Using the Transportation Optimization configuration file

Transportation Optimization can make use of an optional configuration file that sets parameters used to control solver behavior. When you run Transportation Optimization, parameters are written to the parameter.csv file in the TO folder by default. If you want to override these values, you can create a config.dat file by including parameters in the Config_TO table. Parameters defined in config.dat will provide additional constraints or override the settings in parameter.csv if applicable.

Parameters Supported in Config_TO

The following table lists the parameters that are supported in the Config_TO table. Note that Coupa may provide additional parameters as needed. You can use these parameters by setting the Status to "Include" and setting the Parameter Value as needed.

Parameter Name Default Value Description Applicable Problem Type(s)
UseRatesAsConstraint FALSE If FALSE, the solver will stop when a rate is missing to construct a route. If TRUE, the solver will make the route infeasible when a rate is missing.  
UseAssetSiteAsOrigin FALSE If FALSE, TO will treat the first Pickup location in a route as origin for all origin based rate types. If TRUE, the solver will treat Asset home site as origin.  
ServiceTimeEndInTimeWindow TRUE If FALSE, the load and unload operations are allowed to exceed the time windows defined in the Business Hours table as long as they started within the time window (when a site is open).  
MaxDistanceTimeConstraintForAllSegments FALSE If FALSE, the ""Max distance between In Transit Stops"" is only applicable for in transit stops; If TRUE the Max distance is treated as a constraint for all the segments including first and last.  
RouteEndInAssetTimeWindow FALSE If FALSE, Asset can return home empty anytime irrespective of the asset availability time window. All the load/unload will still be with in the Asset availability time window. If TRUE, Asset should return home within asset availability time window.  
RouteEndInTimeWindow FALSE If FALSE, Asset can return home empty anytime irrespective of the business hours or model horizon. If TRUE, Route should end when return location is open.  
FixedServiceTimeForEquipmentStop FALSE If FALSE, The “Fixed Service Time” from the Sites table is unused if there is no Shipment Load/unload at the location ( for the case where asset domicile has no loading ) If TRUE, Apply fixed service time even when there is no shipment load/unload.  
CombineShipmentsWithSameOD TRUE If TRUE, input shipments are automatically combined when they have the same origin and destination and compatible time windows.  
UseTwoCompartments FALSE If TRUE, modeling two compartment per asset is supported. Refer to Help for details on how to model two compartments. All except Interleaved
WarmStartBaseline FALSE Use baseline routes as a warm start.

Standard

Interleaved

runModelAsInbound Yes/No Autodetected. If TRUE, the model will be forced to run as Inbound. If FALSE, model will be forced to run as Outbound. Used when distinct number of sources and destinations in the Shipments table are very close. Standard
OptimizationEffortFactor 1 Controls the number of improvement iterations, Higher number leads to better quallity and long run time. Suggested range [ 0, 5]  
NeighbourSize 15 Number of locations that are considered to be inserted into a partial route during the route construction phase. Higher values typically result in a better solution with a longer run-time. All except Interleaved
NumberOfRoutesSelected 100 The maximum number of routes selected for Interleaved Optimization solver when enumerating routes based on old routes. Higher values typically result in a better solution with a longer run-time. Interleaved
SvrpClusteringApproach 0 0: Do not use clustering algorithm; 1: Use clustering algorithm then call column generation for routes from all clusters; 2: Use clustering algorithm then call column generation for each cluster. Standard
MaximumShipmentsPerCluster 30 The maximum number of shipments for each cluster when clustering algorithm is used. For Interleaved Optimization, recommend value not exceeding 50. For Standard Optimization, there is no restriction.

Standard

Interleaved

MaximumSitesNumberPerCluster int.MaxValue The maximum number of sites for each cluster when clustering algorithm is used. For Interleaved Optimization, recommend value not exceeding 50. For Standard Optimization, there is no restriction.

Standard

Interleaved

RouteEnumerationFilterLevel 10 The level of how hard the algorithm tries to generate routes in Interleaved Optimization. Higher values typically result in a better solution with a longer run-time. Suggested value range [1, 30]. Interleaved
MaximumRadiusRatio 0.33 Controls which adjacent locations can be combined on a route. Maximum Radius = Max Radius Ratio * Max distance between locations. Interleaved
MaximumDeadheadDistancePercentage 0.5 Defines the maximum percentage of deadhead distance in the total distance per route. Deadhead distance is that distance traveled when the asset is empty. Interleaved
MaximumDistanceIncreaseRatioAsInsertion 1.5 Maximum distance increase ratio when inserting a stop between two adjacent stops. Interleaved
MaximumCGIterations 30 The maximum number of iterations for column generation. The default value is usually large enough. Make the value smaller if you want to solve faster.

Standard

Interleaved

MaxNumOfSeedRoutesForCG 500 The maximum number of seed columns for each column generation iteration. The default value is usually large enough. Make the value smaller if you want to solve faster.

Standard

Interleaved

MinPercentageImprovementToContinueCg 0.0001 If the improvement over the last 4 iterations of column generation is less than this parameter, column generation stops. Higher values will stop column generation earlier.

Standard

Interleaved

UseSimulatedAnnealingInCg FALSE

If TRUE, turn on simulated annealing for column generation module. If FALSE, turn off simulated annealing for column generation. The module typically results in a better solution with a longer run-time.

Standard

Interleaved

SimulatedAnnealingInitTemp 400 Controls the initial temperature for simulated annealing. Higher values mean a broader exploration of the search space before convergence to a good solution. Suggested Range [100,1000]  
SimulatedAnnealingAlpha 0.95 Rate of the cool down in simulated annealing. Higher value mean a slower convergence of the algorithm. Suggested range [0.5,0.99]  
OptimalityGapRouteSelectionMip -1 The optimality gap for the route selection mixed-integer program to exit. Default behavior is to let the solver decide the value. Suggested Value Range [0,1].  
SolveTimeRouteSelectionMip -1 The maximum solve time for the route selection mixed-integer program model to exit. Default behavior is to let the solver decide the value.  
PreventDuplicateShipmentAssignmentInMip FALSE f TRUE, in the route selection mixed-integer program, one route selected fufill each shipment, no shipment duplication among routes. Turning this parameter off in general will improve the MIP solve time.  
PeriodLengthRouteSelectionModel 24 Measured by hrs, the period length in route selection mixed-integer program. The smaller the value is, the more accurate the MIP model is, but it will take longer to solve. Suggested value range [1, 48].

Standard

Interleaved

RelaxSecondStageMipLimit FALSE If TRUE, Relaxes the limit on #variables to decide if the solver should run a MIP or heuristic.

Standard

Interleaved with Fleet Opt

VariableAllowanceFactor 1.2 Controls the number of start periods (period length) considered in the horizon for each route. Smaller value results in faster solve, larger value results in slower solve (better tours). Suggested range [0.75, 2].

Standard

Interleaved with Fleet Opt

OptimizeDynamicSourcing FALSE If TRUE, a network based set covering mixed integer program is used to optimize the sourcing decisions. The default is to use the closest source for shipments.  
ApplyDistanceSavingConstraint  TRUE Construct route for a shipment pair if the total distance of the resulting route is less than or equal to total distance of the 2 routes created for each individual shipment.  
BackhaulMatchingMaxRepositionDistance double.MaxValue Upper limit to the total distance of empty legs on a route (in miles). Constraint is only applied to double-shipment routes. Backhaul Matching
BackhaulMatchingMaxRepositionDistancePercentage 1 Upper limit to the total distance of empty legs on a route as a fraction of the routes total distance. Constraint is only applied to double-shipment routes. Backhaul Matching
AssetSearchDistanceFromFirstPickup double.MaxValue Upper limit to the distance from the asset availability site to the first shipment pickup location. Parameter is used to determine which asset availabilities are considered for a route.  
The parameters below are not in Config_TO by default. You can add parameters to the table as needed.
AssetAvailabilityGroup TRUE

When set to TRUE, you can set up groups of Transportation Assets where the Available Units is across all assets in the group. See Asset availability groups for setup details.

 

Last modified: Wednesday May 15, 2024

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