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Jan 12, 2023 at 04:18 PM

Transportation planning of big orders into multiple trucks (for multiple carriers)

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Dear Experts,

In our B2B industry (paper production) we have the scenario that we have really big sales orders which are split into many trucks / containers when shipped to the customer or to distribution centers. We need some kind of transportation planning (actually for ordering trucks and containers); but at the time of ordering we cannot exactly say which part of the order goes into which truck. Only after loading we know exactly which units (we are using batches to identify the units) and which exact amount is in each truck.

Currently, we have some more or less complicated procedures combining SAP and other tools; currently still in LE/TRA. However they need a lot of additional effort and subsequent corrections; I would like to hear your expertise and best practice if there is a desired procedure in SAP that makes this process easy.

e.g. :

  • There is a customer order for 600 tons in total, consisting of three items (with different materials) 1: 100 to, 2: 200 to, 3: 300 to. Production will take 2 days; goods should be placed into the trucks moreless directly when they come from production.
  • Our transport logistics (now) knows somehow they will need e.g. 30 trucks; 20 on day 1; 10 on day 2. They have to order trucks from multiple carriers, and they have to react on changes. Ordering has to take place several days before production, as the carriers have to plan, and even to provide truck details upfront.
    At this time, they do not know how the materials will be combined into trucks.
  • At the day of production, the warehouse team has to know about which trucks are available for that order. They will check what has been already produced and load it into the trucks. They will combine goods of different items to ensure optimal utilization.
  • For freight settlement and logistics invoice controlling, we will finally calculate the freight cost per truck and carrier.

Currently, in LE/TRA, they try to create shipments already with correct deliveries/sales order items assigned, and with correct carrier. The warehouse tries to stick to that plans.
Documents are changed after loading if the original guess was incorrect.


We create shipments with multiple transportation units (handling units), so we initially can assign all order items to the same shipment; later, we can execute batch split /subsequent delivery split and assign the desired amount per truck to each HU. But still we have issues if multiple carriers are involved -> in LE only one service agent per shipment can be assigned, not per HU.

In LE/TRA, theoretically we could simply create "empty" shipments just for the purpose of freight ordering, and link them with the actual deliveries after physical shipping. However I would have no link between shipment and sales orders at the beginning; if the order changes late, I cannot really say if I have to order additional trucks or cancel some... Actually I would need some kind of resource planning for (external) trucks...

So, what would be the correct way in TM (EWM?) (or even LE) to plan and order the required amount of trucks from different carriers in time, without exact assignment of deliveries/order items? Is it possible to create and tender freight orders just based on a "required number of trucks/containers" instead of exact "freight units" which require to know the exact material already?

I'd be happy for receiving your ideas or best practices. Maybe even TM on S/4HANA will solve all my problems already, but I did not really get this confirmed yet ...

regards, Karl