Task 3: Creating Routes

The aim of this step is to map the routes in your planning factory. To do this it is first necessary to look at the current material flows in the hall. During the previous data collection with your employees and a consultant from IPO.Plan, you identified the individual areas through which all materials will pass one after the other. The results of this analysis are in the columns Material Area 4 to Material Area 1 (MF 4 - MF 1) of the logistics quantity structure (LMG):

The materials therefore flow from the incoming goods (WE) via an area of the block storage (BL), the rack storage (RL) or the processing center (BAZ) to a supermarket area (SM) and from there to a staging area of the assembly line (ML).

 Note: The LMG is located in the menu item "Logistical Quantity Structure" within the menu group "Project Configuration". See IPO.Log 4 Material Flow Operation. Further information on the structure of the LMG can be found here.

In your planning factory, there is currently direct traffic between goods receipt and the subsequent storage/processing area. From there, the materials are first transported by route train to the supermarkets, before they are also transported by route train to their final assembly location on the assembly line. There are routes between the storage or processing areas and the supermarkets as well as between the supermarkets and the assembly line. In the current situation, materials are transported on a single route from the two supermarkets and the assembly line. Note this planning status when creating the routes.

To create the routes, switch to the "Create Routes" function and click on "New". After you have defined the route name, you can create the route by clicking on the stops and waypoints in the layout. Make sure that the start point of a route corresponds to the end point. Otherwise the route is not valid. A detailed description of creating routes can be found here.

For each route, also select a tractor type and the worker type "picker" for the routes that supply a supermarket and the worker type "logistics employee" for the supply of the assembly line.

One possible solution is shown in the following screenshot: