11 5282 TM L11 Dock Scheduling v2016.1 PDF

Lesson 11: Dock Scheduling 11
Lesson Overview
In this lesson, you will learn about the concept of dock scheduling
and how it works in Transportation Manager (TM). You will also
learn how to create docks for your shipping locations and use the
Dock Schedule module in TM to view dock commitments and
capacities for docks.
Learning Objectives
After completing this lesson, you will be able to:
 Explain the concept of dock scheduling
 Perform dock scheduling in TM
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TRANSPORTATION MANAGER
Dock Scheduling Overview

Shipping locations often have capacity constraints such as limited
docks or dock access. Multiple trucks arrive at the docks to load or
unload goods at the same time leading to dock congestion. How
can you avoid dock congestion?
Dock Scheduling can help you avoid dock congestion by arranging
a specific time and dock location for loading or unloading
shipments. It enables you to model dock facilities and create plan
outputs that take into account any physical and scheduling
constraints at the docks.
Dock scheduling is useful when scheduling inbound and outbound
movements from a facility where dock capacity is constrained.
This capacity is primarily constrained by the number of doors at
the facility. When there is more freight to load than available doors
at the location, trailers need to be scheduled. They must be loaded
in sequence such that once a trailer is full, it can be hooked and
taken away and a new trailer can take the door position to be
loaded with the next set of goods.
Apart, from modeling dock facilities to avoid congestion, docks

can also be modeled based on equipment type and type of
commodity.
Docks may also have physical limitations that prevent them from
servicing larger-sized equipment. For example, smaller docks in
urban areas may not have enough room to allow a longer van to
reverse and back into the door. Alternatively, a planner may not
want to send a straight truck with a lift gate into a facility that has
ample dock facilities for receiving trailers. Dock equipment type
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LESSON 11
Dock Scheduling
modeling allows users to create the inclusive list of equipment

types allowed at a dock.
Docks at larger facilities may only receive certain types of
commodities. For example, products that need refrigeration may be
located in a separate part of the building from ambient temperature
goods that can be stored anywhere in the warehouse. These
separate parts of a warehouse may even have their own shipping
and receiving hours. Dock commodity modeling enables you to
accommodate these types of constraints.
Dock Scheduling in TM
In TM, a dock is an entity that has to be associated with a shipping
location. If a shipping location supports docks, those docks can be
configured in TM to be booked as part of Dock Scheduling.
Docks can be set up for a Load-at, Consignee, Hub, or Distribution
Center (DC). Docks can be inbound, outbound, or both.
Docks can be scheduled for loads either manually or automatically
during optimization with the help of Transportation Planner (TP).
TP optimizes newly built and existing loads/trips. It also tries to
assign vehicles and schedule docks for these vehicles.
The Dock Scheduling feature allows you to define dock selection
constraints so that TP:
 Excludes loads that use equipment types, which cannot be
handled by dock facilities at particular locations.
 Schedules only as many loads as the location can handle when
supplied with many loads in the same time period with the
same equipment type. It also verifies that inappropriate docks
are not used for these loads.
 Schedules only as many loads of each equipment type as the
location can handle when supplied with many loads with
different equipment types and the same time window. It tries to
allocate docks efficiently and use appropriate facilities to
handle each load or trip.
 Schedules only loads that can be handled at a dock at one time,
based on the amount of contiguous space available on the dock
(if you specify dock length) and the length of the equipment.

Terminology
Before we proceed to look at the dock scheduling workflow in TM,
here are a few terms you need to be familiar with while working
with dock schedules.
Time Slot: The Start Date/Time and End Date/Time for the usage
of a Dock space (door) for a load.
Booking: The assignment of a TM load to a time slot.
Dock Capacity: The maximum that a dock can handle in a given
time period for a day of the week.
Capacity schedules can be defined for each dock area. If a capacity
schedule is not defined for a dock, capacity at the dock is
unlimited.
Dock Commitment: A commitment created on a dock for a
specified time to fulfill loading/unloading activity at that dock.
Pre-Loading: Refers to loading a trailer at the first stop, then
waiting for a certain amount of time before the carrier comes to
pick up the loaded trailer. Pre-loading is applicable in a non-live
loading scenario as it separates the activity of actual loading from
the carrier pickup activity.
Post-Discharge: Refers to a loaded trailer dropped off by the
carrier at the last stop, and then waiting for a certain amount of
time before the trailer is unloaded. Post-discharge is applicable in a
non-live unloading scenario as it separates the activity of actual
unloading from the carrier drop-off activity.
Associated and Unassociated Dock Commitments: A dock
commitment that is associated to a specific load/stop is called an
associated dock commitment and a dock commitment that is not
associated to a specific load/stop is referred to as an unassociated
dock commitment. Authorized users can create both the types of
dock commitments.
Dock Commitment Eligible Start Times: Indicates at what
instance of the hour the dock starts loading or unloading.
Possible values can be by the hour, half-hour, by the tens, etc.
Dock Commitment Violation: Refers to error conditions for a
dock commitment.
There are multiple possible error conditions, such as commodity
violation, equipment type violation, inbound / outbound violation,
pre-loading/post-discharge time violation, dock activity violation,
and loading type violation.

LESSON 11
Dock Scheduling
During optimization, dock commitment violation will not occur.

Only during manual dock scheduling, authorized users can
violate dock commitments. For example, a user can modify the
equipment type that a specific dock can handle, leading to an
equipment type violation.
Dock Scheduling: Setup Options

You need to configure TM to work with docks and dock schedules.
You can configure TM at two levels:
 Global Defaults: Define user group defaults, enable/disable
cut off time, time interval for dock commitments, etc.
 User Group Level: Define user/carrier permissions to manage
Dock Commitments/Slot Bookings.
Global Defaults Setup
To set up global defaults for dock scheduling,
1. Navigate to Environment > Global Settings.
2. In the System Configuration Operations section, click
Transaction Management.
3. On the Transaction Management page, click the Load 3 tab.

This tab specifies all the fields related to Dock Scheduling.
All information entered on this page will be setup as defaults while
creating user groups, docks, and unassociated dock commitments.

User Groups Setup

In a User Group setup, dock scheduling controls are maintained at
a user-group level. When creating a user group, defaults will be
established for the dock scheduling controls based on
corresponding fields in the Global Settings.

LESSON 11
Dock Scheduling
While setting up user groups, you can assign permissions to

carriers and employees to work with dock schedules using the
following fields:
 Eligible to Maintain Dock Commitment with Violations:
When this field is unchecked, users in the user group cannot
create/update/delete dock commitments that have violations,
nor can they create or modify a dock commitment that would
result in a new violation scenario.
 Dock Commitment Date/Time Access: The value defined at
user-group level will control whether users in the user group
are allowed to edit the start date, end date, and end time for a
dock commitment. Possible values include:
o All (Can edit Start Date/Time, Duration, and End
Date/Time)
o Start Date/Time Only (Duration and End Date/Time cannot
be edited)
o Start Time Only (Start Date, Duration, and End Date/Time
cannot be edited)
 Eligible to Maintain Unassociated Dock Commitments:
When this field is unchecked, users in the user group cannot
create/update/delete unassociated dock commitments.
 Enforce Minimum Lead Time for Editing Dock
Commitments: When this field is checked, users in the user
group cannot modify dock commitments where the start
date/time is less than xxx hours in the future, where xxx refers
to the minimum lead time for editing dock commitments for
the applicable dock (specified in Global defaults). For example,
if the dock commitment is from 10:30 A.M. to 11:30 A.M., and
if this field is checked, then the user cannot modify the dock
commitment outside the specified time, say before 10:30 A.M.
 Enforce Cut-Off Time for Next Business Day for Dock
Commitments: When this field is checked, if a value is
defined for the cut off time for the next business day for editing
dock commitments for the applicable dock (specified in Global
Defaults), users in this user group cannot modify dock
commitments if the date portion of the start date/time for the
dock commitment is equal to the date for the next business day
for the dock and the current time (adjusted to the time zone
context for the dock's location) is greater than the cutoff time
for the dock.
 Enforce Maximum Days Dock Commitment Start Date
Change: When this field is selected, users in the user group

will not be able to create/update/delete dock commitments if

either of the following statements is true or would be true if the
transaction were allowed to proceed:
o The start date is more than xxx days later than the
default start date, where xxx refers to the maximum
number of days (later) for the dock.
o The start date is more than yyy days earlier than the
default start date, where yyy refers to the maximum
number of days (earlier) defined for the dock.
 Enforce Live/Non-Live Violations: When this field is
selected, users in the user group will not be able to
create/update/delete dock commitments if the live/non-live
violation condition is currently applicable or would be
applicable if the transaction were allowed to proceed.
 Enforce Dock Selection Constraint Violations: When this
field is selected, users in the user group will not be able to
create/update/delete dock commitments if the dock
commitment constraint violation condition is currently
applicable or would be applicable if the transaction were
allowed to proceed.

LESSON 11
Dock Scheduling
Working with Dock Schedules

Now that you have an understanding of the concept of dock
scheduling and setup options for dock scheduling in TM, let’s
learn to work with dock schedules.
Creating Docks
To work with dock schedules, the first step is to create or set up a
dock for a shipping location in TM.
To create a dock:
1. Navigate to the System Entities > Principal > Docks.
The List of Docks page is displayed which lists the docks for all
shipping locations.
2. Click New to create a dock.

3. On the Create Dock page, type the information required to

create a dock.

LESSON 11
Dock Scheduling
Let us look at some of the fields available on the Create Dock

page:
 Location Type and Location ID: Used to associate the dock
to an existing shipping location
As mentioned earlier, you can create docks for Load-at,
Consignee, DC or a Hub.
 Dock ID: A unique ID to identify the dock
 Dock Type: Can be Inbound, Outbound, or both
Inbound docks can be used only at DROP stops and outbound
docks can be used only at PICK stops. The dock type ‘BOTH’
allows the dock to be used at both PICK and DROP locations.
 Priority: Indicates the dock priority
These are relative values for docks at a shipping location.
While building loads, the dock with the highest priority will be
picked before other docks for the same location. Lowest
numeric value indicates highest priority.
 Enabled for Optimization: Indicates whether the dock be
considered by optimization strategies, which are used to assign
dock commitments to stops.
If selected, the dock will be available for manual dock
assignment as well as dock assignment by TP.
If this check box is not selected, the dock will be available for
manual dock assignment, but will not be considered by TP.
 Inbound / Outbound Environment: Indicates whether the
dock will be used for live (carrier waits for the goods to be
loaded/removed from the trailer) and/or non-live (carrier does
not wait while the goods are loaded onto a trailer) activity
 Dock Commitment Eligible Start Times: Controls the
eligible start times for dock commitments for the dock
Potential values are: Hourly on the Hour, Hourly on the Half
Hour, On the Half Hour, On the Quarter Hour, On the
Twenties, and On the Tens.
 Activity Type: Indicates the activity type of the dock.
o Carrier: Corresponds to existing behavior for carrier
picks, drops, pick-and-drops, live and non-live.
o Internal: For pre-loading and post-discharge only;
carrier cannot access.
o Both: Can be used for carrier and internal pre-loading
and post-discharge.
 Dock Length: The minimum horizontal distance measured on

the center line of the dock between the two farthest points on
the dock
The total length for the equipment at the dock at any given
moment should not be greater than the value specified in the
field
For each dock you set up, you can also specify:
 Business hours
 Fixed and Variable loading / unloading time rates
 Equipment types
 Excluded Commodities
 Excluded Loading Types
The business hours and loading/unloading times of the dock are
used for all scheduling considerations.
The equipment types maintained at the dock are used for all rating
considerations. Docks inherit shipping location properties;
however, the Business Hours and Loading/Unloading times of a
dock usually vary from the settings provided at shipping location
level. A list of loading types that cannot be managed at a dock can
also be defined. This allows for proper allocation of equipment to
the loading types.
After you set up a dock, you can either place it on hold or activate
it as required.
In addition to creating docks using the above method, you can

also create docks for existing shipping locations. To create
docks for existing shipping locations:
1. Navigate to the List of Shipping Locations page.
2. Search and select the shipping location.
3. Click More…> Docks> New to open the Create Dock
page.

LESSON 11
Dock Scheduling
In the next few topics, you will look at the key operations you can
perform using the Dock Schedule module.
Viewing Locations with Docks

While planning for pickup or delivery from shipping locations, you
may need to view the list of all shipping locations with docks so
that you can model and schedule docks to handle loads.
In the Dock Schedule module, you can view a list of all shipping
locations with docks on the List of Locations with Docks page.
This list displays all shipping locations for which at least one dock
has been defined. Using this page, you can also view the dock
schedule for a shipping location.
To view the dock schedule for a shipping location:
1. Navigate to Dock Schedule > Locations with Docks.
The List of Locations with Docks page is displayed.
2. Select a shipping location.
3. Click Dock Schedule.
The Dock schedule is displayed.

Viewing Dock Commitments
To plan towards future capacity allocation without violating
committed capacity, you need visibility to the previously planned
commitments. You can use the Dock Schedule module to view
dock commitments across multiple docks and locations on the List
of Dock Commitments page.

When a dock commitment is planned for pre-loading or post-

discharge activities, it is an internal dock commitment. Internal
docks can never be used for carrier dock commitments.
Dock commitments are automatically computed and recorded by
TP, based on the dock information supplied by TM. This process
takes into account any pre-existing dock commitments.
TP will create only one dock commitment for a load/stop, so

duplicate dock commitments will not exist.
Authorized users can also manually create and modify dock

commitments using this page.
From the List of Dock Commitments page, you can view the
Dock Commitment Gantt Chart, the capacity for docks, and load
related information for each item in the list. You can also identify
dock commitments with violations or view activity across a set of
shipping locations.
In the next few topics, you will learn how to perform these tasks.
The List of Dock Commitments page displays both associated

and unassociated dock commitments.
Dock Commitment Gantt Chart

The Dock Commitment Gantt Chart page displays the
commitments for all docks defined for a specific shipping location
and dates in a Gantt chart format.
To view the Dock Commitment Gantt Chart for a dock
commitment:
1. Navigate to Dock Schedule > Dock Commitments.
2. On the List of Dock Commitments page, select a dock
commitment.
3. Click Dock Schedule.
LESSON 11
Dock Scheduling
The Dock Commitment Gantt Chart is displayed for the selected

dock commitment.
As shown in the following image, individual docks for a location
are displayed on the list portion of the page. When docks are
selected, the chart on the page is loaded with dock commitments
that partially or fully overlap the applicable date horizon for each
dock.
You can change the date horizon by specifying a new date in the
Jump field or by using the Next/Previous buttons below the dock
schedule portion of the page.
Now, let us understand how to read the Gantt chart displayed in the
following image.

Looking at the chart portion of the page, you can determine the
business hours for a dock and identify the activities of a dock.
Lines and bars displayed on the chart determine the type of dock
activity.
The following are the elements on a Gantt chart:
 Blank Slots: Empty cells that indicate the slots open for
booking
 Green Bar: Indicates that there are no problems with the dock
commitment
 Red Triangle on the upper right corner of the Green Bar:
Indicates unassociated Dock Commitment
 Animated (Blinking) Line: Is displayed when the chart is
accessed from the context of a specific load/stop or dock
commitment
 Thin Red Line: Indicates when the dock is closed
It will help you identify the business hours of a dock.
Docks can be booked even when they are closed by having the
right permissions at user group level.
 Yellow Bar: Indicates that scheduling results are not currently

valid for the applicable load or trip, suggesting that a potential
problem exists. This is applicable only for dock commitments
that are associated with a load/stop or load or trips where
scheduling is active.
 Yellow Line: Indicates that loading/unloading duration for the
associated Location Throughput Group capacity is reached or
is over the maximum.
LESSON 11
Dock Scheduling
 Red Bar: Indicates that a violation exists for the dock

commitment
The most likely problem is that the Start and End Date/Time
range for the dock commitment overlaps with the date/time
range for at least one other commitment for the same dock.
 Gray Bar: Indicates that the Dock commitment is assigned to
another division, logistics group, or carrier
Limited information is available for these dock commitments.
 Thin Dark Yellow Line: Indicates that the dock has no
additional capacity
 Dark Green Triangle on the upper right corner of the bars
indicates a carrier dock commitment linked to an internal dock
commitment, or vice versa
Information about a booked slot (for example, Load ID, Start
Date/Time, End Date/Time) can be displayed by hovering the
mouse over the bar representing the commitment.
If you have logged on as a carrier user, internal dock

commitments are grayed out, does not blink or display green
triangle. Also, the hover-over text shows limited information.
You can also view trailer activities in a Dock Commitment Gantt

Chart if the Display Trailer Activity Icons on Dock Gantt
Chart is selected in Global Settings. The colored bars will
display either or X characters representing whether the trailer
activities have been performed.
Execute an Action
on a Dock
Commitment
To execute an action for a specific dock commitment, such as
viewing its properties, or to perform an operation, you must first
click the bar representing the dock commitment. Once a bar has
been selected, the box is displayed in bold.
In the following image, we will look at the Properties of the green
colored bar (highlighted element on the chart).

You can also perform various tasks on the Gantt chart elements
or a dock commitment using the Operations button.
You can view the properties of a load, the shipments assigned
to a load, and the list of stops (itinerary) for a load. You can also
swap commitments for two dock commitments (of equal and
unequal durations) using the Swap operation.
Creating a Dock
Commitment
As mentioned earlier, authorized users can also create a dock
commitment.
To create a dock commitment:
1. Navigate to the List of Dock Commitments page.
2. Click New to create a dock commitment.
The Create Dock Commitment page is displayed where you can

create associated and unassociated dock commitments.
When creating a dock commitment, once a Load ID and Stop
Number have been provided, the Start Date/Time field is
automatically populated based on the stop.

LESSON 11
Dock Scheduling
In the Activity Type field, you can specify whether the dock
commitment you are creating is for carrier pick, drop, and pick-
and-drop, live and non-live (carrier dock commitment), or for pre-
loading or post-discharge activities (internal dock commitment).
You can also create/update a dock commitment from the Dock

Commitment Gantt Chart. Double-click any grid cell of the chart,
to open the Create Dock Commitment page. The Dock ID,
Start Date and Start Time fields would have been populated
depending on the cell you clicked.
For example, if you double-clicked on a cell representing
DOCK2 on October 15th, 2015 14:00 – 15:00, then DOCK2,
10/15/2015 14:00 are the defaults for Dock ID, Start Date, and
Start Time fields.

Location Throughput Capacity (LTC) Overview

You have learned how to create docks for shipping locations and
view dock commitments. In this section, you will learn about an
important feature of Dock Scheduling known as Location
Throughput Capacity (LTC).
TM supports advanced dock scheduling capabilities that represent
capacity constraints at the dock better. LTC is the functionality
used in TM to create restrictions on the number of loads, pallets,
total weight, total volume, and so on that docks can handle on a
daily or hourly basis. Multiple docks in a location can be
associated to an LTC group and you can create as many LTC
groups as required for a location.
In addition to setting up LTC groups, you can also manage
capacity by utilizing “capacity restrictions”, which are of two
types:
Day of the Week or Specific Date: Indicates that the capacity that
is defined for a day of the week or a specific date will be formally
recognized as the capacity during optimization
Examples include:
 Day of the week: “Thursday- Tuesday” before Black Friday
 Specific date: Only for one calendar date (Dec 30th) – Gift
Returns etc.
Daily/Hourly: Indicates whether the capacity for the location
throughput group will be available per hour or per day
For example, if the capacity is six loads and interval is hourly, the
defined capacity will be available for each hour between the start
time and end time for each date within the date range or on each
occurrence of the day of the week within the date range.

LESSON 11
Dock Scheduling
You can work with LTC using the List of Capacity for Location
Throughput Groups page in the System Entities module.
Each shipping location and dock could potentially be associated

with multiple location throughput groups. If a location or dock
does not refer to any location throughput groups, there will be
no matching of resource capacity to resource requirements for
activity that occurs at the shipping location or dock.
Creating a Location
Throughput Group
To set up capacity restrictions for a dock, you need to first create a
Location Throughput Group (LTG) for one or more docks and then
specify capacity restrictions for the group.
To create a LTG:
1. Navigate to System Entities > Miscellaneous > Location
Throughput Groups.
The List of Location Throughput Groups page is displayed.

2. Click New.
The Create Location Throughput Group page is displayed

where you can enter details to create a group.
Let us look at some of the important fields on this page:

 Location Type and Location ID: Used to associate the LTG
to an existing shipping location
 Location Throughput Group ID: A unique ID to identify the
LTG
 Location Throughput Group Unit Type: Used to track
demand vs. capacity for the Location Throughput Group
Values can be loading/unloading duration, loads, weight,
pallets, pieces, and volume.
 Location Throughput Group Level: Indicates whether
tracking of demand vs. capacity will be managed at shipping
location or dock level for the Location Throughput Group

LESSON 11
Dock Scheduling
 Activity Type: Specifies the activity type: inbound only,

outbound only, or both inbound and outbound
 Location Throughput Group Capacity Interval: Indicates
whether capacity for the Location Throughput Group will be
available per hour or per day
 Activity Inclusion: Used to specify the activity types to be
accounted for, such as Carrier Live Only, Carrier Live and
Internal, Carrier Non-Live Only, and Internal Only.
Throughput capacity does not consider the wait time between
the completion of the pre-loading and carrier pick-up, or
between the completion of the carrier drop-off and the start of
the post-discharge unloading.
Specifying Location
Throughput Group
Capacity
Once you set up the LTG, you can specify capacity restrictions for
the group.
To set up capacity for a group:
1. Navigate to the List of Location Throughput Groups page.
2. Select the LTG for which you want to specify capacity
restrictions.
3. Click More… and select Capacity.
The List of Capacity for Location Throughput Groups page

is displayed.
4. Click New.
The Create Capacity for Location Throughput Group page is
displayed.

Let us look at some important fields on this page.

 Day/Dates/Times: In this section, you can provide capacity
restrictions for a specific day of the week between start and end
dates and time. For example, every Tuesday for four weeks
between 8 A.M and 6 P.M.
You can also specify a fixed date and time. For example,
December 25, between 9 A.M and 6 P.M.
 Maximum Quantity: Indicates the maximum quantity allowed
per hour or per day for each date between the start and end
time in the date range or on each occurrence of the applicable
day of the week within the start and end dates
The quantity you specify here is in relation to the unit type you
defined for the corresponding LTG. For example, if the LTG
unit type is loads, the quantity is in relation with the number of
loads; if the LTG unit type is pallets, the quantity is in relation
with the number of pallets.
 Target Quantity: Similar to maximum quantity, you can also
specify target quantity allowed per hour/day or day of the
week. When target quantity exceeds, the target penalty amount
is incurred for each capacity unit in excess of the target.
 Penalty Amount when Target Violated: Indicates the target
quantity violation penalty amount
When target quantity exceeds, the target penalty amount is
incurred for each capacity unit in excess of the target.

LESSON 11
Dock Scheduling
Viewing Location
Throughput
Capacities
You have learned about LTC and how to work with LTC groups.
In this section, you will understand how to view/modify capacities
for multiple Location Throughput Groups within a location for a
specific date.
After you have scheduled docks through TP or manually, you can
check if the capacities you specified for the Location Throughput
Groups of a dock have been honored while building loads.
In the Dock Schedule module, the Specific Date Capacities page
can be used to simultaneously maintain multiple capacity entries
concurrently on a single page. This page opens in the Smartbench
UI.
The following information can be viewed on the Specific Date
Capacities page:
 You can use the Select Docks icon to filter the records
based on the selection of docks.
 The Location Throughput Groups will be enabled for Daily or
Hourly capacity based on the values you specified while
creating the group.
 A thin red line is displayed at the top of the cell representing
the duration when the location will be closed.
 The Maximum, Actual, and Available rows are displayed for
each Location Throughput Group that you created. The Actual
quantity is the total demand for all dock commitments for the
docks that are associated with the Location Throughput Group.
The Available quantity is the net of Maximum and Actual.
 The hyperlink for the Actual value displays the associated dock
commitment details.
To access the Specific Date Capacities page and view capacities

for multiple Location Throughput Groups:
1. Navigate to the List of Dock Commitments page.
2. Select a dock commitment and click Capacity.
The Specific Date Capacities page is displayed.

3. View and modify capacities as required. Press ENTER or click
on any cell in a different row to save your changes.
4. Click Return to return to the previous page in the TM UI.

On pressing ENTER, save logic is triggered that validates
whether the maximum quantity is greater than or equal to
corresponding target quantity. If a violation exists, an error
message will be presented and the contents of the cells will be
reset (the most recent edits will be lost).
Using the Quantity Basis and Availability Basis fields on the

Capacity List Customization page, users can indicate whether
they want to view Maximum capacity only, Target capacity only,
or both capacities.
LESSON 11
Dock Scheduling
Dock Scheduling Methods

As mentioned earlier, docks can be scheduled for loads either
manually or automatically during optimization.
Let us look at both the methods.
Manual Dock Scheduling
In manual dock scheduling, after building the load, the dock is
manually booked for a load stop.
To perform manual dock scheduling:
1. Navigate to the List of Dock Commitments page and click
New.
2. Enter details on the Create Dock Commitment page to
manually create a dock commitment. The same page can also
be obtained by double clicking the desired time slot on the
Gantt chart.
Dock Scheduling via Optimization
TP can also schedule docks for the loads created in an optimization
request. This can be done by the following two ways:
1. Generic Settings from the parameter file used for optimization:
By including the parameter ‘UseDocks = TRUE’ in the
parameter file, docks will be booked (with default settings)
wherever possible, after loads are built by TP.
2. Specific Settings present in the strategy file used for
optimization: Customized settings for Dock Scheduling can be
provided by defining the ‘TryDockScheduling’ Strategy in the
strategy file.

Lesson Review
In this lesson, we have covered:
 Dock Scheduling in TM
 Dock Schedule terminology
 How to configure Dock schedules
 Creating docks and viewing dock commitments
 Manual dock scheduling and dock scheduling via optimization

LESSON 11
Dock Scheduling
Hands-On Exercises
In these exercises, you will practice:
 Creating docks
 Creating LTGs
 Assigning docks to the Groups
 Setting up Capacity for the docks
 Optimizing shipments and building loads
 Viewing dock commitments and capacity for the loads
Case Study
ABC wants to ship loads to the Chicago Distribution Center. A few
shipments are coming from Orlando, Florida and few from within
Chicago. The Chicago Distribution Center has five docks to
manage inbound and outbound shipments.
The docks have no capacity restrictions.
Dock Business Hours – 8 AM to 5 PM (Monday-Friday)
Exercise 13.1
Step 1: Create Docks
First, you will create docks for the Chicago distribution center
shipping location (CHICDOCK-IL).
1. Navigate to System Entities > Principal > Docks.
The List of Docks page is displayed.
You will notice that two docks are already created for the
Chicago distribution center, DOCK01 and DOCK02.

2. Click New to create a dock for this location.
3. On the Create Dock page, specify the following information:

 Location Type: Distribution Center
 Location ID: CHICDOCK-IL (Refresh)
 Dock ID: DOCK03
 Description: DOCK03
 Inbound/Outbound Environment: Live Only
 Activity Type: Both
4. Click Submit.

LESSON 11
Dock Scheduling
5. Similarly, create two more docks called DOCK04 and

DOCK05 for the CHICDOCK-IL distribution center.
For this exercise, we will use only DOCK01, DOCK02 and

DOCK03, so we need to place DOCK04 and DOCK05 on hold. To
do so:
6. Select DOCK04 and DOCK05.
7. Click More…, and select Hold.
The Dock Status for the two docks changes to On Hold.

As mentioned in the case study, you need to set up business hours

for DOCK01, DOCK02, and DOCK03 from 8 A.M. to 5 P.M.
from Monday to Friday. To do so, follow these steps:
8. Select DOCK01.
9. Click More…, and select Business Hours.
10. On the Update Business Hours page, type 08:00 and 17:00 in
the Range 1 From and Range 1 To boxes respectively, for all
the Days of Week from Monday to Friday.
Ensure there are no hours for Saturday and Sunday.
11. Click Submit.
12. Follow step 8 to step 11 for DOCK02 and DOCK03.

LESSON 11
Dock Scheduling
Step 2: View Shipments

A few shipments have already been created for this exercise. You
need to build loads for these shipments.
1. Navigate to Shipment Processing > Shipments.
2. On the List of Shipments page, in the Shipment ID search
box, type DOCK%.
Six shipments will be displayed.
Step 3: Load Building

The next steps are to assign the shipments to a plan, select the
shipments for optimization, and optimize the shipments.
The user must be authorized to work with Plan 1003 and the
plan should be set as the current plan.
1. Navigate to Load Build > User Plan Authorization.

2. On the List of User Plan Authorizations page, select the
Plan ID 1003, and click Authorize.
3. Type 1003 in the Plan ID box, and TRAIN01 in the User ID
box.
4. Select the Select as the current Plan for User check box.
5. Click Submit.
1. Navigate to Load Build > Work with Plan > Shipments >
Unassigned.
2. In the Shipment ID search box, type DOCK%.
3. Select Shipment IDs DOCK001, DOCK003, and DOCK005
check boxes.
4. Click Select for Optimization.

You will receive a message that 3 shipment(s) are selected for

optimization.
5. Navigate to Load Build >Work with Plan > Control.

6. On the Load Build Control page, click Optimize.
7. Change the Scheduled Date/Time to a past date to avoid

scheduling issues.
8. From the Constraint Override File list, select Dock Exercise.
9. Click Submit.
LESSON 11
Dock Scheduling
The override files available in the Constraints Override File list

are added to the List of Optimizer Constraints page.
You will receive a message that the optimization request is

created.
10. Now, navigate to Load Build >Work with Plan >Loads.

On the List of Loads Attached to Plan page, you will notice that
three loads have been built and dock scheduled.

Step 4: Dock Commitments

After the loads are built, you can view the dock commitments for
the new loads.
The List of Dock Commitments page is displayed. Notice that
there are three associated commitments created, one for each load.
2. Select the first commitment for DOCK01 and click Dock

Schedule.
The Dock Commitment Gantt Chart page is displayed.
Are the business hours displayed correctly for the docks?

_________________________________
What is the information in the green colored bars?
_____________________________________________________

LESSON 11
Dock Scheduling
3. Similarly view the dock schedules for the other dock

commitments and note down your observations
______________________________________________________
Exercise 13.2
The Chicago Distribution Center is operating during the last week
of December, however as the staff to handle its operations is low
for the week, they have to place capacity restrictions on some
docks.
On December 30th 2016: Dock 1 can receive one load.
On December 30th 2016: Dock 2 and 3 can receive 50 and 40
pallets respectively.
Step 1: Location Throughput Groups Set Up
As you have already created docks for the CHICHDOCK-IL
location in the previous exercise, in this step you will create LTGs
and associate them with the docks.
You need to create three LTGs, one for loads and two for pallets.
You also need to set up capacity for the groups according to the
conditions specified in the case study.
To set up location throughput groups:
1. Navigate to System Entities > Miscellaneous > Location
Throughput Groups.
The List of Location Throughput Groups page is displayed.

You will notice that one LTG has already been created.
2. Select the CHICDOCK-IL-TPG ID, and click Properties.

3. Notice the following:

a. LTG Unit Type is Loads
b. LTG Level is Dock
c. LTG Capacity Interval is set to Daily.
4. Click Cancel to return to the List of Location Throughput
Groups page.
5. On the List of Location Throughput Groups page, click New

to create a second LTG for pallets.

LESSON 11
Dock Scheduling
6. On the Create Location Throughput Group page, specify the

following information as per the case study:
Field Value
Location Type Distribution Center
Location ID CHICDOCK-IL (Refresh)
Location Throughput Group ID CHICDOCK-IL-TPG2
Description CHICDOCK-IL Dock

Throughput2
LTG Unit type Pallets
LTG Level Dock
Activity Type Both
LTG Capacity Interval Daily
Date Based Capacity Required Selected
Enforce Full Page Date/Time Selected

Constraints
Activity Inclusion All
7. Click Submit.

8. Similarly, create one more location throughput group

CHICDOCK-IL-TPG3 for pallets.
Next, you will associate the docks to the Location Throughput
Groups.
DOCK01 is associated to CHICDOCK-IL-TPG, DOCK02 is
associated to CHICDOCK-IL-TPG2, and DOCK03 is associated to
CHICDOCL-IL-TPG3.
DOCK01 is already associated to CHICHDOCK-IL-TPG.
9. Select the CHICHDOCK-IL-TPG LTG.
10. Click More…, and select Docks from the list.
You can see that DOCK01 has been associated to this LTG.
11. Click Cancel to return to the List of Location Throughput
Groups page.
Next, you will associate DOCK02 with CHICHDOCK-IL-TPG2.

12. Select the CHICHDOCK-IL-TPG2 LTG.
13. Click More..., and select Docks.
LESSON 11
Dock Scheduling
14. On the Docks for LTG page, add DOCK02 and click Submit.
Click the add new row icon to add new rows.
15. Repeat steps 12 to 14 to associate DOCK03 with LTG

CHICDOCK-IL-TPG3.
You will now set up the capacity for each LTG.
16. Select CHICHDOCK-IL-TPG.
17. Click More…, and select Capacity.

The List of Capacity for Location Throughput Group page is

displayed.
18. Click New to define a capacity.
19. On the Create Capacity for Location Throughput Group

page, specify the following information and click Submit:

LESSON 11
Dock Scheduling
Field Value
Start Date 12/30/2016
End Date 12/30/2016
Open Time 00:00
Close Time 23:59
Maximum Quantity 1 (As per case study)
Target Quantity 1

20. Click Return to return to the List of Location Throughput

Groups page.
21. Select CHICHDOCK-IL-TPG2.

22. Click More…and select Capacity to set up the capacity for
this group.

LESSON 11
Dock Scheduling
The List of Capacity for Location Throughput Group page is

displayed.
23. Click New to define a capacity.

Field Value
End Date 12/30/2016
Open Time 00:00
Close Time 23:59
Target Quantity 50

25. Click Return to return to the List of Location Throughput

Groups page.
26. Select CHICHDOCK-IL-TPG3.
27. Click More…and select Capacity to set up the capacity for
this group.
Field Value
End Date 12/30/2016
Open Time 00:00
Close Time 23:59
Target Quantity 40

LESSON 11
Dock Scheduling
Step 2: Update Shipments Details

The next step is to update existing shipments and build loads using
these shipments. This is similar to the steps performed in the
previous exercise.
1. Navigate to Shipment Processing > Shipments to view the
List of Shipments page.
2. Search using the DOCK% Shipment ID, six shipments will be
displayed.
For a few of these shipments, let us edit the shipment pickup and
delivery windows and also the number of pallets in the container.
3. Select DOCK002 and click Shipment Details.
4. On the List of Shipment Details page, select the shipment

detail ID, and click Properties.

5. On the Shipment Detail Properties page, change the

Quantity of pallets to 60, and click Submit.
6. Click Return to return to the List of Shipments page.

7. Now select DOCK002 again, and click Properties.
8. Change the Pickup and Delivery dates to:

Pickup From: 12/29/2016 00:00 Pickup To: 12/29/2016 23:58
Delivery From: 12/29/2016 23:58 Delivery To: 12/30/2016
23:59

LESSON 11
Dock Scheduling
9. Click Submit.
10. Similarly, for shipment DOCK004, modify the shipment

details and change the Quantity of pallets to 38 and for
DOCK006 modify the Quantity of pallets to 45.

11. Also, modify the shipment pickup and delivery windows for
both DOCK004 and DOCK006 to:
Pickup From: 12/27/2016 00:00 Pickup To: 12/27/2015 23:58
Delivery From: 12/30/2015 00:00 Delivery To: 12/30/2016
23:59
Step 3: Build Loads

The next step is to select the shipments for optimization, and
optimize the shipments. During Load execution we need to ensure
that the Dock Throughput/ Allocation is respected by TP as it
builds the loads.
1. Navigate to Load Build > Work with Plan > Shipments >
Unassigned.
2. Select Shipment ID’s DOCK002, DOCK004, and DOCK006
and click Select for Optimization.
3. As you performed in the previous exercise, navigate to Load

Build >Work with Plan > Control.
4. On the Load Build Control page, click Optimize.
LESSON 11
Dock Scheduling
5. Change the Scheduled Date/Time to a past date to avoid

scheduling issues.
6. Select the Constraint Override File as Dock Exercise from
the list.
7. Click Submit.
You will receive a message that the optimization request is created.

8. Next, navigate to Load Build >Work with Plan >Loads.
9. On the List of Loads Attached to Plan page, you will notice
that three new loads have been built and dock scheduled.
Note down the Load IDs.

Step 4: View Dock Commitments

After the loads are built, you can view the dock commitments for
the new loads.
The List of Dock Commitments page is displayed. Notice that
there are three new commitments created, one for each load.
You will now check if the capacity restrictions were respected by

the TP while building loads.
2. Select the first dock commitment and click Capacity.
The Specific Date Capacities page is displayed.

What date are the capacities listed for?
_________________________________
What are the Maximum, Actual and Available values for
CHICDOCK-IL-TPG?
____________________________________________
What are the load and stop information for this LTG?
_____________________________________________________
CHICDOCK-IL-TPG2?
LESSON 11
Dock Scheduling
____________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________

CHICDOCK-IL-TPG3?
____________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________


LESSON 11
Dock Scheduling
Review Questions
1. Docks can be set up for which of the following shipping
locations?
A. Only Load-at and Consignee
B. Only Distribution Center and Hub
C. Load-at, Consignee, Distribution Center, and Hub
D. Load-at, Consignee and Distribution Center
2. Match the terms in Column A to their definitions in Column

B.
Column A: Terms Column B: Definitions
a. Booking 1. The Start Date/Time and End

Date/Time for usage of a dock space
for a load.
b. Dock 2. The assignment of a TM load to a

Scheduling time slot.
c. Time Slot 3. Arranging a specific time and dock

location for loading or unloading
shipments.
_______________________________________________
3. What do the following elements on the Dock Commitment

Gantt Chart represent?
Blank Slots: ________________________________
Green Bar: _________________________________
Thin Red Line: ______________________________
4. What are the two types of capacity restrictions available?
____________________________________________



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Lesson 11: Dock Scheduling 11

JDA Software Group, Inc. July 2016 Page 539

Dock Scheduling Overview

Apart, from modeling dock facilities to avoid congestion, docks

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modeling allows users to create the inclusive list of equipment

JDA Software Group, Inc. July 2016 Page 541

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During optimization, dock commitment violation will not occur.

Dock Scheduling: Setup Options

3. On the Transaction Management page, click the Load 3 tab.

JDA Software Group, Inc. July 2016 Page 543

User Groups Setup

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While setting up user groups, you can assign permissions to

JDA Software Group, Inc. July 2016 Page 545

will not be able to create/update/delete dock commitments if

Page 546 JDA Software Group, Inc. July 2016

Working with Dock Schedules

JDA Software Group, Inc. July 2016 Page 547

3. On the Create Dock page, type the information required to

Page 548 JDA Software Group, Inc. July 2016

Let us look at some of the fields available on the Create Dock

 Dock Length: The minimum horizontal distance measured on

In addition to creating docks using the above method, you can

Page 550 JDA Software Group, Inc. July 2016

Viewing Locations with Docks

The Dock schedule is displayed.

JDA Software Group, Inc. July 2016 Page 551

When a dock commitment is planned for pre-loading or post-

TP will create only one dock commitment for a load/stop, so

Authorized users can also manually create and modify dock

The List of Dock Commitments page displays both associated

Dock Commitment Gantt Chart

The Dock Commitment Gantt Chart is displayed for the selected

JDA Software Group, Inc. July 2016 Page 553

 Yellow Bar: Indicates that scheduling results are not currently

 Red Bar: Indicates that a violation exists for the dock

If you have logged on as a carrier user, internal dock

You can also view trailer activities in a Dock Commitment Gantt

JDA Software Group, Inc. July 2016 Page 555

The Create Dock Commitment page is displayed where you can

Page 556 JDA Software Group, Inc. July 2016

You can also create/update a dock commitment from the Dock

JDA Software Group, Inc. July 2016 Page 557

Location Throughput Capacity (LTC) Overview

Page 558 JDA Software Group, Inc. July 2016

Each shipping location and dock could potentially be associated

JDA Software Group, Inc. July 2016 Page 559

The Create Location Throughput Group page is displayed

Let us look at some of the important fields on this page:

Page 560 JDA Software Group, Inc. July 2016

 Activity Type: Specifies the activity type: inbound only,

The List of Capacity for Location Throughput Groups page

JDA Software Group, Inc. July 2016 Page 561

Let us look at some important fields on this page.

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To access the Specific Date Capacities page and view capacities

2. Select a dock commitment and click Capacity.

The Specific Date Capacities page is displayed.

4. Click Return to return to the previous page in the TM UI.

Using the Quantity Basis and Availability Basis fields on the