Transportation Scheduling

Transportation schedule
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Transportation schedule
An advanced planning and scheduling (APS) system tracks costs on the basis of the activities that drive costs in the production of the manufactured goods. To obtain a balance between demand and the capacity of the plant, an APS serves the purpose of allocating the raw materials as well as production capacity optimally.
The core components of an APS system include the following;
Demand planning
An APS predicts the demand correctly, through supply chains. This helps to meet demand at the right time and with the correct products efficiently. With the use of both statistical and time-series mathematics, a forecast is computed on the basis of history. It focuses only on what consumers want and from the forecasts more demand can be created through promotions.
Production planning
Production planning involves establishing a level of output. The process requires other activities that are essential to satisfy the present levels of sales and at the same time meeting other objectives such as productivity and profitability levels.
Production schedule
A schedule is developed depending on material flows, the capability of the work center and the attributes of the product. The schedule optimizes the routings of the production orders.
Distribution planning
A feasible distribution plan is developed to meet the actual demand and the forecasts. The plan is based on the cost of transportation, requirements of material allocations and the different destinations.
Transportation planning
This is a plan that focuses on minimizing transportation costs. For instance, use of the present freight rates to lower shipping costs.
The major challenge with the impleme...