Route determination is the process of establishing the route of a shipment. Route determination is an important process in supply chain management. It contains a series of factors that influence the optimization of Route Determination.
Table of Contents
Introduction of Route Determination
Route Determination in SAP SD is the process of automatically selecting the optimal transportation route to transport goods between seller and customer. It plays a pivotal role in efficient logistics planning, timely deliveries, cost optimization and integration with other processes like delivery creation, shipment planning and billing – helping businesses and customers alike. With this automated solution at work, transit times are minimized while costs are decreased while providing consistency throughout the order-to-cash cycle benefitting both businesses and customers alike.
What is route determination?
The aim of the blog is to understand the route determination technique. How the system finds the most appropriate route from a large number of available routes in SAP /ERP system
Transportation is a very necessary aspect of any supply chain operation in which the intended consumer would not obtain any finished product, and no raw material would ever enter the factory. It is the direction & means of delivery of the commodity to its destination. It plays a critical role in shipping activities & is a basic prerequisite for preparing & producing a shipment.
The Route is automatically suggested at the stage for the sales order. This is the mechanism by which one may allocate the transport legs to a particular route using various shipments and carriers.
In the deliveries this uses the weight group of the item to propose a different route, route determination may also be re-determined.
How Route Determination in Sales Orders
Route is determined automatically in the sales order based on:
- Departure zone or country of the Delivering Plant
- Destination zone or country of the Ship-to Party
- Shipping condition from the Sold-to Party Customer master
- Transportation group from Material Master
Route determination configuration
For automatic route determination in the sales order, We need to configure the below points.
Define Modes of Transport
Mode of Transport: This represents the medium through which the goods are transferred from one location to another, i.e. Road, rail, etc.
SPRO IMG->Logistics Execution->Transportation->Basic Transportation Function->Routes-Define Routes->Define Transport Modes.
Define Shipping Types
Shipping Type: This is the actual vehicle used to transport the goods. E.g.: Truck/Ship etc.
SPRO IMG->Logistics Execution->Transportation->Basic Transportation->Routes-Define Routes->Define Shipping Types
Select New Entries and Assign the Shipping Type (e.g. Road or Train) and Assign Transport Mode (Mdtr) and Assign Shipping Type, group Procedure.
Define Transportation Connection Points
Transportation Connection point: These are the points where the transport points are connected, or where the type of transport crosses the border. These may include airports, railway stations, and border crossings.
SPRO IMG- > Logistics Execution- > Transportation- > Basic Transportation Function->Routes-Define Routes- > Define Connection Point.
Define Transportation Connection Point
Define Routes and Stages
We may also specify the maintenance of detailed details at the transport link stage; We specify the values that the network will recommend, such as the total length, distance, etc., from other routes. The device checks all stages on other routes which have the same starting and destination points and may also have the same type of shipping, transport service agent, leg indicator and state level;
The route consists of different means of transportation & various phases, which are designed using these.
SPRO-Logistics Execution-Transportation-Basic Transportation-Routes-Define Routes-Define Routes and Stages.
Define Transportation Zone
Now we have to identify the transport zones. transport zones by country and based on requirements & needs. Transportation zones reflect regions of the delivery receiver (ship-to-partner) or delivery shipper (seller) areas.
Path: SPRO IMG -> Logistics Execution – >Transportation -> Basic Transportation Function – Routes – >Route Determination – >Define Transportation Zone.
Maintain County and Transportation Zone for Shipping Point
Here we need to assign countries and transport zones that we have defined earlier for each country. shipping point
Path: SPRO IMG-> Logistics Execution – >Transportation – >Basic Transportation Function – >Routes -> Route Determination -> Maintain County and Transportation Zone for Shipping Point.
Define Transportation Groups.
It is the grouping of a material that has the same transport requirement. This is updated in the Master Sales / General Data View material.
Path: SPRO IMG- >Logistics Execution – >Transportation – >Basic Transportation Function – Routes – >Route Determination – >Define Transportation Groups
Maintain Route Determination
Finally, we have reached the end of the configuration, here we set the route determination in the sales order or delivery per country of departure/departure zone and country of destination / receiving area.
Point to remember
- Country & Departure Zone of the Shipping Point: This as the description says is the country of the shipping point & the zone under which the shipping point is located. This is stored in the shipping point
- Country & Transportation Zone of the Ship to party: This as the description says is the country & the zone of the ship to party. This is stored in the General Data of Ship to Party.
- Shipping Condition: It is the strategy for the delivery of goods from one location to another or customer. It is updated in the shipping tab of customer master data.
- Weight Group: It is used in re-determining the Route in delivery based on the weight of the item to be transferred. It can be used as an additional criterion for re-determining the route in delivery. e.g. you can set the route thru Air if the weight of the goods to be transferred is less than 10 Kg.
- Load Transfer Point: Point at which goods are unloaded from one means of transport & are loaded onto another.
- Border Crossing Point: The point where a vessel crosses the border.
- Leg: It is the beginning and endpoint of any shipment. There are different transportation legs as shown below.
Route Determination in Delivery
The route of the delivery document can be re-determined with the additional parameter Weight Group. We may configure as per business needs. T-code for route definition is 0VTC and 0VRF for route determination.
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