Calculating detailed paths

You can create Transit Matrix records based on geocoded locations (sites and customers) or existing Transportation Policies records. You can then calculate detailed paths based on the pairs of locations. The calculation populates Distance and Travel Time in the Transit Matrix table. These values are used when you run the model with Network Optimization, Transportation Optimization and Inventory Optimization (Simulation uses straight line plus circuity to determine distance and travel time).

You can optionally save detailed road paths, made up of waypoints, that allow for display of actual road routes on the map.

For Transportation Optimization, you can calculate detailed paths based on the Segments records in your Transportation Optimization solution.

The workflow to generate Distance, Travel Time and detailed route waypoints with Transit Matrix is:

The workflow to calculate detailed paths for Transportation Optimization based on Segments is:

Populating the Transit Matrix table

You use the Transit Matrix table to set up the origin-destination combinations for which you want to calculate routes. When you calculate routes, the Distance and Travel Time are populated in the Transit Matrix records. You can add rows directly to the Transit Matrix table. The Transit Matrix table can also be populated based on the locations in your Sites and Customers tables, or using information in the Transportation Policies table.

  1. Open the Transit Matrix table.
  2. Click Generate Connections to populate data based on existing locations or Transportation Policies records. You see the Generate Connections form. You can also click Add New Row to add records as you would to any input table.
  3. Select the source to use to generate routes from. This is one of:
    • All Locations – Transit Matrix records are generated based on all combinations of locations in the Sites and Customers tables. You can further filter which sites and customers are used to generate connections.
    • Transportation Policies – Transit Matrix records are generated based on the Source-Destination-Mode combinations currently defined in the Transportation Policies table. This is the default selection.
  4. If you are using All Locations,
    • Optionally set filters for sites and customers:
      • Sites Filter – You can select a sites filter, use the default (ALL_Sites), or select (None) to exclude all sites.
      • Customers Filter – You can select a customers filter, use the default (ALL_Customers), or select (None) to exclude all customers.
    • You can enter a Max Straight Line Distance. This allows you to limit generated paths to those within a specific distance (in miles). Any path longer than “Max Straight Line Distance” is not populated.
    • You can set the “Generate forward and reverse routes separately” switch:
      • Selected – Separate routes are generated for the path from source to destination and for the path from destination to source. The forward and reverse routes are not necessarily symmetric in terms of distance and travel time.
      • Not selected – Routes are generated only for the path from source to destination. The forward and reverse routes are treated as symmetric in terms of distance and travel time.
  5. If you are using Transportation Policies, optionally select a Transportation Policies Filter. Connections are generated only for source-destination pairs returned by the filter.
  6. Select the action for existing records:
    • Replace – When this action is selected, all existing records in the table are cleared before new records are populated.
    • Append – When this action is selected, no existing records are cleared and new records are added to the table.
  7. Click OK. If you have “Replace” selected as the action for existing records, you are asked to confirm the replacement of existing records with the new paths.
  8. Click Yes. Records are generated for each unique combination of locations or as specified by the Transportation Policies.

Calculating routes using transit matrix

Supply Chain Guru X has built-in route calculation capabilities which can be used to set the Distance and Travel Time values in the Transit Matrix table.

The information required for successful route calculation depends on the locations involved and the distance engine provider you are using.

For Bing and Mapbox, the routes are calculated using the fastest route based on car travel. For PTV X Server Internet, the routes are calculated using the fastest route based on truck travel. In all cases, these are not necessarily the shortest distance routes.

For route calculation to run successfully, ensure that:

  • Sites and Customers do not have the same names. A Customer cannot have the same name as a Site.

  • Address values in Sites and Customers do contain more than one line. Export the table to Excel for ease of analysis.

  1. Ensure that the account keys are entered for the geodata providers you want to use. Refer to Geodata for additional information.
  2. Open the Transit Matrix input table.
  3. Click Calculate Detailed Paths. You see the Calculate Detailed Paths form.
  4. Select the Calculation Method:
    • Standard Routing – Each route’s distance is determined by a unique geoprovider query.
    • Matrix Routing – Some routing providers offer matrix routing, which can improve the performance of the route lookup and calculation. Route distances are calculated in batches, employing cached data when possible. When using Matrix Routing, detailed waypoints are not generated. As a result, you will not see detailed routes when you display on the map.
    If you are using matrix routing and you own the PC*Miler Matrix API, you can use the PC*Miler|RouteMatrix API to improve performance during route calculation.
  5. If you are using Standard Routing, optionally uncheck the Save Detailed Road Paths option. When this option is selected, waypoints that define the detailed path are saved in the model database. These waypoints are used to display the detailed paths on the map. If you do not need the detailed path display on the map, you can uncheck Save Detailed Road Paths. This can reduce model database size.
  6. Select the Calculation Provider. This list will vary depending on your choice for Calculation Method.
  7. If you are using Bing Maps as your Calculation Provider and want to avoid using ferries on calculated routes, you can check the Avoid Ferry Route Calculation If Possible option. Keep in mind that if you want to avoid ferries in specific areas, you can filter the records in the Transit Matrix table and apply this option, selecting Filtered Records as the Calculate Paths For: option.
  8. You can select one of the following to control which paths are calculated:
    • All Records
    • Selected Records - available only if one or more records is currently selected in the Transit Matrix table.
    • Filtered Records - available only if a filter is currently applied to the Transit Matrix table.
  9. Once all options are set as required, click Calculate.

Calculating routes using segments

Supply Chain Guru X has built-in route calculation capabilities which can be used to create detailed paths based on the records populated by Transportation Optimization in the Segments table.

The information required for successful path calculation depends on the locations involved and the distance engine provider you are using.

  1. Ensure that the account keys are entered for the geodata providers you want to use. Refer to Geodata for additional information.
  2. Open the Segments table.
  3. Click Calculate Detailed Paths. You see the Calculate Detailed Paths form.
  4. Select the Calculation Provider.
  5. Select which records from the Segments table are used to generate paths:
    • All Records – All records currently defined in the table are used to generate paths.
    • Selected Records – Records currently selected (highlighted) are used to generate paths.
    • Filtered Records – Records returned by the current filter criteria are used to generate paths.
  6. Once all options are set as required, click Calculate.

Clearing waypoints

When you calculate detailed paths, waypoints records are created that define the turn-by-turn segments of the detailed road path. Waypoints are used to display detailed road routes on the map. They can contribute to increased model database size, so you can clear them if you do not need them.

The Distance and Travel Time information that is stored in the Transit Matrix table is not affected when waypoints are cleared.
If you use matrix routing to calculate detailed paths, no waypoints are generated
  1. Open the Transit Matrix input table or the Segments output table.
  2. Click Clear Waypoints. You see the Clear Waypoints fly out. It reports the current number of waypoint records that are stored in the model and asks if you want to continue.
  3. Click OK. All waypoints are cleared from the model database.

Last modified: Monday July 08, 2024

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