Supply Chain Management Blogs by SAP
Expand your SAP SCM knowledge and stay informed about supply chain management technology and solutions with blog posts by SAP. Follow and stay connected.
cancel
Showing results for 
Search instead for 
Did you mean: 
former_member186731
Active Contributor
0 Kudos
2,019
Today I would like to point to a new feature that we long waited for and boosts the planning process in the Transportation Cockpit: For the first time in the SAP Transportation Management history we are able to offer an UNDO function!

So far manual planning in the cockpit did not allow try and error planning. After executing a planning step (either using drag&drop or planning buttons like Assign Selected Items), the system created or adjusted the documents, updated the tables, hierarchies, map, Gantt Chart with the new transportation plan. The planer could check it and if he liked it, save the plan. If he was not happy with the result, he could for some planning steps use available functions like unassigning demands from a tour. But this was not possible for everything. So the only way to undo planning was to refresh the cockpit, which is really not nice - loading time, interrupted process, ...

With TM 9.4 the Transportation Cockpit has been enhanced offering a UNDO button in the global toolbar. And here is how it works:

We start with a planning scenario including the TM Gantt Chart on the top left area showing Freight Units and Trucks, the map on the right side showing the geographical planning situtation, and a list of current Freight Orders on the left bottom. Now 3 FUs get selected on the map, the truck in the Gantt Chart, and those shall be planned using 'Assign Selected Items'.



The result of this planning step leads to a new Freight Order (so far temporary because I did not save yet), the Gantt and map components are updated (FUs switch to planned state, map shows real street routing of new tour, ...).



And now, the planer does not like what he sees, he selects 'Undo':



On the top right side the planer is informed which planning step was undone and all components switch back to the previous state.

In case multiple planning steps have been executed in a row, also multiple undos are possible. This can be defined in the customizing:





Why is this required? The cockpit is very performance critical and if you are already a TM customer you know what I am talking about. To remember the data required for the undo of course runtime and memory is needed, so an unlimited undo would blow up the cockpit. I think a reasonable setting is something between 1 and 3. Some planners tend to save after each planning step, some do multiple steps in a row.

Depending on the feedback this feature might become available in other TM transactions as well.
1 Comment