SINGAPORE-based APL Logistics has launched a shipment planning platform that it expects to change the way large freight buyers coordinate their transportactivities, the company said.
  "This technology innovation allows global shippers to advance their allocation decisions," said APL Logistics president Jim McAdam. "They are now better empowered to ship more efficiently and accurately, meeting critical in-store or planned delivery requirements."
  Engineered by the company, ShipmentOptimizer, is said to be the industry's first global shipment planning platform capable of automatically generating the best shipment plan against three key objectives concurrently: cargo arriving at final destination on the preferred date; maximising space and load utilisation; and minimising overall transportation costs on a door-to-door basis.
  The company has so far deployed the automated planning and decision support platform for three apparel firms.
  The new system integrates a web-based shipment planning and optimisation tool with the logistics firm's supply chain and technology applications. It uses algorithms specifically designed to handle complex and ever-changing real-world supply chain environments. Given the shipper's unique preferences, requirements and constraints, all possible combinations of shipment flows, modes, routes and cargo are duly considered before the ideal plan is recommended. The optimal plan is continually updated as assumptions or conditions change, relying on real-time data fed by other applications in the company's technology suite.
  It pointed out that the new IT system trimmed a shipment planning process staged during a pilot test from two days to just 90 minutes. In addition to efficiency, the system provides the shipper with greater control over its product flow. This is because the platform has the ability to forecast shipment schedules, support collaboration among the shipper's supply chain partners and automatically flag any deviation from plan.
  The system is said to "create value by taking complexities out of shipment planning and reducing unnecessary airfreights," according to Raffy Cipriano, vice president for supply chain technology. "The more complex your supply chain, the greater value the benefits."

(source:shipping online)