OTM 5.5: Partial Tendering and Change of Carriers

[ianlo]

Hi everyone,

I have a scenario where I will execute a partial accept on a tender from a service provider and then after OTM splits it into 2 shipments where the first shipment is the accepted one and the second shipment is set to TENDER WITHDRAWN.

I will then need to change the carrier on the second un-accepted shipment (TENDER WITHDRAWN) and then retender it.

The problem I face is that when I change the carrier on the second un-accepted shipment, OTM does not re-plan the shipment to give me the equipments that are used for that specific carrier.

This causes problems because I am expecting that a change in carrier will cause a re-plan of the shipment to get the LEAST COST equipment configuration for the shipment.

Does anyone know if this is OTM's behaviour or am I missing a configuration setting?

Thanks!

[bmj_23]

Re: OTM 5.5: Partial Tendering and Change of Carriers

How are you changing the service provider on the second shipment ? Manually using the "Change Service Provider" option from the shipment UI ?

[ianlo]

Re: OTM 5.5: Partial Tendering and Change of Carriers

Hi bmj_23,

Yes. I am using Change Service Provider option on the actions. Is there a configuration that I am missing?

[bmj_23]

Re: OTM 5.5: Partial Tendering and Change of Carriers

Ian - I dont think there is any configuration you are missing. My understanding is that:

1. The manual "Change Service Provider" option will not recalculate the equipment for you. It only changes the service provider.

2. There is an option to manually "Change Equipment" which if you do first, and then Change Service Provider will recalculate the cost of the shipment based on the manually assigned equipment group.

3. There are two automation agent actions that may be of use "ASSIGN RATE" and "RECALC SHIPMENT" but am not sure that these will resolve what you are trying to achieve; but check them out.

Would suggest raising an SR to find out if there is a one stop shop to change service provider and as part of that choose the correct piece of equipment and re-rate the shipment. Let me know what you find out.

[ianlo]

Re: OTM 5.5: Partial Tendering and Change of Carriers

Hi bmj_23,

Yep I have tried all the above functionalities and options you have pointed out. I am actually quite surprised that other companies have not encountered an issue with this.

From the way I see it, if there are 2 service providers having rates for a lane with two different equipment groups, it must be possible for the system to replan using the other carrier's equipment group.

Acutally, changing the equipment group is also not an option because it 'assumes' that you will only use 1 equipment group - when actually, a combination of equipment groups my result in a better plan.

OTM should not assume that the other carrier has the same equipment group as the previous one and allowing only 1 equipment group to be specified during Change Equipment.

The way I see it, there are several fundemental flaws:
1) Change carrier should re-optimise the shipment with another carrier's equipment group to gain the least cost equipment option available

2) You should not restrict the user from only changing 1 equipment group for the shipment. Selecting multiple equipment groups should be made available for the user to submit to OTM to suggest the most optimal equipment group combination

I have raised this to Metalink and am hoping they have a good answer for this.

Thanks for your kind help and time. Do you know of anyone else facing this issue?

[bmj_23]

Re: OTM 5.5: Partial Tendering and Change of Carriers

Just a couple of things to add:

1. If you change service provider first, and then change equipment you should see only the valid equipment groups for the newly assigned service provider (including obviously the cheapest one). This will result, I think, in what you are looking for but involves the user doing two steps.

2. Agree it would be good to have one action that runs the above in a single "click" but I dont think that exists today.

Let me know what you find out.

[ianlo]

Re: OTM 5.5: Partial Tendering and Change of Carriers

Hi bmj_23

Thanks for the tip. Will let you know the result from Oracle Support.

Just to clarify, we have to change the service provider first yes? However, I cannot even get OTM to change to the service provider I want because the service provider I want does not have the equipment group already planned on the shipment.

How would I go about this?

Thanks!

[bmj_23]

Re: OTM 5.5: Partial Tendering and Change of Carriers

Hi - try using the "Select and Change Service Provider" option from the Shipment Actions. That may allow you to change the service provider even though the currently assigned equipment group is not feasible with that service provider.

Once done, you may then be able to use the "Change Equipment Group" option.

If not, I am afraid you will have to see what you get back from Metalink

[ianlo]

Re: OTM 5.5: Partial Tendering and Change of Carriers

Just a couple of things to add:

1. If you change service provider first, and then change equipment you should see only the valid equipment groups for the newly assigned service provider (including obviously the cheapest one). This will result, I think, in what you are looking for but involves the user doing two steps.

2. Agree it would be good to have one action that runs the above in a single "click" but I dont think that exists today.

Let me know what you find out.

Hi bmj_23,

Bad news, Oracle is saying that this is the intended functionality and for things to change they would require an Enhancement Request - which I have raised to them.

Unfortunately, this does not work for us as the Enhancement Request is slated for CU5 which according to them is 9 months away! and our go-live date is 03/09.

Do you have any workarounds or know of anyone in the industry with this requirements and what is their workaround solution?

I'm getting desperate!

Ian

[bmj_23]

Re: OTM 5.5: Partial Tendering and Change of Carriers

Ian - does the 1) change service provider and then 2) change equipment group option provide the correct option ? Let me know on that.

I dont know of any other workarounds for this scenario and how to do it in one "click". There may be some things to try, but without the data and exact scenario in front of me, its a bit difficult to determine what those could be.

I would be pushing development for a solution.....

[ianlo]

Re: OTM 5.5: Partial Tendering and Change of Carriers

Ian - does the 1) change service provider and then 2) change equipment group option provide the correct option ? Let me know on that.

I dont know of any other workarounds for this scenario and how to do it in one "click". There may be some things to try, but without the data and exact scenario in front of me, its a bit difficult to determine what those could be.

I would be pushing development for a solution.....

Hi bmj_23,

Unfortunately, the change service provider then change equipment group does not work. Actually, one of the many problems is this:

1) When you change a service provider, if the equipment group does not belong to the second service provider, then OTM does not allow you to change service provider. This means that even for an itinerary with 2T and 5T equipments, and SERVPROV A only has 2T equipments and SERVPROV B only has 5T equipments, you cannot change between SERVPROV A to B. You can only change if the equipment groups are overlapping.

2) So the only process is to change equipment first then change service provider. However, even this poses a problem. This is because, OTM only allows you to select one equipment group for change. This is counter intuitive because, the least cost option can actually be made up of MULTIPLE equipment groups. So if the ship units can be planned onto 5T and 1T trucks, OTM will still suggest 2 x 5T trucks because you selected 5T as the equipment group to change to.

The problem is quite widespread and it affects more areas than thought.

Any thoughts on this?

[bmj_23]

Re: OTM 5.5: Partial Tendering and Change of Carriers

Hi Ian - I dont have anything to add at this point - will continue to think about it though. I dont think you will find a nice and neat solution to this in the current application - one suggestion, which I know will be painful, is to re-examine your design and really consider whether you need to use the partial tender accept functionality and the associated requirement to change service provider / equipment on your shipments.

I have no doubt that that is the case i.e. your design is sound, but maybe stepping back and considering alternatives may lead somewhere....