added to the specified horizon can be checked in Section 2.2.2 more in
detail.

Offset Direction
The Offset direction specifies in what direction – backward or forward – in relation to the current date the
offset duration is calculated. The logic of this setting is described more in detail in Section 2.2.2.

Offset in Days
In case it is not desired to start the demand horizon from the current date, one can determine the offset. The
logic of how the offset is added to specified horizon can be checked in Section 2.2.2.

Additional Offset (hh:mm)
With this setting, one can define the precision of the offset duration down to hours and minutes. The logic of
how the additional offset is added to specified horizon and defined offset can be checked in detail in Section
2.2.2.
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Figure 2 Relative Horizon for Pick-up Setting in Time-Related Selection Attributes
In case the Use Absolute Horizon (Figure 3) option is selected, the following settings are enabled in the profile
which allow defining the precise start and end dates and time for the demand horizon:

Start Date

Start Time

End date

End Time
Figure 3 Absolute Horizon for Pick-up Setting in Time-Related Selection Attributes
2.1.3.4
Delivery
Delivery
Value
Ignore Delivery
Select/Deselect
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Delivery
Value
For Relative Horizon
Value
Delivery in Days
Natural Number
Additional Duration (hh:mm)
Time Value (hh:mm)
Offset Direction
Past
Future
Offset in Days
Natural Number
Additional Offset (hh:mm)
Time Value (hh:mm)
For Absolute Horizon
Value
Start Date
Date
Start Time
Date
End Date
Date
End Time
Date
Table 8 Delivery Settings in Time-Related Selection Attributes
The settings for the delivery demand horizon definition have the same logic as the setting for the pick-up demand
horizon descried above.
2.1.3.5
Other Settings
Other Settings
Value
Use Index Time for Selection
Do Not Use Index Time; Use All Stop Times
Use Index Time of Stop
Comb. Of Pick-Up and Delivery Windows
Combination with AND
Combination with OR
Comb. Pick-Up Wind. with Sce Loc., Del. Wind. with Dst.
Loc.
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Table 9 Other Settings in Time-Related Selection Attributes
Use Index Time for Selection enables the selection of freight documents according to index times of stops (pickup/delivery times) specified in these freight documents. The following options are available:

Do Not Use Index Time; Use All Stop Times
With this setting, the system does not use the index time for selection.

Use Index Time of Stop
With this setting, the system selects freight documents according to the index time which represents the
earliest time of other stop times in freight documents.
Comb. Of Pick-Up and Delivery. When both the pick-up horizon and the delivery horizon are defined, one can
determine how these horizons can be used in combination: inclusive or exclusive. The following options are
available:

Combination with AND
When this method is chosen, a freight document is selected based on two conditions:
o If at least one time element of the pick-up window, such as the start of the requested pick-up date,
falls into the pick-up window and
o If at least one time element of the delivery window, such as the end of the acceptable delivery date,
falls into the delivery time window.

Combination with OR
When this method is chosen, a freight document is selected based on two conditions:
o If at least one time element of the pick-up window, such as the start of the requested pick-up date,
falls into the pick-up window or
o If at least one time element of the delivery window, such as the end of the acceptable delivery date,
falls into the delivery time window.

Comb. Pick-Up Wind. with Sce Loc., Del. Wind. with Dst. Loc.
When this method is chosen, a freight document is selected based on two conditions:
o If both time elements of the pick-up window, such as the start and the end of the requested pick-up
date, falls into the pick-up window and
o If both time elements of the delivery window, such as the start and the end of the acceptable delivery
date, falls into the delivery time window
Recommendation for the VSR optimizer setup
In order to speed up the optimization process and relax the computational effort for
the VSR optimizer, it would be better to restrict the demand horizon to a short amount
of time, in order to minimize the number of alternatives the optimizer has to evaluate.
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2.1.4
Additional Selection Attributes
2.1.4.1
General Data
General Data
Value
Additional Sel. Attributes
Text Value
Description
Text Value
Planned Requirements
Include in Selection
Exclude in Selection
Blocked Documents
Include in Selection
Exclude in Selection
Table 10 General Data Settings in Additional Selection Attributes
In the Additional Sel. Attributes and the Description, the unique name and the description of the additional
selection profile are defined.
In the Planned Requirements and the Blocked Documents, one can define by Include in Selection/Exclude in
Selection settings whether or not planned requirements and blocked business documents (freight units, freight
orders and bookings) are to be selected for planning.
2.1.4.2
Selection
Selection
Value
Selection Values
List Selection
Condition-Based Filtering
List Selection
Table 11 Selection Settings in Additional Selection Attributes
In the selection section, one can either use predefined conditions with the Selection Values setting (Figure 4) or
specify its own conditions with the Condition-Based Filtering. If it is preferred to use own conditions, then it
should be defined beforehand. It can be done in SAP NetWeaver Business Client by choosing Application
Administration  General Settings  Condition  Create Condition.
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Figure 4 Selection Objects in Additional Selection Attributes
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2.2
Planning Profile
In the following section, the settings of SAP TM planning profile divided into categories as it is done in the system
will be presented.
2.2.1
General Data
General Data
Value
Planning Profile
Text value
Description
Text value
Table 12 General Data Settings in Planning Profile
The planning profile can be created via the menu path in SAP NetWeaver Business Client by choosing Application
Administration  Planning  Planning Profiles  Create Planning Profile.
In the General Data, the unique name and the description of the planning profile are defined.
2.2.2
Planning Horizon
Planning Horizon
Value
Duration in Days
Natural Number
Additional Duration (hh:mm)
Time Value (hh:mm)
Offset Direction
Future
Past
Offset in Days
Natural Number
Additional Offset (hh:mm)
Time Value (hh:mm)
Factory Cal. For Offs/Dur.Calc.
List Selection
Round Horizon
Select/Deselect
Time Zone for Rounding the Horizon
List Selection
Table 13 Planning Horizon Settings in Planning Profile
Planning Horizon setting represents the interval of time where all transports have to be planned. In other words,
planning horizon defines a time frame in which new freight documents (i.e. planning results) have to be created.
During planning, the VSR optimizer takes into consideration all defined in a freight unit dates (highlighted with the
red rectangle in Figure 5); thereby, these dates have to be kept in mind while specifying the planning horizon.
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When the freight unit is planned, planned departure and arrival dates are inserted by the VSR optimizer into the
special field in the freight unit (highlighted with the green rectangle in Figure 5).
Figure 5 Freight Unit Dates Settings in Freight Unit
There could be the case that, for example, selected for planning freight units are outside of the planning horizon.
Whether or not such freight units get planned depends on what dates - acceptable or requested - are defined. The
freight unit might have two time windows defined (Figure 5, Figure 37). The first time window is the acceptable
time window (defined by the acceptable start date and the acceptable end date). This time window is a hard
constraint, i.e. it must not be violated. If at least one of the acceptable dates (i.e. the start date or the end date) is
outside of the defined planning horizon, these freight units cannot be planned at all.
The second time window is the requested time window (defined by the requested start date and the requested
end date). This time window is a soft constraint, i.e. it should not be violated but it can be violated in order to
achieve a freight unit to be planned in favor of leaving it unplanned. If the requested dates are outside of the
planning horizon, the optimizer might plan such freight units anyway. In this case these freight units would be
planned inside the planning horizon; however, some penalty costs might occur (see Section 2.4 for more details).
Duration in Days. In the system, the planning horizon is specified by entering the duration (in days) starting from
the current date and the current point of time. This means that if the planning horizon is set to 1 day and the
current time is exactly 13:00 o’clock, then the actual duration of the planning horizon would be counted from
13:00 o’clock of the current point of time till 13:00 o’clock tomorrow (in case additional duration, offset and
rounding have not been defined). Figure 6 depicts the calculation logic for the Duration in Days setting.
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Figure 6 Planning Horizon Duration in Days
Additional Duration (hh:mm). This setting allows extending the planning horizon duration defined in days in the
previous setting by the additional duration defined in hours and minutes. Taking the abovementioned example
where the planning horizon ends at 13:00 o’clock on the next day, one can prolong the planning horizon duration
till 17:00, for example, by defining the additional duration of 4 hours (04:00). Therefore, the additional duration
defined here is counted from the end time of the planning horizon. Figure 7 depicts the calculation logic of this
setting.
Figure 7 Planning Horizon with Defined Additional Duration
Offset Direction specifies in which direction – backward or forward – in relation to the current date the offset
duration is calculated. The following options of the offset directions are available:

Future
The future offset direction allows obtaining planning results in the future with the starting point of the
planning horizon also defined in the future.

Past
The past offset direction allows shifting the starting point of the planning horizon to the past. This means that
it is possible to obtain planning results dated to the past.
Note
The only situation in which it makes sense to set the offset direction to Past is in a test
environment. In this case, the user avoids creating a new test data, and can use the
past test. In a productive system, there are no feasible reasons to perform planning in
the past.
Let's consider several examples to demonstrate the configuration of the offset direction, If the current date is
01.01.2014, defined offset in days is 5, and offset direction value is Future, then the start of the planning horizon
would start from 05.01.2014 (Figure 8). If offset direction value is set to Past, then the planning horizon would
start from 27.12.2013 (Figure 9).
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Figure 8 Offset Direction
Figure 9 Planning Horizon with Past Offset Direction
Offset in Days. In case it is not desired to start planning from the current date, one can determine the offset. To
keep in mind, the calculation of the planning horizon starts from the current point of time. Figure 10 and Figure 11
illustrate two different calculation logics of the planning horizon: 1) when the offset is defined; 2) when the offset is
defined together with the additional duration.
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Figure 10 Planning Horizon with Defined Offset
Figure 11 Planning Horizon with Defined Additional Duration and Offset
Additional Offset (hh:mm) works the same as Additional Duration (hh:mm) setting described above. Figure 12
and Figure 13 illustrate two different calculation logics of the planning horizon: 1) when the offset and the
additional offset are defined; 2) when the offset, the additional offset are defined together with the additional
duration.
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Figure 12 Planning Horizon with Defined Offset and Additional Offset
Figure 13 Planning Horizon with Defined Additional Duration, Offset and Additional Offset
However, optionally it is possible to define only additional offset without specifying an offset value in days in the
Offset in Days setting. In this case, the overall offset is equal only to the duration defined in Additional Offset
(hh:mm) setting. Figure 14 and Figure 15 illustrate two different calculation logics of the planning horizon: 1) when
only the additional offset is defined; 2) when the additional offset is defined together with the additional duration.
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Figure 14 Planning Horizon with Defined Additional Offset
Figure 15 Planning Horizon with Defined Additional Duration and Additional Offset
Factory Cal. For Offs/Dur.Calc. If a factory calendar is specified, then the system takes into account non-working
days when calculating the start of the horizon according to the calendar. In this case, the planning horizon always
begins on a working day. The factory calendar affects the duration of the planning horizon. That is, if, for example,
the planning horizon is set to 250 days and the specified factory calendar has 5 working days, then the overall
duration of the planning horizon extends to approximately one year.
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Round Horizon setting specifies whether or not the system is to round the planning horizon to complete days. As
the start of the planning horizon is defined from the current point of time and date, then this setting rounds the
start and the end days of the planning horizon to complete days. Thus, the first day starts at 00:00 and the last
day of the planning horizon rounds till 23:59 o’clock.
Going back to the very first example of the planning horizon, round horizon means that if the planning horizon is
set to 1 day and the current time is exactly 13:00 o’clock, then the actual duration of the planning horizon would be
counted from 00:00 o’clock of the current day till 23:59 o’clock tomorrow (in case additional duration, offset and
rounding have not been defined).
Regardless of the fact that the Additional Duration (hh:mm), Offset, or Additional Offset (hh:mm) settings are
defined, if the Round Horizon setting is set, one has the complete days inside the planning horizon. Also to keep in
mind, the Round Horizon setting is set by default in the planning profile.
Time Zone for Rounding the Horizon specifies the time zone in which planning horizon is to be calculated.
Recommendation for the VSR optimizer setup
In order to speed up VSR optimization process and relax the computational effort for
the optimizer, it would be better to restrict the planning horizon to a short amount of
time, in order to minimize the number of alternatives the optimizer has to evaluate. In
addition, when having scheduled vehicles, a shorter planning horizon reduces the
number of schedules resulting from the departure calendar, which furthermore
decreases the number of alternatives to consider.
2.2.3
Profile Assignments
Profile Assignments
Value
Selection Profile for Freight Orders
List Selection
Selection Profile for Freight Bookings
List Selection
Capacity Selection Settings
List Selection
Optimizer Settings
List Selection
Planning Costs Settings
List Selection
Incompatibility Settings
List Selection
Carrier Selection Settings
List Selection
Table 14 Profile Assignments Settings in Planning Profile
In the Profile Assignments, all planning-related settings profiles can be defined which the system takes into
account while performing planning and finding the optimal solution for transports. These profiles (Figure 16) are
used to influence and control the outcome of the VSR optimizer in both interactive and background planning. The
planning profile might consist of six settings profiles: selection profiles, capacity selection settings, optimizer
settings, planning costs settings, carrier selection settings. Similar to the selection attributes, these settings can
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be maintained independently of each other and the planning profile. Moreover, they can be reused in different
planning profiles.
Figure 16 Link between Planning Profile and Settings Profiles
The following profiles can be included into planning profile:

Selection Profiles
The selection profiles are a user-specific grouping of business documents that is considered during
transportation planning. In the planning profile two different selection profiles can be specified: one is for the
selection of freight orders, another one – for the selection of freight bookings. Additionally, the selection
profile for freight units and transportation units can be defined in the transportation cockpit layout (Figure 17).
Figure 17 Selection Profiles Settings in the Transportation Cockpit Settings
Note
The entries in the Transportation Cockpit Profile and Layout Screen (Figure 17)
overwrite the entries in the planning profile. If nothing is maintained in the
Transportation Cockpit Profile and Layout Screen, the values from the planning profile
are taken.

Capacity Selection Settings
The capacity selection profile is a user-specific grouping of settings related to the section of required for
planning capacities such as resources.
The capacity selection settings can be created via the menu path in SAP NetWeaver Business Client by
choosing Application Administration  Planning  Planning Profile Settings  Capacity Selection Settings 
Create Capacity Selection Settings.

Optimizer Settings
The optimizer settings profile represents a bundle of the VSR optimizer- and transportation proposals-related
settings that are considered during the optimizer run.
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The optimizer settings can be created via the menu path in SAP NetWeaver Business Client by choosing
Application Administration  Planning  Planning Profile Settings  Optimizer Settings  Create Optimizer
Settings.

Planning Costs Settings
The planning costs settings define freight-unit-dependent and means-of-transport-dependent costs which
are used to control the outcome of the VSR optimizer.
The planning costs settings can be created via the menu path in SAP NetWeaver Business Client by choosing
Application Administration  Planning  Planning Profile Settings  Planning Costs Settings  Create
Planning Costs Settings.

Incompatibility Settings
In the incompatibility settings, one can define attributes that prevent freight units from being combined into
one delivery.
The incompatibility settings can be created via the menu path in SAP NetWeaver Business Client by choosing
Application Administration  Planning  Planning Profile Settings  Incompatibility Settings  Create
Incompatibility Settings.

Carrier Selection Settings
The carrier selection profile is used to assign a suitable carrier to subcontractable business documents either
manually or automatically.
The carrier selection settings can be created via the menu path in SAP NetWeaver Business Client by
choosing Application Administration  Planning  Planning Profile Settings  Carrier Selection Settings 
Create Carrier Selection Settings.
Below a more detailed description of each settings profile is outlined.
2.2.4
Business Document Type
Business Document Type
Value
Type Determination Rule
Category Default
Defined per Category in Planning Profile
Condition-Based
Default Type for Vehicle Resources
List Selection
Default Type For Booking (Air)
List Selection
Default Type for Booking (Ocean)
List Selection
Default Type for Passive Vehicle Resources
List Selection
Table 15 Business Document Type Settings in Planning Profile
In the Business Document Type, a standard business document type of the planned freight document (freight
orders and/or freight bookings) created as the result of planning is defined. In addition, there is an option to
specify a condition with which the business document type is to be determined.
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Type Determination Rule setting is responsible for the determination of which standard business document type
is to be created as a result of planning. The following rules are available:

Category Default
This setting takes the business document type which is checked as default in SAP TM Customizing.
For example, in Figure 18 freight order type 1000 is defined as default. This means that this exact business
document type is to be selected for planned freight documents.
Figure 18 Default Business Document Type Setting in SAP TM Customizing

Defined per Category in Planning Profile
This setting means that one can define a specific business document type that is to be used in planning. To do
so, a desired business document type can be selected according to the following categories:
o Default Type for Vehicle Resources
o Default Type For Booking (Air)
o Default Type for Booking (Ocean)
o Default Type for Passive Vehicle Resources

Condition-Based
A special condition for selection of the business document type can be defined in SAP NetWeaver Business
Client Application Administration  General Settings  Conditions  Create Condition and then inserted in
the field.
Even though one might choose condition-based business document type determination (Figure 19), the rest of the
settings are still visible. The reason is that the business document type is determined in the following steps:
1.
In case a condition for business document type determination is specified in the planning profile, the system
first checks the result of the condition.
2.
If a specified condition does not return any result, then the defined per category business type document is
taken.
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3.
If there is no defined per category type maintained, then the system takes default business document type
defined in SAP TM Customizing (Figure 18).
Figure 19 Business Document Type Settings in Planning Profile
2.2.5
Manual Planning and Manual Planning Strategies
Manual Planning
Value
Manual Planning Strategy
VSRI_1STEP
VSRI_CHK
VSRI_DEF
VSRI_SCH
Consider Fixing Status
Warning When Changing Fixed Documents
Error When Changing Fixed Documents
Table 16 Manual Planning and Manual Planning Strategies Settings in Planning Profile
In the system, there is an option to perform manual planning. In comparison to automatic planning using the
optimizer or transportation proposals generation, one can manually (by drag-and-drop function in the
transportation cockpit) assign freight units to capacities such as vehicle resources. The system automatically
creates freight documents (freight orders and/or freight bookings) depending on the settings configured in SAP
TM Customizing.
When freight units are manually assigned to capacities, the system takes into account all settings defined in the
respective planning profile. For manual planning, it is possible to specify which planning strategy is to be used.
Planning strategies determine the steps that the system is to carry out during the planning process and the order
in which it does so. In other words, planning strategies for manual planning basically specify what happens when
the planner manually (e.g. by drag-and-drop function) assigns planning-specific objects to capacities.
The following standard strategies for manual planning execution are available in the system:

VSRI_DEF
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The VSRI_DEF strategy is a default strategy for manual planning. The VSRI_DEF strategy works as a basis for
the rest of manual planning strategies. In SAP TM Customizing, one can check what methods and in what
sequences are performed within a certain planning strategy. The path is the following: in SAP TM Customizing
SCM Basis  Process Controller  Assign Methods to a Strategy. In Figure 20, it is visible that all planning
strategies are based on VSRI_PRE, VSRI and VSRI_POST methods which form default strategy, and other
strategies have one additional method at the end depending on the purpose of the manual planning.
Figure 20 Overview of Assigned Methods to Manual Planning Strategies in SAP TM Customizing

VSRI_1STEP
The VSRI_1STEP strategy for manual planning is based on default planning strategy VSRI_DEF. The distinctive
feature of this strategy is that it performs carrier selection at the end of the planning process. Therefore, the
additional method VSRI_TSPS is incorporated into the strategy (Figure 20).

VSRI_CHK
This strategy is referred as a manual planning strategy with subsequent constraint check (capacities,
incompatibilities, etc.). This strategy is based on default planning strategy VSRI_DEF and performs planning
with checks defined in Check settings of Planning Profile. In order to execute check, this strategy contains
additional method VSRI_CHECK (Figure 20). In case this strategy is not chosen in manual planning
processing, checks would not be performed while generating transportation plans in manual mode. However,
check procedure can be triggered by the respective pushbutton in the transportation cockpit (Figure 22).

VSRI_SCH
This strategy is referred as a manual planning strategy with subsequent scheduling. This strategy performs
planning with subsequent scheduling according to the scheduling settings defined in the Scheduling area of
respective Planning Profile. The VSRI_SCH is also based on default planning strategy VSRI_DEF and has
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additional method assigned VSR_SCHED for scheduling execution. In case this strategy is not chosen in
manual planning processing, scheduling would not be performed; however, scheduling can be called manually
in the transportation cockpit (Figure 21).
Consider Fixing Status determines how the system is to behave during manual planning while facing business
objects which are fixed for planning. Fixed business objects include freight orders and freight bookings. In the
system, two alternative types of behavior in such situation are determined:

Warning When Changing Fixed Documents
The system performs manual planning despite of the fixing status of the planning object, subsequently
throwing a warning message.

Error When Changing Fixed Documents
The system stops planning and throws an error message, in case it faces fixed for planning business objects.
Note
The planner remains responsible for ensuring that the planning results are consistent.
For manual planning, the system is intended to provide support only. Moreover, keep
in mind that if planning specific freight units are blocked, then the planning is not
possible
2.2.6
Scheduling
Scheduling
Value
Scheduling Strategy
VSS_DEF
Consider Freight Unit Dates
Do Not Consider Freight Unit Dates
Consider Freight Unit Dates
Consider Freight Unit Dates as Soft Constraints only
Scheduling Direction
Not Specified
Backward
Forward
Table 17 Scheduling Settings in Planning Profile
For scheduling, the system calculates planned dates for freight orders and freight bookings. If this step is not
completed, dates and times in manual planning results may be incorrect.
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Note
The scheduling settings described in this section are applied only to manual planning
or can be called by the specific pushbutton in the transportation cockpit (Figure 21).
These settings are not automatically called during VSR optimization.
Scheduling Strategy. The VSS_DEF calls scheduling for manually selected objects when the respective
scheduling pushbutton is launched in the transportation cockpit (Figure 21). This strategy also takes into account
settings specified in the Scheduling settings of the planning profile. Also the scheduling strategy can be used in
manual planning, if the VSS_DEF strategy is assigned in the Manual Planning and Manual Planning Strategies
settings.
Figure 21 Scheduling pushbutton in the Transportation Cockpit
Consider Freight Unit Dates. This setting defines whether or not freight unit dates are considered in manual
planning. The following options are available:

Do Not Consider Freight Unit Dates
Freight unit dates are ignored during manual planning.

Consider Freight Unit Dates
Freight unit dates are taken into account as hard constraints in manual planning. This means that both
acceptable and requested dates of a freight unit are considered (Figure 37). Either the system finds a solution
that fits within the time frame of acceptable dates, or it returns no solution.

Consider Freight Unit Dates as Soft Constraints only
Freight unit dates are considered as soft constraints in manual planning. This means that only the requested
dates of the freight unit are considered. Thus, the system can complete planning outside the acceptable time
windows of the assigned freight units (Figure 37).
Scheduling Direction setting defines the direction of scheduling is to be used in manual planning. The following
options are available:

Not Specified
The system determines the scheduling direction based on the planning profile. If a planning profile has not
been defined, the system uses forward scheduling by default.
The logic for selecting forward scheduling by default is the following. One can also schedule freight orders
outside the transportation cockpit (e.g. in the freight order user interface directly). However, in this case there
is no specified planning profile, because scheduling is not performed in the transportation cockpit. Thus, the
system takes the planning profile which has been used at the time of creation of the freight order. If the freight
order has not been created during planning (e.g. by manually typing in it), then there is no planning profile at
creation. Therefore, a default scheduling type forward needs to be applied.
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
Backward
Backward scheduling schedules backward from arrival (index time of the last stop of freight order or freight
booking). If there is no such date, because there has been no delivery time window defined in freight unit, the
system schedules backward from the end of the planning horizon taken from the planning profile.

Forward
Forward scheduling schedules forward from departure (index time of the first stop of freight order or freight
booking). If there is no such date, the system schedules forward from the start of the planning horizon taken
from the planning profile.
Note
For more information on scheduling and the scheduling strategy, please refer to SAP
Note 1908165.
2.2.7
Check
Check
Value
Check Strategy
VSR_CHECK
Take Capacities into Account
No Check
Error
Warning
Table 18 Check Settings in Planning Profile
Note
The check settings described in this section are applied only to manual planning and
can be called by the specific pushbutton in the transportation cockpit. These settings
are not automatically called during VSR optimization.
Check Strategy. The VSR_CHECK calls checks for manually selected objects when the respective scheduling
pushbutton is launched in the transportation cockpit. This strategy verifies capacities, incompatibilities, and
multiresource assignments and performs a dangerous goods check. The check strategy can be used in manual
planning, if the VSRI_CHECK strategy is assigned in the Manual Planning and Manual Planning Strategies settings.
Otherwise, after the execution of manual planning, planned freight order would be generated without any checks.
In this case, only the planner is responsible for the consistency of the manual planning output.
It is also possible to perform checks of already created freight orders. This strategy defines the actions that are
performed when a check is launched for a chosen freight orders or freight bookings in the transportation cockpit
(Figure 22).
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Figure 22 Check pushbutton in the Transportation Cockpit
Take Capacities into Account. During manual planning or when the check pushbutton is pressed in the
transportation cockpit, it is possible to define if the system should raise an error message, a warning message, or
no massage at all whenever resource capacities are overloaded.

No Check
This means that if resource capacities are exceeded, the system would not raise any message.

Error
If resource capacities are exceeded, the system would raise an error message.

Warning
If resource capacities are exceeded, the system would raise a warning message.
2.2.8
Loading and Unloading Duration
Loading and Unloading Duration
Value
Dependence
Freight Unit and MTr Independent
Freight Unit Dependent/MTr Independent
Freight Unit Independent/MTr Dependent
Freight Unit and MTr Dependent
Loading/Unloading Duration
Time Value (hh:mm:ss) or List Selection
Table 19 Loading and Unloading Duration Settings in Planning Profile
Loading and Unloading Durations are defined and calculated using either standard values or conditions. A
special condition for calculating loading and unloading durations for freight units can be defined in SAP
NetWeaver Business Client Application Administration  General Settings  Conditions  Create Condition and
then inserted into the field. In case a condition is specified, the system evaluates the condition and returns the
loading or unloading duration as an output value.
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The system calculates loading and unloading durations automatically during interactive planning, VSR
optimization and background processing. In manual planning, it is possible to overwrite the loading and unloading
durations calculated by the system.
It is possible to define loading and unloading duration based on freight unit attributes or means of transport
attributes or both. The following options are available:

Freight Unit and MTr Independent
Loading and unloading durations are calculated regardless of freight unit or means of transport attributes. In
case the loading and unloading duration are defined freight unit and means-of-transport independent, then
the option of defining the standard duration value gets enabled (Figure 23).
Figure 23 Standard Value Determination for Loading and Unloading Duration
If the loading and unloading duration is defined dependently of freight unit attributes, or means-of-transport
attributes, or both, then a condition for the loading and unloading duration has to be defied and inserted into
the planning profile. The respective list of available conditions gets enabled (Figure 24).
Figure 24 Condition-based Determination of Loading and Unloading Duration

Freight Unit Dependent/MTr Independent
Loading and unloading durations are calculated based on freight unit attributes but not on means of transport
attributes.

Freight Unit Independent/MTr Dependent
Loading and unloading durations are calculated based not on freight unit attributes but on means of transport
attributes.

Freight Unit and MTr Dependent
Loading and unloading durations are calculated based both on freight unit attributes and means of transport
attributes.
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2.2.9
Parallel Processing Profiles
Parallel Processing Profiles
Value
Input Data Selection
List Selection
Lane Determination
List Selection
Distance and Duration Determination
List Selection
Table 20 Parallel Processing Profiles Settings in Planning Profile
Parallel Processing Profiles are used for background processing, for example, and by doing so improve
performance. To do this, the system groups the data in packages. The system can assign each package to a
separate parallel work process. It is possible to perform background processing using a parallel processing profile
both in the background and interactively.
Parallel Processing Profiles are defined in SAP NetWeaver Business Client by choosing Application Administration
 General Settings  Define Parallel Processing Profile.
However, in this document parallel processing settings will not be described in detail.
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2.3
Optimizer Settings
In the section below, the settings of SAP TM optimizer profile divided into categories as it is done in the system
will be presented.
2.3.1
General data
General Data
Value
Optimizer Settings
Text Value
Description
Text Value
Table 21 General Data Settings in Optimizer Settings
In the General Data area, the unique name and the description of the optimizer settings profile are defined.
2.3.2
Planning Strategies
Planning Strategies
Value
Planning Strategy
VSR_1STEP
VSR_BOOK
VSR_DEF
VSR_ROUONL
VSR_ROUSCH
VSR_ROUTE
FO Building Rule
New Freight Order when Resource is Empty
New FO when Resource is Empty and Depot Location
Reached
Table 22 Planning Strategies Settings in Optimizer Settings
Planning Strategies define the planning steps that the system is to perform and the sequence in which it is to
perform them when the VSR optimizer is called. Each planning strategy comprises one or more methods that
represent the individual planning steps. The following planning strategies are available:
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
VSR_DEF
The VSR_DEF strategy is referred as a standard strategy for VSR optimization. The VSR_DEF works as a basis
for the VSR_1STEP strategy. In SAP TM Customizing, one can check what methods and in what sequence are
performed within a certain planning strategy. The path is the following: in SAP TM Customizing SCM Basis 
Process Controller  Assign Methods to a Strategy. In Figure 25, one can check that the VSR_DEF consists
of VSR_PRE, VSR_PRE_DG, VSR_OPT and VSR_POST methods. However, the rest of the planning strategies
resemble this structure containing pre-processing, main and post-processing methods.
Figure 25 Overview of Assigned Methods to Optimizer Planning Strategies in SAP TM Customizing

VSR_1STEP
The VSR_1STEP strategy for VSR optimization is based on default planning strategy VSR_DEF. The distinctive
feature of this strategy is that it performs carrier selection at the end of the optimizer run. Therefore, the
additional method VSR_TSPS is incorporated into the strategy (Figure 25).

VSR_BOOK
The VSR_BOOK strategy for VSR optimization consists of Route/Schedule Preprocessing, Booking Selection
and Schedule Posting. This planning strategy selects booking based on schedules (Figure 25).

VSR_ROUONL
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The VSR_ROUONL strategy for VSR optimization finds and posts a default route. The strategy consists of
Route/Schedule Preprocessing, Find Default Route, and Post Default Route methods (Figure 25).

VSR_ROUSCH
The VSR_ROUSCH strategy for VSR optimization finds and posts default route as well as finds and post a
corresponding schedule. This strategy contains the following methods: Route/Schedule Preprocessing, Find
Default Route, Post Default Route, Find Schedule, and Schedule Posting (Figure 25).

VSR_ROUTE
The VSR_ROUTE strategy for VSR optimization finds and post default route. Then, it selects a corresponding
schedule and a booking. This strategy contains the following methods: Route/Schedule Preprocessing, Find
Default Route, Post Default Route, Find Schedule, and Find Booking for Schedule, and Schedule Posting
(Figure 25).
FO Building Rule. The system takes into account freight order building rules (FOB rules) when creating and
changing more than one freight order on one resource during VSR optimization. Freight order building rules are
used to control how the system assigns activities on one resource to different freight orders.

New Freight Order when Resource is Empty
The VSR optimizer creates a new freight order, if the resource is empty. That is, no freight units and no trailers
are assigned to the resource.

New Freight Order when Resource is Empty and Depot Location Reached
The VSR optimizer creates a new freight order when the following prerequisites are met: the resource is
empty, meaning that no freight units and no trailers are assigned to the resource; the resource has reached
the depot location. An exception to these rules is schedule vehicles. The system creates a freight order for
every departure of a schedule vehicle. Empty runs within the route of the schedule are part of the freight order
as well.
Let's consider an example for this setting. For instance, there are local delivery tours, and the vehicle comes
back to the depot several times a day. Although the system may recommend the same vehicle, because
planning is based on vehicle level, all tours are generally independent and could be switched to other vehicles.
You use this setting to decompose an overall daily tour into its subtours all starting and ending at the depot.
This setting is only relevant to own vehicles.
2.3.3
Transportation Proposal
Transportation Proposal Settings
Value
Accept Transp. Prop.
Not Defined
Save Route and Freight Document
Save Route Only
Planning Strategy for Transp. Prop.
VSR_1STEP
VSR_BOOK
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Transportation Proposal Settings
Value
VSR_DEF
VSR_ROUONL
VSR_ROUSCH
VSR_ROUTE
Max. Number of Trans Proposals
Natural Number
Do Not Create Trans. Prop. Immediately
Select/Deselect
Advanced Settings – Transportation Proposal
Preferences
Value
Route Variation
Use Defaults
Not Relevant
Low
Medium
High
Carrier Variation
Use Defaults
Not Relevant
Low
Medium
High
Departure Date Variation
Use Defaults
Not Relevant
Low
Medium
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Transportation Proposal Settings
Value
High
Time Relevance
Use Defaults
Not Relevant
Low
Medium
High
Cost Relevance
Use Defaults
Not Relevant
Low
Medium
High
Table 23 Transportation Proposal Settings in Optimizer Settings
Accept Transportation Proposal setting specifies the subsequent behavior of the system when a specific
transportation proposal is accepted. The following options are available:

Not Defined
In this case, if the transportation proposal is accepted by the planner, the system prompts to the question of
how the transportation proposal should be accepted. Then, the rest two options of transportation proposal
acceptance are available.

Save Route and Freight Document
In this case, the system saves a selected route and creates a corresponding freight document.

Save Route Only
In this case, the system saves only a route of the selected transportation proposal. That is, only the stages of
the forwarding order or the freight unit are stored according to the transportation proposal.
Planning Strategy for Transp. Prop. Planning strategies for transportation proposals are the same strategies
described in Section 2.3.2 Planning Strategies of this document. However, by contrast to the regular optimizer
run, the optimizer run for transportation proposals results in the number of alternative optimization solutions transportation proposals.
Max. Number of Trans. Proposals determines the number of transportation proposals one can get after the
optimizer run is finished.
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Do Not Create Trans. Prop. Immediately. This checkbutton determines the availability of the individual
transportation proposal preferences adjustment for planning specific freight units in more detail while performing
the optimizer run in the transportation cockpit.

Select
If this checkbutton is ticked, after choosing planning specific freight units and capacity resources and then
pressing transportation proposals pushbutton (Figure 26) in the transportation cockpit, the system at first
does not output any transportation proposals.
Figure 26 Transportation Proposals Pushbutton in the Transportation Cockpit
Figure 27 Immediate Result of the Transportation Proposal Call
The result is not shown (Figure 27), because the system does not perform the automatic transportation
proposal generation according to the general settings determined in the assigned planning profile. However,
in the transportation proposal layout, it is now possible to adjust planning settings according to the needs of
the desired transportation proposal outcome. To do so, one has to accomplish the following prerequisites:
o To personalize the page layout to display transportation proposals, in SAP NetWeaver Business
Client, choose Application Administration  Planning  General Settings  Page Layouts  Page
Layouts for Transportation Proposal (Figure 28):
Figure 28 Page Layout for Transportation Proposal
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o To specify and change specific transportation proposal preferences for planning specific freight units
in the transportation cockpit, select Calculate and Reset Preferences checkboxes in the page layout
for transportation proposals. The transportation proposal preferences screen area has to be set to
visible in the page layout (Figure 29):
Figure 29 Settings of Page Layout for Transportation Proposal
o Afterwards, one can choose a personalized transportation proposal layout in yet empty
transportation proposal screen (Figure 30):
Figure 30 Selection of Transportation Proposal Layout
o Then, it is possible to adjust planning settings for planning specific freight units by selecting, first,
Change Proposal Settings and then Calculate (Figure 31):
Figure 31 Change of Transportation Proposal Setting in the Transportation Proposal Layout
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o Transportation proposals are visible now (Figure 32):
Figure 32 Output of the Transportation Proposals
In the Advanced Settings of Transportation Proposal Preferences (Route Variation/Carrier Variation/Departure
Date Variation/Time Relevance/Cost Relevance), one can adjust transportation proposal preferences even
more in detail by using differentiation parameters for desired optimal results. For this reason, it is possible to
weight ("a measure of difference of solutions") this differentiation parameters according to the scale - Use
Defaults/Not Relevant/Low/Medium/High. Use Defaults option, in this scale, means a robust weight defined
with respect to specific user/planner preferences. The following parameters for transportation proposals
variation are available in the system:

Route Variation

Carrier Variation

Departure Date Variation

Time Relevance

Cost Relevance
2.3.4
Optimizer Runtime
Optimizer Runtime
Value
Max. No. of Parallel Processes
Natural Number
Maximum Runtime (Seconds)
Time Value (s)
Max. Time Without Improvement (Sec./FU)
Time Value (s)
Automatic Runtime Regulation
Not Used
Fastest
Fast
Good Quality
Highest Quality
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Table 24 Optimizer Runtime Settings in Optimizer Settings
To explain the optimizer runtime functionality, it is important to mention that the optimization works in three
phases:

Model Creation Phase building up the internal representation

Initialization Phase creating the first complete solutions

Improvement Phase improving the solutions
Moreover, with growing complexity and size of the scenario the number of alternative solution that the VSR
optimizer has to consider grows more rapidly. Therefore, one could try to use parallelization inside the optimizer
to increase its performance. In the Optimizer Runtime area, one can define how many threads the engine shall use
during the optimization. For this reason, the field Max. No. of Parallel Processes is used.
Independent of the number of processes the overall application flow stays unchanged.

The pre-solving is implemented mainly serial, so there is no change.

During the initialization phase, several plans can be built up in parallel. If the number of parallel threads is
larger than the number of initialization-techniques, random based initializations are added to utilize all
threads. If no additional random-initialization is added, the results of the standard initialization will stay stable.
Parallelization is not reducing the time to calculating a single initial solution.

The improvement phase is using the additional threads to do several steps of the evolutionary local search in
parallel. As the search process will discover new solutions in a different sequence, the parallel search is not
deterministic. This means, restarting the same scenario may lead to different results, because of the thread
handling.
Recommendation for the VSR optimizer setup
Nevertheless, it is recommended to start to solve the planning problem in a serial
manner without parallel processing. After understanding the serial run, one can think
about a speed up by parallel processing as a subsequent step, but even in the best
case parallelization provides at most a linear speedup.
Maximum Runtime (Seconds) determines the overall time the VSR optimizer runs and performs its work. This
setting defines the amount of time the VSR optimizer algorithm is to use to find and calculate the best possible
result.
Recommendation for the VSR optimizer setup
The obvious question that may arise here is how to determine the best running time
for the VSR optimizer. It is recommended to first start the optimizer with a very long
runtime, perhaps during the complete weekend. After the first optimization run is
completed, it is possible to analyze the progress of the total cost with help of the
explanation tool. In the explanation tool it should be possible to see a fast decrease at
the start of the run and a very slow decrease of the cost at the end. One can use this
progression of the cost over the time to decide, which runtime and solution quality fits
best to the given requirements. SAP recommends to start this analysis single
threaded with on CPU only. After defining a good runtime for one CPU, one can try to
improve the runtime further by parallelization described above.
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Max. Time Without Improvement (Sec./FU). With this setting, if the VSR optimizer does not improve the best
solution within the specified amount of time per freight unit, then it is automatically terminated before the defined
maximum runtime.
Automatic Runtime Regulation allows the VSR optimizer to automatically regulate its operating time during the
optimization process according to the specific planning needs. Technically, the system calculates a value which,
assess the "difficulty" of the planning and optimization problem. Based on this result, the system chooses the
runtime between zero seconds and the time value specified in the Maximum Runtime (Seconds) setting
depending on the preferences listed in settings below. The following preferences for automatic runtime regulation
are available:

Not Used

Fastest

Fast

Good Quality

Highest Quality
Recommendation for the VSR optimizer setup
Nevertheless, it is recommended to turn off the Automatic Runtime Regulation setting
in order to avoid unexpected system behavior.
Note
Runtime settings described above are not relevant for transportation proposals
generation process.
Note
In order to get more familiar with the VSR optimizer algorithm and its phases of work,
please refer to SAP Note 1520433.
2.3.5
Rough Planning and Capacity Constraints
Rough Planning and Capacity Constraints
Value
Rough Planning
Do Not Use Rough Planning
Use Rough Planning Where Defined
Prefer Detailed Planning Over Rough Planning
Consider Capacities During Optimization
Yes
No
Advanced Settings
Value
Ignore Capacities(Road)
Select/Deselect
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Rough Planning and Capacity Constraints
Value
Ignore Capacities(Rail)
Select/Deselect
Ignore Capacities(Sea)
Select/Deselect
Ignore Capacities(Air)
Select/Deselect
Table 25 Rough Planning and Capacity Constraints Settings in Optimizer Settings
Rough Planning specifies whether rough planning or detailed planning is to be used for the optimizer runs. In SAP
TM 9.0 and higher versions, it is now possible to setup a certain scenario without the need to define some master
data by the usage of the rough planning option. In order to do this, in the transshipment location assignment
definition, there is a new field Rough Planning Duration (Figure 33) that holds the information for VSR
optimization.
Figure 33 Rough Planning Duration Setting in Transshipment Location Assignments Settings
This setting can be used for the planning scenario where it might not be necessary to have a detailed planning, for
example, for the pre- and on-carriage at a certain point in time. This is the case when the main stage (ocean, air
and etc.) needs to be planned in advance, but the truck pre- and on-carriage planning is done later and even by a
different user or organization. To cover this, in the past it was required to setup transportation lanes and involve
resources, even though pure and simplified transit duration would do the job. Therefore, rough planning option
was introduced in order to enable the functionality of planning without using a detailed and complete master data
setup for certain scenarios.
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In the Rough Planning, there are the following options:

Do Not Use Rough Planning
Rough planning is not considered in the optimizer run.

Use Rough Planning Where Defined
For all stages between a location and the assigned transshipment location for which a rough planning duration
greater than 0 is defined, the optimizer delivers rough planning results. For all other stages, the VSR optimizer
delivers detailed planning results.

Prefer Detailed Planning Over Rough Planning
If the necessary vehicle-specific or means-of-transport-specific information is available, the VSR optimizer
delivers detailed planning results. If the detailed information is not available, the optimizer delivers rough
planning results (if it is defined in transshipment location assignment master data).
Consider Capacities During Optimization determines whether or not resource capacities are considered during
VSR optimization.

Yes
Vehicle /resources capacities are considered in the optimizer run. This setting works only
if the Advanced Settings of Ignore Capacities (Road/Rail/Sea/Air) are unchecked (Figure 34) (at least one
is unchecked). In case of multimodal transportation, Ignore Capacities (Road/Rail/Sea/Air) option allows to
ignore or use resource capacities at some stages depending on what capacities are to be considered during
VSR optimization.
Figure 34 Advanced Settings of Rough Planning and Capacity Constraints in Optimizer Settings

No
Resource capacities are not considered in the optimizer run. Even though resource capacities are exceeded,
the VSR optimizer returns transportation proposals using defined means of transport with overloaded.
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2.3.6
Transshipment Locations
Transshipment Locations
Value
Maximum No. of Transshipment Loc.
Natural Number
Advanced Settings
Value
Search Depth for Transshipment Locations
Natural Number
Search Depth for Connections
Natural Number
Automatic Connection Determination
Select/Deselect
Ignore Schedules
Select/Deselect
Ignore Freight Orders
Select/Deselect
Ignore Freight Bookings
Select/Deselect
Table 26 Transshipment Locations Settings in Optimizer Settings
Maximum No. of Transshipment Loc. determines the number of transshipment locations is to be used in a
transportation route for planning specific freight units which corresponds to the number of times the freight units
is being reloaded to another resource.
Recommendation for the VSR optimizer setup
The larger and the more complex the network is having numerous transshipment
locations, the less performance can be expected from the VSR optimizer. This is so,
because there would appear more theoretical alternatives to transport the goods, and
the more solutions regarding different transshipment locations must be considered,
each one with different trucks and tours to use for the freight units. Therefore, it can
be concluded that the scenario has to be modelled meaningfully containing only
necessary transshipment locations.
Search Depth for Transshipment Locations setting defines how many levels of transshipment location are taken
from each end (from the direction of source and destination locations) of the transportation.
Let's consider an example. For instance, the value of Maximum No. of Transshipment Loc. setting is 6, and the
Search Depth for Connection is 3. In this case, the system is limited to find the first three transshipment locations
from the source and the last three - from the destination.
Search Depth for Connections setting looks for connections including locations of a schedule (also freight orders
and freight bookings) which are not explicitly defined as transshipment locations.
Automatic Connection Determination setting specifies whether or not the setting described below are to be
used.
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Ignore Schedules/Ignore Freight Orders/Ignore Freight Bookings settings specify which object are to be
ignored in the connection determination process, in case the setting is ticked.
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2.4
Planning Costs Settings
In the following section, the settings of SAP TM planning costs profile divided into categories as it is done in the
system will be presented.
In the planning costs settings, one can define freight-unit-dependent and means-of-transport-dependent costs.
However, these costs are not the actual costs. They simply offer a means of controlling the result of the VSR
optimization and weight parameters important for the planning output.
2.4.1
General Data
General Data
Value
Planning Costs Settings
Text Value
Description
Text Value
Table 27 General Data Settings in Planning Costs Settings
In the General Data, the unique name and the description of the planning costs profile are defined.
2.4.2
Freight Unit Costs
Freight Unit Costs
Value
Earliness/Delay Cost Basis
Earliness/Delay Costs Defined in Planning Costs
Earliness/Delay Costs Defined in Condition
Costs for Non-Delivery
Natural Number
Costs for Earliness per Day
Natural Number
Costs for Lateness per Day
Natural Number
Table 28 Freight Unit Cost Settings in Planning Costs Settings
In the Freight Unit Costs, one can specify how the system is to calculate relevant costs if freight unit dates are
violated.
Earliness/Delay Cost Basis is defined by either entering it directly with the use of Earliness/Delay Costs
Defined in Planning Costs setting or by specifying a condition in Earliness/Delay Costs Defined in Condition
with the condition type Optimizer Penalty Costs for Freight Unit.
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Costs for Non-Delivery specify the amount of costs assigned when a freight unit cannot be delivered. The cost
value can be defined in the range of natural numbers from 0 to 999 999 999. By default, the system sets the
value for non-delivery costs equal to 999 999 999, because non-delivery result is not usually a desired outcome
for planning. The costs for non-delivery are incurred when hard constraints are violated, and the delivery of a
freight unit cannot take place.
An example for hard constraint violation can represent the inability to deliver a freight unit within a requested time
frame. In this case, during the optimizer run, the system would throw an error message saying that the optimizer
run failed (Figure 35). However, in the optimizer explanation tool, one can check that non-delivery costs are
calculated and assigned to the planning-specific freight unit (note that in the shown example no other costs
except for non-delivery costs are defined) (Figure 36).
Figure 35 Violation of Hard Constraints during VSR optimization
Figure 36 Caption of Non-Delivery Costs in the Optimizer Explanation Tool
Costs for Earliness per Day and Costs for Lateness per Day define the earliness/lateness cost factors that are
to be used for early and late delivery/arrival cost calculation. The cost factor both for earliness and lateness can
be defined in the range of natural numbers from 0 to 999 999 999. By default, the system sets the value of 1.
Earliness/Lateness costs allow controlling how the system is to deal when the pick-up and delivery windows of a
freight unit are taken into account by the VSR optimizer. Earliness/Lateness costs are assigned per each freight
unit in the planned transportation (in planned freight order or freight booking).
Costs for earliness per day are applied per each early stop of the freight unit (i.e. early pick-up, early delivery). The
same holds true for costs for lateness per day. Costs for lateness per day are applied per each late stop of the
freight unit (i.e. late pick-up, late delivery). Therefore, the overall earliness/lateness duration of the freight unit
represents the sums of earliness/lateness durations applied per each stop of the freight unit in the planned
transportation. The earliness/lateness duration is calculated as the difference between requested dates and time
and scheduled dates and time. Moreover, a planned freight document might contain several freight units. In this
case, the total earliness/lateness duration represents the sum of all total durations of each freight unit.
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In a freight unit, there are four parameters available for pick-up dates and time definition and four parameters for
delivery dates and time definition. Dates and time are divided into acceptable and requested ones. In case
acceptable start/end dates and time are defined, they work as a hard constraint for the VSR optimizer. If the VSR
optimizer cannot find a solution within the time frame of acceptable dates, then it throws a message that
planning-specific freight units cannot be delivered. Requested dates and time work as a soft constraint for the
VSR optimizer. This means that the optimizer tries to adjust solutions to requested dates and time window;
however, it might offer a solution with different time windows. To sum up, it is possible to model three cases
related to time windows (Figure 37):

Time windows as hard constraints. For this, acceptable start/end dates and time are defined. The system
automatically sets the same values for requested dates and time.

Time windows as soft constraints. For this, only requested start/end dates and time are defined.

Time windows as hard and soft constraints. In this case, several options can be defined:

Both acceptable and requested start/end dates and time are defined in a freight unit. The tolerant time
difference has to be defined between requested and acceptable dates and time.
o The start date and time is defined as a hard constraint. That is, the same values are set for the acceptable
and requested start dates and time. The end date and time is defined as hard and soft constraint with the
tolerant time difference.
o The end date and time is defined as a hard constraint. That is, the same values are set for the acceptable
and requested end dates and time. The start date and time is defined as hard and soft constraint with the
tolerant time difference.
o The start date and time is defined as a hard constraint. That is, the same values are set for the acceptable
and requested start dates and time. The end date and time is defined as a soft constraint only.
o The end date and time is defined as a soft constraint, while the end date and time is defined as a hard
constraint.
Figure 37 Acceptable and Requested Dates in Freight Unit
Let’s consider an example of the Costs for Earliness per Day calculation. There is a freight unit with requested
pick-up on 17.12.2013 at 13.30 o’clock and delivery on 17.12.2013 at 14.00 o’clock (Figure 38). Cost values for
earliness and lateness per day are the same and equal to 1. No other costs are defined.
Figure 38 Definition of Freight Unit Dates in Freight Unit
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After the optimizer run for transportation proposals is carried out, the VSR optimizer outputs several solutions.
Let’s have a closer look at the first transportation proposal highlighted in the red rectangle in Figure 39. Its
proposed departure time is slightly different from the requested ones, and as a result, earliness costs are
assigned. The optimizer explanation tool captures the earliness costs equal to 0,0625 which is visible in the first
highlighted column called Earliness in Figure 40. In the optimizer explanation tool, the second highlighted column
called Earliness Costs captures the difference between requested pick-up date and time and planned pick-up date
and time (Figure 40). In case of our example, this value is 1,5 hour or 5400 seconds. Note the system calculates
earliness/lateness duration in seconds by default.
In case of lateness, all values are calculated the same and captured in the columns Lateness Costs and Lateness
in the optimizer explanation tool.
Figure 39 Results of VSR optimization
Figure 40 Caption of Earliness Costs in the Optimizer Explanation Tool
Going back to our example, the pick-up time is early 1,5 hour. In the system, 1,5 hour is converted into seconds
what equals to 5400 seconds. Then, this value is multiplied by the earliness cost factor specified in the planning
costs profile and divided by 86400 seconds (it is total amount of seconds in one day, since earliness or lateness
costs are calculated per day). The result is (5400 * 1) / 86400 = 0,0625.
General formula for earliness/lateness costs per day calculation can be derived as follows:
∑
(∑
(
))
,
400
̅̅̅̅̅
,
̅̅̅̅̅
Equation 1 Earliness/Lateness Costs Calculation
2.4.3
Direct Shipment Options
Direct Shipment Options
Value
Currency
List Selection
Table 29 Direct Shipment Options Settings in Planning Costs Settings
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In this document, the direct shipment is not going to be described in detail.
However, in the planning costs profile, one can define a currency that is to be used when direct shipment options
are determined. This currency is used in order to calculate costs for direct shipment option.
Let's consider an example. There are created direct shipment options for two freight units: one is in EUR and
another one - in USD. Then, one needs to convert costs into one currency in order to evaluate both numbers. This
setting specifies the common currency that is used for evaluation.
2.4.4
2.4.4.1
Means-of-Transport Settings
General Data
General Data
Value
Means of Transport
List Selection
Consider Distance Costs from Planning Cost Settings
Yes/No
Consider Distance Costs from Transportation Lane
Yes/No
Fixed Cost
Natural Number
Table 30 General Data of Means-of Transport Settings in Planning Costs Settings
In the Mean-of-Transport, one can specify means of transport whose costs are to be considered during VSR
optimization.
Consider Distance Costs from Planning Cost Settings /Consider Distance Costs from Transportation Lane
settings allow specifying whether the distance costs of means of transport are to be taken from assigned
transportation lane or to be determined in the planning costs profile. Alternatively, it is also possible to enable the
option when the system considers the total of both values. For scheduled means of transport, costs are
maintained in the schedule.
In case distance costs are taken from transportation lane, the following value, if any, is extracted from means of
transport setting in transportation lane (Figure 41):
Figure 41 Definition of Distance Costs in Transportation Lane
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Note
In transportation lane, the default unit of measure for distance costs is kilometer.
However, it is possible to influence the display of this field by setting parameter
/SAPAPO/SCC_DISTUNIT.
In case distance costs are specified in the planning costs settings, the value is taken from the Costs per Distance
Unit setting in the Distance Settings.
Fixed Costs represent the cost factor that the system calculates once per freight order or freight booking
planned after VSR optimization. Fixed costs can be defined in the range of natural numbers from 0 to
999 999 999. By default, the system sets the value equal to 0.
Let’s have a look at the example. In the planning costs profile, the cost factor for fixed costs has a value of 7
(Figure 42):
Figure 42 Definition of Fixed Costs in the Planning Costs Profile
After the optimizer run for transportation proposals is completed, one of the outputted transportation proposals
has two created freight order for two transportation stages (Figure 43):
Figure 43 Output of the VSR optimizer for Fixed Costs Example
In the optimizer explanation tool, the total fixed costs are shown in the column called Fixed Costs (Figure 44) and
equal to 14, as there are two freight orders in the proposed transportation, and the optimizer explanation tool
shows costs per the overall planned transportation, i.e. not individually per planned freight document.
Figure 44 Caption of Fixed Costs in the Optimizer Explanation Tool
Therefore, a general formula for fixed costs calculation can be defined as follows:
Equation 2 Fixed Costs Calculation
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2.4.4.2
Penalty Costs
Penalty Costs
Value
Premature Pick-Up
Natural Number
Delayed Pick-Up
Natural Number
Premature Delivery
Natural Number
Delayed Delivery
Natural Number
Table 31 Penalty Costs Settings in Planning Costs Settings
In the planning cost settings, one can use penalty cost factors to weight the earliness and lateness costs that are
defined for each freight unit on the basis of the means of transport. The cost factors can be defined in the range of
natural numbers from 0 to 999 999 999. By default, the system sets all values equal to 1.The following cost
factors are available:

Cost factor for premature pickup

Cost factor for delayed pickup

Cost factor for premature delivery

Cost factor for delayed delivery
The definition of penalty costs allows modeling in the scenario the following two cases:

The goods are picked up too early or too late.

The goods are delivered too early or too late.
This means that by defining the penalty cost factor, one can force the VSR optimizer to find a solution with dates
and time which are closer to the desired start/end of a pick-up or start/end of a delivery based on the means of
transport. It is done by specifying a higher cost factor in pick-up-related penalty costs or delivery-related penalty
costs. In case the pick-up or the delivery time window is violated, the total earliness or lateness costs are
multiplied by the respective penalty cost factor, if any.
Let's consider an example. The violation of a pick-up window for a truck is less expensive than the violation of a
pick-up window for a train. Therefore, one can set the pick-up penalty cost factor 1 for a truck and 10 - for a train.
As a result, the VSR optimizer will be forced to adjust the planning results in the favor of train pick-up window.
2.4.4.3
Distance Settings
Distance Settings
Value
Costs per Distance Unit
Natural Number
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Distance Settings
Value
Maximum Distance
Natural Number
Unit Of Measure
List Selection
Distance Cost Basis from Lane
Route-Based Distance Costs
Destination-Based Distance Costs
Table 32 Distance Settings in Planning Costs Settings
In the Distance Settings, one can specify a cost factor that refers to the distance dimension of a capacity used in
VSR optimization.
If the system is to take the distance costs from the planning costs profile (Figure 45), the following settings are
enabled:

Costs per Distance Unit
With this setting, one can define a cost factor per distance unit for variable distance cost calculation.

Maximum Distance
The maximum distance setting allows defining an overall distance travelled of the planning-specific freight
units as a hard constraint for the VSR optimizer. In case this value is defined, the system considers maximum
distance as a hard constraint for each freight order and tries to find a solution with the distance not greater
than this value.

Unit Of Measure
The unit refers to both the costs per distance unit value and the maximum distance value.
Note
If a unit is not specified, the system uses the unit of measure kilometer by default.
Figure 45 Distance Costs Specification in the Planning Costs Profile
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
Distance Cost Basis from Lane
This setting determines the calculation logic for distance costs. The description of calculation options follows
below.
The distance cost basis from lane setting is enabled regardless of whether distance costs are taken from the
planning costs profile or from the transportation lane (Figure 46). This means that the calculation logic for
distance costs have to be defined in any case. The following two options are available:
o Route-based distance costs
Route-based distance costs are determined using a calculation logic that adds up the costs for the
transportation of the goods from the source location to the destination location via a number of
transshipment locations based on the costs for each stage. This means that the total distance costs
are the sum of distance costs of each stage of the transportation.
o Destination-based distance costs
Destination-based distance costs are determined using a calculation logic that adds up the distances
between the source and target locations, including all distances between transshipment locations,
and multiplies the result by a cost factor. This cost factor is a part of the direct transportation lane
between the source location and target location and is based on the geographical location of the
destination.
Note
In case of destination-based distance costs, the transportation lane between source
location and destination location has to be defined.
Figure 46 Distance Costs Specification in the Planning Costs Profile
Let’s look at the examples how the system calculates distance costs during VSR optimization. The route-based
distance costs calculation logic is taken as an example. Three cases are considered within this calculation logic:
1.
Distance costs are taken from the planning costs profile.
2.
Distance costs are taken from the transportation lane.
3.
Distance costs are taken both from the planning costs profile and the transportation lane.
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In the planning costs profile, for a respective mean of transport a cost factor of value 10 with the unit of measure
kilometer is defined (Figure 47).
Figure 47 Definition of Route-based Distance Costs in the Planning Costs Settings
After the optimizer run for transportation proposals is executed, and the following Figure 48 depicts calculated
distance costs available in the optimizer explanation tool:
Figure 48 Caption of Distance Costs Defined in the Planning Costs Settings
In case of the first transportation proposal, the calculated distance costs are shown in the first highlighted column
called Distance (Dimension) and equal to 55,37. This value is calculated as follows. The planned transportation
consists of one stage and its total distance is 5,54 kilometers. Note that this value is rounded. The distance of the
planned transportation is captured in the second highlighted column which is also called Distance (Dimension).
Then, the distance (5,54 km) is multiplied by cost factor 10 defined in the planning costs settings.
Note
In the system, the distance is calculated in kilometers by default. However, the
distance costs defined in the planning costs settings are adhered to the defined unit of
measure. This means that if one specifies the unit of measure meter, then the system
additionally multiplies distance costs by 1000 (1 km = 1000 m). Figure 49 illustrates
the same example described above but with the unit of measure meter. The optimizer
explanation tool captured distance costs equal to 55 370.
Figure 49 Caption of Distance Costs Defined in the Planning Costs Settings
General formula for the route-based distance costs defined in the planning costs settings can be defined as
follows:
∑
(
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)
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̅̅̅̅̅
Equation 3 Route-based Distance Costs Calculation with Cost Factor Defined in Planning Costs Profile
Note
In case cost factor for route-based distance costs calculation is defined in the planning
costs profile, its value is constant for each stage in the transportation of the goods.
The following cost factors of value 7 and 8 per kilometer are defined in two different transportation lanes are
defined (Figure 50):
Figure 50 Definition of Distance Costs in the Transportation Lane
After the optimizer run for transportation proposals is carried out, the optimizer explanation tool shows the
calculated distance costs (Figure 51):
Figure 51 Caption of Distance Costs Defined in Transportation Lanes
In case of the second transportation proposal which has two stages, the calculated distance costs are captured in
the first highlighted column called Distance (Transportation Lane) and equal to 92,14. The same figure is captured
in the second highlighted column which is also called Distance (Transportation Lane). Despite of the second
column Distance (Dimension) described above which captures the total distance travelled in the planned
transportation, the second column Distance (Transportation Lane) already takes distance values and distance
costs factors from transportation lanes and multiplies them. In other words, two Distance (Transportation Lane)
columns overlap each other.
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Total distance costs are calculated as follows. The overall distance of the planned transportation is 12,06
kilometers: the distance of the first stage is 7,75 kilometers, and the distance of the second one is 4,31.The total
distance costs represent the sum of distance costs of each stage which in return equal to the stage distance times
a cost factor from the transportation lane. Therefore, 7,75 * 8 + 4,31* 7 = 92,14.
Therefore, a general formula for the route-based distance costs defined in transportation lanes can be defined as
follows:
∑
(
)
̅̅̅̅̅
Equation 4 Route-based Distance Costs Calculation with Cost Factors Defined in Transportation Lanes
Note
In case cost factors for route-based distance costs calculation is defined in
transportation lanes, their values can be different for each stage in the transportation
of the goods.
In the following example, both costs from transportation lanes and the planning costs profile are considered
(Figure 52). The same values are used as in the previous two examples.
Figure 52 Consideration of Distance Costs both from Transportation Lanes and Planning Costs Profile
After the optimizer run for transportation proposals is carried out, and the calculated distance costs available in
the optimizer explanation tool (Figure 53):
Figure 53 Caption of Distance Costs Defined Both in Transportation Lane and Planning Costs Profile
The calculated costs are shown in the column called Distance (Transportation Lane) and equal to 92,14, and in the
column called Distance (Dimension) and equal to 120, 17. It is evident that the total distance costs are the sum of
distance costs taken from transportation lanes and distance costs from the planning costs profile.
Therefore, general formula for the route-based distance costs defined in transportation lanes and the planning
costs profile can be defined as follows:
(∑
(∑
(
)
(
)
)
)
̅̅̅̅̅
Equation 5 Route-based Distance Costs Calculation with Combined Cost Factors
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Note
Distance costs are calculated also in alignment with the specified unit of measure.
This means that distance costs taken from the planning costs settings and
transportation lanes can be calculated in different units of measure. These values are
simply added up. Figure 54 shows such example: distance costs in the planning costs
settings are calculated in meters, but distance costs from transportation lanes are
defined in kilometers.
Figure 54 Caption of Distance Costs Calculated in Different Units of Measure
The main difference between route-based costs calculation and destination-based cost calculation is that in
destination-based calculation logic the distance value of the planned transportation is multiplied by a cost factor
only once.
Let’s derive formulas for destination-based distance cost calculation:
Distance costs are taken from the planning costs profile:
∑
(
)
̅̅̅̅̅
Equation 6 Destination-based Distance Costs Calculation with Cost Factor Defined in Planning Costs Profile
Distance costs are taken from the transportation lane:
∑
(
)
̅̅̅̅̅
Equation 7 Destination-based Distance Costs Calculation with Cost Factors Defined in Transportation Lane
Distance costs are taken both from the planning costs profile and the transportation lane:
(∑
(∑
(
)
(
)
)
)
̅̅̅̅̅
Equation 8 Destination-based Distance Costs Calculation with Combined Cost Factors
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Note
The destination-based distance costs calculation with the cost factor taken from the
planning costs settings is the same as the route-based distance costs calculation with
cost factor taken also from the planning costs settings. Furthermore, the user has to
keep in mind that in case of using destination-based distance costs with the cost
factor taken from the transportation lane, according to the setting definition, the cost
factor is taken from the transportation lane that is not used by any stage in planned
transportation. That is the transportation lane from the ultimate source to ultimate
destination.
2.4.4.4
Duration Settings
Duration Settings
Value
Costs per Duration Unit
Natural Number
Maximum Duration
Natural Number
Unit Of Measure
List Selection
Table 33 Duration Settings in Planning Costs Settings
In the Duration Settings, one can specify a cost factor that refers to the duration (time) dimension of a capacity
used in VSR optimization.
The following settings are available:

Costs per Duration Unit
With this setting, one can define a cost factor per duration unit for variable duration cost calculation.

Maximum Duration
The maximum duration setting allows defining duration (consumed time for the transportation of a freight
unit) as a hard constraint for the VSR optimizer. In case maximum value is defined, the system considers this
value as a hard constraint for each freight order and tries to find a solution with the duration not greater than
this value.

Unit Of Measure
The unit of measure refers to both the costs per duration unit value and the maximum duration value.
Note
If a unit is not specified, the system uses the unit hour.
Let’s consider an example of the duration costs calculation. In the planning costs profile, the duration costs factor
of 10 per hour is defined (Figure 55):
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Figure 55 Definition of Duration Cost Factor in the Planning Costs Profile
After the optimizer run for transportation proposals is executed, the VSR optimizer shows several transportation
proposals.
The overall duration of the planned transportation represents the sum of durations travelled per stage. In the
optimizer explanation tool, the duration value is captured in the second highlighted column called Duration (Figure
56).
Figure 56 Caption of Duration Costs in the Optimizer Explanation Tool
The first highlighted column called Duration (Total Duration) (Figure 56) captures the overall duration costs
calculated by the VSR optimizer. In the shown example, in case of the first transportation proposal, the total
duration costs are equal to 0,69 and calculated as follows. That is, (249 (duration per stage) * 10 (cost factor
defined in the planning costs profile)) / 3600 (amount of seconds in 1 hour) = 0,69.
Note
In the system, the travelled duration is calculated in seconds by default what is shown
in the optimizer explanation tool (Figure 56). However, in the transportation cockpit
the duration is rounded to hours and minutes (Figure 57). That is why in the shown
example duration costs are divided by 3600, as the system aligns to the unit of
measure of the calculated distance. In case the unit of measure for distance cost
factor is changed to minutes, the results for the same example would be the following
(Figure 57):
Figure 57 Caption of Duration Costs Defined in Different Unit of Measure
In this case, the total duration costs for the first transportation proposal is now equal to 41,50. That is, (249
(duration per stage) * 10 (cost factor defined in the planning costs profile)) / 60 (amount of seconds in 1 minute)
= 41,50.
Therefore, a general formula for duration costs calculation can be defined as follows:
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∑
(
)
̅̅̅̅̅
Equation 9 Duration Costs Calculation
2.4.4.5
Quantity Costs
Quantity Costs
Value
Basis for Quantity Costs
Planning Costs: Distance-Independent, per
Lane/Schedule
Planning Costs: Multiplied by Distance
Transportation Lane/Schedule: Distance-Independent
Transportation Lane/Schedule: Multiplied by Distance
No Costs
Costs per Quantity
Natural Number
Unit Of Measure
List Selection
Table 34 Quantity Costs Settings in Planning Costs Settings
In the Quantity Costs settings, one can define a cost factor that refers to the quantity dimension of a capacity
used in VSR optimization run.
In the Basis for Quantity Costs, one can specify the calculation logic for quantity costs and the source of the cost
factor, meaning that the system can use cost factors either from transportation lanes or from schedules, or from
a planning costs profile. The following options are available:

Planning Costs: Distance-Independent, per Lane/Schedule
The system takes a cost factor from the planning costs profile and calculates quantity costs in a distanceindependent way. The value is taken from the Costs per Quantity setting. In this case, quantity costs
represent the sum of quantities of goods transported in each stage times the cost factor.

Planning Costs: Multiplied by Distance
The system takes a cost factor from the planning costs profile (from the Costs per Quantity setting) and
multiplies the quantity by distance times the cost factor.
In case it is chosen to take quantity costs from the planning costs profile, the following two settings are enabled:

Costs Per Quantity
In the Costs per Quantity, one defines the value for the costs per quantity.

Unit Of Measure
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The Unit of Measure refers to the costs per quantity.
Note
If a unit is not specified, the system uses the unit kilogram by default.
The rest three options for quantity costs calculation are:

Transportation Lane/Schedule: Distance-Independent
The system is to calculate the costs in a distance-independent way. For non-scheduled means of transport,
the system takes the costs per quantity from the transportation lane. For a means of transport of a schedule,
the system takes the costs per quantity from the schedule.

Transportation Lane/Schedule: Multiplied by Distance
The system is to multiply quantity costs taken either from the transportation lane or the schedule by the
distance and by the cost factor.

No Costs
The system does not take quantity costs into account in VSR optimization.
In case quantity costs are taken from the transportation lane, the following cost factor and the unit of measure are
extracted from the transportation lane master data (Figure 58):
Figure 58 Quantity Costs from Transportation Lane
In case quantity costs are taken from the schedule, then the system extracts necessary values from the following
fields in the respective schedule (Figure 59):
Figure 59 Quantity Costs from Schedule
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Let’s have a look at several examples:
In the first example, Planning Costs: Distance-Independent, per Lane/Schedule is used. A planning-specific
freight unit contains a product with weight of 800 kilograms. A cost factor of value 10 per kilogram is specified in
the planning costs profile:
Figure 60 Definition of Quantity Costs in Planning Costs Profile
After the optimizer run for transportation proposals is carried out, the VSR optimizer outputs several
transportation proposals.
As mentioned above, the overall quantity transported represents the sum of product quantities transported per
stage. In the optimizer explanation tool, the quantity transported of the planned transportation is captured in the
second highlighted column called Quantity (Dimension) (Figure 61). Therefore, in the shown example one can see
that the total quantity of the first transportation proposal is 800 kilograms, as there is only one stage generated in
the transportation. However, the quantity of the second proposal is 1600 kilograms, because there are two
stages, and the quantities are the same.
Note
In the system, the quantity is calculated in the unit of measure of the product.
In the optimizer explanation tool, the first highlighted column called Quantity (Dimension) captures the total
quantity costs calculated by the VSR optimizer and represent the quantity of goods transported times the cost
factor specified in the planning costs profile. That is, in the second transportation proposal with two stages, the
quantity costs are calculated as follows: (800 (quantity of the first stage) + 800 (quantity of the second stage)) *
10 (cost factor from the planning costs profile) = 1600.
Figure 61 Caption of Distance-Independent Quantity Costs with Define Cost Factor in Planning Costs Profile
Therefore, general formula for the Planning Costs: Distance-Independent, per Lane/Schedule setting can be
defined as follows:
∑
(
)
̅̅̅̅̅
Equation 10 Distance-Independent Quantity Costs Calculation with Cost Factor Defined in Planning Costs Settings Profile
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Note
Quantity costs are calculated also in alignment with the specified unit of measure. This
means that the quantity cost factor defined in the planning costs profile and the
quantity of transported goods can be calculated in different units of measure. This
means that if one specifies the unit of measure kilogram for transported goods and
the quantity cost factor is measured in ton, then the system would additionally
multiply the quantity costs by 1000 (1 ton = 1000 kg). Figure 62 illustrates the same
example described above but with different units of measure used in the cost factor
and the quantity of goods. The optimizer explanation tool captures quantity costs
equal to 16000000 in the transportation proposal with two freight orders.
Figure 62 Caption of Distance-Independent Quantity Costs with Define Cost Factor with Different Unit of Measure in Planning
Costs Profile
In this example, Planning Costs: Multiplied by Distance is used. A planning-specific freight unit contains a
product with weight of 800 kilograms. A cost factor of value 10 per kilogram is specified in the planning costs
profile.
After the optimizer run for transportation proposals is carried out, the VSR optimizer outputs several
transportation proposals.
Figure 63 Caption of Quantity Costs Multiplied by Distance with Defined Cost Factor in Planning Costs Profile
In this case, the overall quantity costs represent the sum of distances times quantities of goods transported in
planned transportation times the cost factor. In the optimizer explanation tool, this value is captured in the second
highlighted column called Quantity (Dimension) (Figure 63). Therefore, in case of the first transportation
proposal, one can see that the total quantity is 4429,60 which equals 5,54 (distance travelled) times 800
(quantity transported). Note that there is only one stage, and the total distance represents a rounded value.
However, the quantity of the second proposal is 9645,60 kilograms, because there are two stages generated with
different distances which are multiplied by the quantities.
In the optimizer explanation tool, the first highlighted column called Quantity (Dimension) captures the total
quantity costs and represents the quantity value taken from the second column times the cost factor specified in
the planning costs profile. That is, in the second transportation proposal with two stages, the quantity costs are
calculated as follows: (800 (quantity of the first stage) * 4,31 (distance of the stage)) + (800 (quantity of the
second stage) * 7,75(distance of the second stage)) * 10 (cost factor from the planning costs profile) = 96456.
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Therefore, general formula for the Planning Costs: Multiplied by Distance setting can be defined as follows:
∑
(
)
̅̅̅̅̅
Equation 11 Multiplied by Distance Quantity Costs Calculation with Cost Factor Defined in Planning Costs Settings Profile
Note
Quantity costs are calculated also in alignment with the specified unit of measure. This
means that the quantity cost factor defined in the planning costs profile and the
quantity of transported goods can be calculated in different units of measure.
Note
In case the quantity cost factor is defined in the planning costs profile, its value is
constant for each stage in the transportation of the goods.
Note
In the planning costs profile, the following units of measure are available for the
quantity cost factor definition (Figure 64).
Figure 64 Units of Measure for Quantity Cost Factor Definition in Planning Costs Profile
In this example, Transportation Lane/Schedule: Distance-Independent costs calculation basis is used. A
planning-specific freight unit contains a product with weight of 800 kilograms. The following cost factors of value
8 and 10 per kilogram are defined in two different transportation lanes (Figure 65):
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Figure 65 Definition of Quantity Cost Factors in the Transportation Lane
After the optimizer run for transportation proposals is carried out, the VSR optimizer output several
transportation proposals.
Figure 66 Caption of Distance-Independent Quantity Costs with Defined Cost Factor in Transportation Lane
In case of the second transportation proposal which has two stages, the calculated quantity costs are captured in
the first highlighted column called Quantity (Transportation Lane) and equal to 14400 (Figure 66). The same
figure is captured in the second highlighted column which is also called Quantity (Transportation Lane) (Figure
66). Despite of the second column Quantity (Dimension) described above which captures the total quantity
transported in the planned transportation, the second column Quantity (Transportation Lane) already takes
quantity values and distance cost factors from transportation lanes and multiplies them. In other words, two
Quantity (Transportation Lane) columns overlap each other.
The total quantity costs are calculated as follows. The quantity transported of 800 kilograms of the first stage is
multiplied by the cost factor of 8 and then summed up with the quantity of 800 kilograms transported in the
second stage times cost factor of 10. That is, 800 (quantity travelled in the first stage) * 8 (cost factor from the
transportation lane) + 800 (quantity travelled in the second stage) * 10 (cost factor from the transportation lane)
= 14400.
Therefore, a general formula for the Transportation Lane/Schedule: Distance-Independent setting can be defined
as follows:
∑
(
)
̅̅̅̅̅
Equation 12 Distance-Independent Quantity Costs Calculation with Cost Factors Defined in Transportation Lanes
Note
In case the basis of quantity costs calculation is taken from transportation lanes,
quantity costs are calculated in the unit of measure specified of a planning-specific
freight unit.in the shown example, even though the units of measure of defined in the
transportation lane cost factor was changed to grams or completely different unit of
measure, the calculated costs were always equal to 14400.
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In this example, Transportation Lane/Schedule: Multiplied by Distance is used. All figures used are the same as
in the previous example.
After the optimizer run for transportation proposals is carried out, the VSR optimizer outputs several
transportation proposals.
Figure 67 Caption of Quantity Costs Multiplied by Distance with Defined Cost Factor in Transportation Lane
In case of the second transportation proposal which has two stages, the calculated quantity costs are captured in
the first highlighted column called Quantity (Transportation Lane) and equal to 89556,80 (Figure 66). The same
figure is captured in the second highlighted column which is also called Quantity (Transportation Lane) (Figure
66). As it was said earlier, two Quantity (Transportation Lane) columns overlap each other.
In this case, the overall quantity costs represent the sum of distances times quantities of goods transported in
planned transportation times the cost factor. Therefore, in case of the first transportation proposal, one can see
that the total quantity costs are 44296 which equals 5,54 (distance travelled) times 800 (quantity transported)
and times cost factor of 10 specified in the transportation lane. However, the quantity of the second proposal is
89556,80 kilograms, because the transportation consists of two stages with different distances which are
multiplied by the quantity transported in each stage and different cost factors taken from transportation lanes.
That is, in the second transportation proposal with two stages, the quantity costs are calculated as follows: (800
(quantity travelled in the first stage) * 4,31 (distance travelled in the first stage) * 8 (cost factor from the first
transportation lane)) + (800 (quantity travelled in the second stage) * 7,75 (distance travelled in the second
stage)* 10 (cost factor from the second transportation lane)) = 89556,80.
Therefore, general formula for the Planning Costs: Multiplied by Distance setting can be defined as follows:
∑
(
)
̅̅̅̅̅
Equation 13 Multiplied by Distance Quantity Costs Calculation with Cost Factors Defined in Transportation Lanes
Note
In case quantity cost factor for quantity costs calculation is defined in transportation
lanes, its value is variable for each stage in the transportation of the goods.
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2.4.4.6
Additional Stops
Additional Stops
Value
Costs per Additional Intermed. Stop
Natural Number
Maximum Number of Stops
Natural Number
Table 35 Additional Stops Settings in Planning Costs Settings
In the Additional Stops section, one can define the maximum number of intermediate stops and the costs per
additional intermediate stop.
Costs per Additional Intermediate Stop can be defined in the range of natural numbers from 0 to 999 999 999.
By default, the system sets the value equal to 0.
In case the Maximum Number of Intermediate Stops is specified, the system takes it as a hard constraint during
the optimizer run.
2.4.5
Costs Functions
Costs Functions
Value
Unit of Measure
List Selection
Cost Function
List Selection
Segment
List Selection
Load
List Selection
Load Costs
List Selection
Slope
List Selection
Table 36 Costs Functions Settings in Planning Costs Settings
In the Costs Functions, one can define piecewise linear cost functions for a combination of means of transport
and load in a certain unit of measurement (load unit). Cost functions can be used to model load costs, for
example.
Unit of Measure specifies the unit of measurement for load unit.
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2.4.6
Cost Values in the Optimizer Explanation Tool
This section is to sum up mentioned above information about the optimizer explanation tool and to describe how
different costs considered by the VSR optimizer are presented there. This information will help to better
understand the composition of total costs calculated by the VSR optimizer and where its constituents are
captured.
To call the optimizer explanation tool, after the optimization run is completed in SAP NetWeaver Business Client,
one can choose Planning Transportation Cockpit  Optimizer Explanation (Figure 68).
Figure 68 Optimizer Explanation Tool in the Transportation Cockpit
In the optimizer explanation tool the costs analysis is available under Result  Solution Details  Costs (Figure
69).
Figure 69 Costs Analysis in the Optimizer Explanation Tool
The following table represents the structure of costs how they are captured in the optimizer explanation tool:
Field
Explanation of Meaning
Sol. ID
ID of proposed by the VSR optimizer solution
Total Costs
Total amount of calculated costs in planned
transportation
Total Duration
Total amount of duration-related costs (the cost factor
is taken from planning costs profile, see Section
2.4.4.4 Duration Settings)
Distance (Dimension)
Total amount of distance-related costs (the cost factor
is taken from planning costs profile, see Section
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Field
Explanation of Meaning
2.4.4.3 Distance Settings)
Distance (Transportation Lane)
Total amount of distance-related costs (cost factors
are taken transportation lanes)
Distance (CO2)
In order to determine CO2 emission-related costs, a
BADI has to be used.
Quantity (Dimension)
Total amount of quantity-related costs (the cost factor
is taken from planning costs profile, see Section
2.4.4.5 Quantity Costs)
Quantity (Transportation Lane)
Total amount of quantity-related costs (cost factors are
taken transportation lanes)
Quantity (CO2)
In order to determine CO2 emission-related costs, a
BADI has to be used.
Stop Costs
Total amount of costs-related to intermediate stops
(the cost factor is taken from planning costs settings,
see Section 2.4.4.6 Additional Stops)
Load Costs
Total amount of loading/unloading costs
VehCosts
Total amount of vehicle costs
Earliness Costs
Total amount of earliness costs (the cost factor is taken
from planning costs profile, see Section 2.4.1 General
Data)
Lateness Costs
Total amount of lateness costs (the cost factor is taken
from planning costs profile, see Section 2.4.1 General
Data)
ND Costs
Total non-delivery costs (the cost factor is taken from
planning costs profile, see Section 2.4.1 General Data)
No. of Veh.
Number of vehicles participating in planned
transportation
Total Duration
Total duration of planned transportation (in seconds by
default)
Distance (Dimension)
Total distance travelled in planned transportation (in
kilometers by default)
Distance (Transportation Lane)
Captures total amount of distance-related costs (cost
factors are taken transportation lanes)
Distance (CO2)
Total distance travelled in planned transportation (in
kilometers by default)
Quantity (Dimension)
Total quantity of good transported in planned
transportation
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Field
Explanation of Meaning
Quantity (Transportation Lane)
Captures total amount of quantity-related costs (cost
factors are taken transportation lanes)
Quantity (CO2)
Total quantity of good transported in planned
transportation
No. Stops
Number of intermediate stops in planned
transportation
Load Costs
Loading/Unloading duration
VehCosts
Total amount of vehicle alternatives
Earliness Costs
Total duration of earliness (in seconds by default)
Lateness Costs
Total duration of lateness (in seconds by default)
Number of Not Performed Orders
Total amount of non-delivered freight units
Table 37 Costs in the Optimizer Explanation Tool
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2.5
Carrier Selection Settings
2.5.1
General Data
General Data
Value
Carrier Selection Settings
Text Value
Description
Text Value
Check Incompatibilities
Select/Deselect
Incompatibility Settings
List Selection
Parallel Processing Profile
List Selection
Type of Carrier Selection Settings
General Carrier Selection
Carrier Selection for Tendering
Carrier Selection for Direct Shipment
Table 38 General Data Settings in Carrier Selection Settings
In the Carrier Selection Settings and Description, one can specify a unique name and description of carrier
selection profile.
Check Incompatibilities defines whether or not incompatibility settings are to be checked during a carrier
selection run.
In the Incompatibility Settings, one can select incompatibility setting that is to be applied during carrier selection
run. Some critical settings in the carrier selection profile are the following: incompatibilities between order and
carrier, or customer and carrier.
In the Parallel Processing Profile, one can choose a parallel processing profile (see Section 2.2.9 Parallel
Processing Profiles).
Type of Carrier Selection determines the process in which carrier selection is to be executed. The following
options are available in the system:

General Carrier Selection
In this case, the system performs regular automatic carrier selection. It represents a separate optimization
that is available for the automatic carrier selection. It takes into account the selected optimization options
when determining the most cost-effective carrier for all selected business documents. If none of the carriers
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are available, the system does not assign a carrier to the relevant business documents. If this option is
selected, further settings are displayed in the carrier selection profile.

Carrier Selection for Tendering
In this case, the specified carrier selection profile is to be used in tendering process. In this document,
tendering will not be described in detail. If this option is selected, further settings are displayed in the carrier
selection profile.

Carrier Selection for Direct Shipment
In this case, during carrier selection determination of direct shipment options is to be evaluated. In this
document, direct shipment will not be described in detail. If this option is selected, further settings are
displayed in the carrier selection profile.
2.5.2
Settings for General Carrier Selection
It has to be noted that automatic general carrier selection that is a part of special optimization run. Optimization
determines the assignment of carriers with the lowest costs to business documents. It aims to achieve the
following goals:

Reduction in total costs (discounts for continuous moves)

Consideration of all allocation restrictions for means of transport and carriers

Consideration of business shares

Incompatibilities

Carrier validity
The total costs represent the weighted total of the following individual costs:

Non-delivery costs for business documents that the optimizer for carrier selection cannot assign

Costs for the assignment of carriers to business documents

Penalty costs for violating business shares

Discounts for continuous moves
The total of all the discounts for continuous moves is subtracted from these total costs. The optimization problem
is solved by mixed-integer linear programming.
Note
It is important to keep in mind that costs used in the optimization run for carrier
selection are also not a real costs. Here, the same principle is applied as in VSR
optimization for transportation planning - total costs are means to weight parameters
included in the optimization. However, it is also possible to define real costs with the
help of Transportation Charge Management. According to the practice, real costs are
used more frequently for carrier selection runs.
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2.5.2.1
Other Settings for General Carrier Selection
Other Settings
Value
Allocation Usage
Do Not Use Transportation Allocations
Use Transportation Lane Settings
Use Transportation Allocations
BS Usage
Do Not Use Business Shares
Use Transportation Lane Settings
Always Use Business Shares
Strategy
Use Transportation Lane Settings
Costs
Priority
Costs + Priority
Costs * Priority
Carrier Cost Origin
Use Transportation Lane Settings
Use Internal Costs
Use Transportation Charges from TCM
No Cost Determination
Table 39 Other Settings for General Carrier Selection in Carrier Selection Settings
Allocation Usage determines how transportation allocations are to be considered during the carrier selection run.
Transportation Allocation is either a minimum or maximum restriction that regulates how much business you are
doing with a certain carrier in a certain region for a certain means of transport. The following options for
transportation allocation consideration are available:

Do Not Use Transportation Allocations
In this case, the system does not use transportation allocations during the carrier selection run.

Use Transportation Lane Settings
In this case, the system determines the value of the setting according to what is specified in respective
transportation lane. If the Use Transportation Allocation setting is tickled (Figure 70) in the transportation
lane, then it will be considered during the carrier selection run.
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Figure 70 Use Transportation Allocations Setting in Transportation Lane

Use Transportation Allocations
In this case, the system uses determined transportation allocations during the carrier selection run.
Business Share Usage determined how the system considers specified business shares during the carrier
selection run. In a nutshell, business shares represent a fixed percentage of freight business allocated to a certain
carrier. The following options for business share usage are available in the system:

Do Not Use Business Shares
In this case, the system does not use business shares during the carrier selection run.

Use Transportation Lane Settings
In this case, the system determines the value of the setting according to what is specified in respective
transportation lane. If the Use Business Share setting is tickled (Figure 71) in the transportation lane, then it
will be considered during the carrier selection run.
Figure 71 Use Business Shares Setting in Transportation Lane

Use Business Shares
In this case, the system uses determined business shares during the carrier selection run.
Strategy setting determines which strategy is taken into account during automatic carrier selection. These
strategies are based on cost, priority, or a combination of the two. The following options are available:

Use Transportation Lane Settings
In this case, the system determines the value of the setting according to what is specified in respective
transportation lane. If the Priority/Costs strategy is specified (Figure 72) in the transportation lane, then it will
be considered during the carrier selection run. The options for strategy selection are the same as presented in
carrier selection settings. The additional available strategy in transportation lane Neither Costs Nor Priority
means that the Priority/Costs strategy is not to be used in the carrier selection run. The rest is explained
below.
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Figure 72 Priority/Costs Strategy Setting in Transportation Lane

Costs
All carriers are ranked in ascending order of the total costs. The carrier with the lowest total costs is always
preferred over other carriers. Specified priority value, if any, does not influence the choice.

Priority
A priority ranking is assigned to each carrier per transportation lane. Carriers are ranked in descending order
of their lane priorities. The highest priority ranking is 1. The highest priority ranking carrier is always picked in
the carrier selection process regardless of its cost value

Costs + Priority

According to this strategy, carriers are ranked in ascending order of their sum of Costs and Priority. Carrier
with the lowest sum result has the highest ranking, and this carrier is selected in automatic carrier selection.
For tendering, all the carriers in the ranking list are relevant (peer-to-peer/broadcast) based on the specific
flag maintained at the carrier level in the lane.

Costs * Priority
According to this strategy, carriers are ranked in ascending order of their multiplication of Costs and Priority.
Carrier with the lowest multiplication result has the highest ranking, and this carrier is selected in automatic
carrier selection.
For tendering, all the carriers in the ranking list are relevant (peer-to-peer/broadcast) based on the specific
flag maintained at the carrier level in the lane.
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Carrier Cost Origin setting determines from which origin the cost values used in the carrier selection run are
taken. The following options are available:

Use Transportation Lane Settings
In this case, the system uses cost origin according to what is specified in the respective transportation lane
(Figure 73).
Figure 73 Cost Origin Setting in Transportation Lane

Use Internal Costs
In this case, the system takes internal costs specified in the transportation lane (Figure 74). If no internal
costs are defined in the specific transportation lane, one can define them in the carrier profile. To access
carrier profile settings, on the SAP Easy Access screen, one can choose Master Data  General  Define
Carrier Profile.
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Figure 74 Internal Costs Setting in Transportation Lane

Use Transportation Charges from TCM
In this case, the system uses charges calculated in Charge Management. To use this functionality, charge
calculation has to be created that is set up in charge management.
Note
Note that the costs defined in TCM represent a real costs used for carrier selection
decisions. As it was said earlier, according to the practice, this option is used more
frequently.

No Cost Determination
No transportation costs related to carrier are considered during the carrier selection run.
Note
In the system, there is specified cost origin option - External Costs (ERP). However,
this option is not available in SAP TM. The reason it is shown is because
transportation lane master data is also used in other SAP applications (SAP APO), and
there one can retrieve carrier costs from SAP ERP.
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2.5.2.2
Advanced Settings for General Carrier Selection
Advanced Settings
Value
Planning Strategy
TSPS_DEF
Optimizer Runtime
Time Value (s)
Consider Manual Assignment as Fixed
Select/Deselect
Action for Manual Ranking
Remove
Keep
Consider Costs But Keep Only When Available
Overall Carrier Availability
Select/Deselect
Transportation Charge Interpretation
Accept Carrier with Charges of Zero
Accept Carrier with Charges of Zero as C. with Lowest
Costs
Accept Carrier with Charges of Zero as C. with Highest
Costs
Common Currency
List Selection
Action After Carrier Selection Run
Assign Best Carrier
Automatic Tendering
Manual Tendering
No Action
Continuous Move Type
Use Transportation Lane Settings
Do Not Create Continuous Move
Simple Continuous Move
Round Trip Continuous Move
Continuous Move Information
Select/Deselect
Reaction to Continuous Move Removal
Remove Carrier Ranking (CR)
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Advanced Settings
Value
Remove CR and Unassign Carrier if Status = "Carr.
Assigned"
Remove CR and Unassign Carrier with Any Status
Check Distance and Duration
Select/Deselect
Continuous Move MTr Check
Select/Deselect
CM Cost Recalculation of TCM
No Recalculation
Recalculation Of Costs Based on TCM
Use Tendered Objects for Optimization
Select/Deselect
Tender Without Optimizer Results
Select/Deselect
Tendering Manager
List Selection
Tendering Profile
List Selection
Table 40 Advanced Setting for General Carrier Selection in Carrier Selection Settings
Planning Strategy determines the steps that the system is to carry out during the carrier selection process and
the order in which it does so. The following standard strategy for carrier selection is available:

TSPS_DEF
This strategy is referred as a standard strategy for carrier selection. For more information, see Planning
Strategies section.
Optimizer Runtime determines the overall time the VSR Optimizer runs and performs the search of the most
optimal solution for carrier selection. The unit of measure is seconds.
Consider Manual Assignment as Fixed tells the system whether or not manual assignment of carrier is
considered as final or not.
Action for Manual Ranking setting determines how the system considers manual ranking during the carrier
selection run. Based on the settings described above, when the carrier selection is performed, the system
determines the least costly carriers and ranks them from lowest to highest cost, or from lowest to highest priority.
This ranking is then considered for tendering. It can, however, be manually switched in the freight order (Figure
75). Additions and deletions are also possible.
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Figure 75 Carrier Ranking Settings in Freight Order
The following options are available in the system:

Remove
This means that manual ranking is removed and not considered during the carrier selection run.

Keep
This means that manual ranking is kept while the carrier selection is performed.

Consider Costs But Keep Only When Available
This means that systems determined costs and priorities according to specified settings; however, in case
manual ranking is available it is considered during the carrier selection run.
Overall Carrier Availability setting determines whether or not carrier availability is considered during the carrier
selection run. Based on the carrier availability, transportation lanes are maintained in the system specific to
means of transport.
For example, the following carrier availability alternatives are possible in the system. A carrier can be available for
a transportation lane, but may be incompatible for a specific customer who could exist on that transportation
lane. Similarly, a carrier can be incompatible with the order characteristics if, for example, an order contains
hazardous items but the carrier does not have any experience in handling such items.
A carrier may be maintained on a transportation lane, but could have met his allocation requirements for the
period and, for this reason, is not considered during carrier selection. The allocation requirements can be specific
to a means of transport or zone hierarchy.
Carrier availability can also be influenced by the purchasing organization the carrier is associated with in the
freight agreement. Thus, the carrier may be available only for a specific purchasing organization within a
company. This is based on the purchase organization definition in SAP TM, as defined by the individual client
requirement.
One can also define different carriers on an inbound or outbound transportation lane. Every transportation lane
has a validity period, and the lane-level validity applies to the carriers associated with that lane, which is specific to
the means of transport. A carrier availability can be turned on and off for a specific lane by updating the validity.
Transportation Charge Interpretation setting tells the system what to do when no charges are found for a
carrier. The following options are available:

Accept Carrier with Charges of Zero
This means that the system that system is allowed to use carriers with no charged in the carrier selection run.

Accept Carrier with Charges of Zero as C. with Lowest Costs
This means that the system ranks a carrier with zero charges as a carrier with lowest costs.

Accept Carrier with Charges of Zero as C. with Highest Costs
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This means that the system ranks a carrier with zero charges as a carrier with highest costs.
Common Currency setting determines currency for carrier costs interpretation. Carrier costs of different carrier
might be defined in different currency. Therefore, this setting specifies the common currency that is used for
evaluation.
Action After Carrier Selection Run setting specifies what further actions are to follow after the carrier selection
run is executed. The following actions are available:

Assign Best Carrier
The system automatically assigns the best carrier according to carrier ranking to a freight order.

Automatic Tendering
The system triggers automatic tendering among available carriers.

Manual Tendering
The system prompts the planner to perform manual tendering.
In case automatic or manual tendering option is selected, the following setting are set to enabled:
o Tender Without Optimizer Results
In case selected, the system performs tendering without consideration of carrier selection
optimization results.
o Tendering Manager
In case tendering is to follow the carrier selection run, tendering manager has to be specified.
Tendering manager represents a person responsible for the tendering process.
o Tendering Profile
In case tendering is to follow the carrier selection run, tendering profile has to be specified.

No Action
No further action follows.
Continuous Move Type setting specifies whether or not the system is to combine subcontractable business
documents (for example, freight orders) by forming continuous moves. The aim is to reduce the costs of the
business documents by assigning additional business documents to a carrier. The following options are available:

Use Transportation Lane Settings
In this case, the system determines continuous move type according to setting specified in the transportation
lane (Figure 76).
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Figure 76 Continuous Move Settings in Transportation Lane

Do Not Create Continuous Move
The system does not form continuous move during the carrier selection run.

Simple Continuous Move
The carrier accepts one or more additional business documents and, after executing the first business
document, directly executes the following business documents one after the other.

Round Trip Continuous Move
A round trip is a simple continuous move for which the following additional prerequisites must be met: The
source location of the first business document and the destination location of the second business document
are identical.
Note
A round trip can only consist of exactly two business documents.
The system cannot take into account complex round trips where multiple source
locations (pickup) or destination locations (delivery) are served.
Continuous Move Information setting defines how the system is to deal with continuous moves that were
created in previous optimization runs. If this setting is enabled, the following settings are also available:

Reaction to Continuous Move Removal
This setting defines what happens with the unselected or unprocessed parts of a continuous move when the
system deleted continuous move. This deletion than invalidates the current carrier ranking, since the ranking
was generated considering the continuous move discount. The following further options of deletion are
available:
o Remove Carrier Ranking (CR)
o Remove CR and Unassign Carrier if Status = "Carr. Assigned"
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o Remove CR and Unassign Carrier with Any Status
If the Continuous Move Information setting is ticked, the system selects the complete continuous move for
carrier selection. Therefore, no deletion is requires by the system.
Check Distance and Duration setting checks the compatibility if distances and durations of business documents
combined into continuous move. Distances between the destination location of the first business document and
the source location of the second business document must not exceed the smaller maximum distance that
defined for the carrier in the transportation lanes (Figure 77). Moreover, departure/arrival windows of business
documents participating in continuous move have to be compatible (Figure 78).
Figure 77 Maximum Distance of Continuous Move Setting in Transportation Lane
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Figure 78 Arrival/Departure Windows Determination of Continuous Move Setting in Transportation Lane
Continuous Move MTr Check setting check continuous move setting specified in means of transport attached to
transportation lane.
CM Cost Recalculation of TCM setting tells the system is to perform a recalculation of costs from charge
management for continuous moves. If this setting is specified, the system considers the discounts for continuous
moves for the business documents from charge management in the recalculation, however, only for the carriers
that offer continuous moves. The system saves the result in the ranking list. The following options of setting are
available:

No Recalculation
The system does not perform recalculation of costs from charge management.

Recalculation Of Costs Based on TCM
The system performs recalculation of costs from charge management as it is described above.
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Note
In the system, there is a prerequisite setting for continuous move enablement that is sometimes missed
out. The carrier has to be activated for continuous move option in the carrier profile (Figure 79).
Figure 79 Continuous Move Setting in Carrier Profile Settings
2.5.3
Settings for Carrier Selection for Tendering
2.5.3.1
Other Settings for Carrier Selection for Tendering
Other Settings
Value
Allocation Usage
Do Not Use Transportation Allocations
Use Transportation Lane Settings
Use Transportation Allocations
Table 41 Other Setting for Carrier Selection for Tendering in Carrier Selection Settings
The explanation of these settings can be found above in Other Settings for General Carrier Selection.
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2.5.3.2
Advanced Settings for Carrier Selection Tendering
Advanced Setting
Value
Planning Strategy
TSPS_DEF
Overall Carrier Availability
Select/Deselect
Table 42 Advanced Setting for Carrier Selection for Tendering in Carrier Selection Settings
The explanation of these settings can be found above in the Advanced Settings for General Carrier Selection.
2.5.4
2.5.4.1
Settings for Carrier Selection for Direct Shipment
Advanced Settings for Carrier Selection for Direct
Shipment
Advanced Setting
Value
Planning Strategy
TSPS_DEF
Overall Carrier Availability
Select/Deselect
Transportation Charge Interpretation
Accept Carrier with Charges of Zero
Accept Carrier with Charges of Zero as C. with Lowest
Costs
Accept Carrier with Charges of Zero as C. with Highest
Costs
Table 43 Advanced Setting for Carrier Selection for Direct Shipment in Carrier Selection Settings
The explanation of these settings can be found above in the Advanced Settings for General Carrier Selection.
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2.6
Capacity Selection Settings
In the Capacity Selection Settings section, the configuration settings of capacity selection profile will be explained
as they are presented in the system.
2.6.1
General Data
General Data
Value
Capacity Selection Settings
Text Value
Description
Text Value
Table 44 General Data Settings in Capacity Selection Settings
In the General Data area, the unique name and the description of the capacity selection settings profile are
defined.
2.6.2
Capacity Selection
Vehicle Resources
Value
Attributes for Vehicle Resource Selection
List Selection
Sign
List Selection
Option
List Selection
Lower Limit
List Selection
Upper Limit
List Selection
Schedule
Value
Attribute for Schedule Selection
List Selection
Sign
List Selection
Option
List Selection
Lower Limit
List Selection
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Vehicle Resources
Value
Upper Limit
List Selection
Table 45 Vehicle Resources Settings in Capacity Selection Settings
One of the basic elements for planning are the resources (truck, trailer, schedules, etc.) which perform the routes
for moving the freight units. The different resources are grouped to means of transport. Each means of transport
defines a cost structure and a set of possible lanes through the network which the VSR optimizer has to evaluate
in order to find the optimal solution. Thereby, the capacity selection profile helps to define which vehicle resources
and schedules are to be selected for planning.
This setting involves selecting the resource capacity in the transportation cockpit. Attribute for Vehicle Resource
Selection/ Schedule Selection (Figure 80) setting provides the variety of attributes by which the resources can be
selected. Both active and passive resources can be added. Each selection section allows to define specific values
or ranges of values for resources, using the logical greater than, less than, or not equal to, to provide precise
selection for planning. All selected resources (both vehicle resources and schedules) would appear in the
transportation cockpit and would be used for planning.
Recommendation for the VSR optimizer setup
Each extra means of transport creates additional alternatives of route that the VSR
optimizer has to evaluate, which decreases the performance of the search. Therefore,
for a performance reason, as little as possible different means of transport should be
defined. Another relevant aspect for reducing the number of means of transport,
besides reducing the number of alternatives, is the memory consumption, since in
general each means of transport has its own distance information to represent the
possible lanes, which usually is the main driver for memory consumption during the
optimization.
Figure 80 Attributes for Vehicle Resource Selection
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2.7
Incompatibility Settings
In the Incompatibility Settings section, the configuration settings of incompatibility settings profile will be
explained as they are presented in the system.
2.7.1
General Data
General Settings
Value
Incompatibility Settings
Text Value
Description
Text Value
Incompatibility Area
Complete VSR (VSR Opt. and Man. Plng and Transp.
Proposal)
Freight Unit Building
Carrier Selection
Delivery Proposal
Default Incompatibility Settings
Select/Deselect
Table 46 General Data Settings in Incompatibility Settings
The incompatibility settings profile specifies when the system allows incompatibilities to be violated during
manual planning, VSR optimization, and/or in background processing.
In the General Data area, the unique name and the description of the incompatibility settings profile are defined.
The Incompatibility Area groups together incompatibility definitions by the area they are applied. Incompatibility
settings can be maintained for:

Complete VSR (VSR Opt. and Man. Plng and Transp. Proposal)

Freight Unit Building

Carrier Selection

Delivery Proposal
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2.7.2
Incompatibility Selection
Incompatibility Selection
Value
Incompatibility
List Selection
Violation in Manual Planning
Incompatibility Is Ignored
Warning If Incompatibility Is Violated
Incompatibility Must Not Be Violated
According to Incompatibility Definition
Violation in Automatic Planning
Incompatibility Is Ignored
Warning If Incompatibility Is Violated
Incompatibility Must Not Be Violated
According to Incompatibility Definition
Table 47 Incompatibility Selection Settings in Incompatibility Settings
The incompatibility setting in the incompatibility selection allows selecting several incompatibility definitions that
may apply to a planning run.
In the Incompatibility, one can define which incompatibility definitions are to be selected for planning. The
incompatibility definition can be created via the menu path in SAP NetWeaver Business Client by choosing
Application Administration  Planning  Incompatibility Definitions  Create Incompatibility.
Violation in Manual Planning/ Violation in Automatic Planning specifies the behavior of the system when it
detects the incompatibility during planning. The following behavior is predefined:

Incompatibility Is Ignored
Incompatibility is not taken into account during planning.

Warning If Incompatibility Is Violated
The system throws a warning message when incompatibility is detected during a planning run.

Incompatibility Must Not Be Violated
Incompatibility is considered as a hard constraint during planning. In case of its violation, a successful
planning completion is not possible.

According to Incompatibility Definition
The system is to behave according to the setting defined in Incompatibility Definition.
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Note
In case the option different from the According to Incompatibility Definition setting is
chosen, the values of the rest of the Violation in Manual/Automatic Planning settings
overwrite the value maintained directly in the incompatibility definition (Figure 81).
Figure 81 Manual/Automatic Violation Settings in Incompatibility Definition Settings
Recommendation for the VSR optimizer setup
Each incompatibility reducing the number of resources or alternative transshipment
locations increases the performance of the optimizer since fewer solutions have to be
evaluated. Depending on the kind of characteristic it should be considered to split up
the problem into several sub-problems (see above) when the sub-problems are
mostly disjoint. Incompatibilities between different products within a resource reduce
the number of tours where a freight unit can be assigned, but on the other hand make
feasible and good combinations harder to find.
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3
References
The following table lists sources used in this document:
Reference
Titles
SAP Note Number
White Papers about SAP VSR optimizer
1520433
SAP Note Number
1908165
SAP Note on Freight Unit Dates in VSR Optimization
and VSS Scheduling
Help Portal
SAP Transportation Management 9.0 Help Portal
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www.sap.com/contactsap
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