Automated Load and Delivery Planning System for Supply Chain Optimization

Current manual processes for load and delivery planning in the logistics operation are time-consuming, prone to human errors, and often result in overstocking or underutilization of shipping containers. Urgent changes to delivery schedules and fluctuating parameters further complicate planning, leading to increased costs and reduced customer satisfaction.

A mid-sized logistics company specializing in raw materials and component delivery to manufacturing plants, seeking to automate their delivery and load planning processes to reduce manual work and operational errors.

• Automate feasibility calculations for delivery plans to reduce manual effort and time from hours to seconds.
• Minimize human errors such as improper delivery scheduling and inefficient container filling.
• Reduce storage costs by avoiding overstocking and optimize container utilization to lower shipping expenses.
• Enhance operational responsiveness to changing delivery parameters and production schedules.
• Establish a scalable, multitenant-compatible architecture supporting future system expansion.

• A load planning calculator that takes production schedules, component arrival times, and container specifications as inputs.
• Feasibility assessment to determine if delivery plans align with production and operational constraints.
• Automatic recalculation of results upon data modifications such as container type or production week changes.
• Estimation of the minimum number of containers required for shipments based on weight and volume metrics.
• Generation of actionable data for booking or canceling containers aligned with shipment needs.

• Production planning and scheduling systems to import production data.
• Container booking and logistics platforms for real-time shipment management.
• Data sources for component arrival dates and inventory status updates.

• Real-time recalculation response time under seconds to support operational agility.
• High availability and scalability to support future expansion and increasing data volumes.
• Secure data handling practices to protect sensitive operational data.
• Ease of maintenance and future integrations via a flexible, modular architecture.

The implementation of the semi-automated load and delivery planning system aims to significantly streamline operational workflows, reducing manual calculation time from hours to seconds, minimizing human errors, decreasing storage and shipping costs through optimized container utilization, and improving overall responsiveness to changing production and delivery schedules, thereby enhancing customer satisfaction and retention.