New Feature

Base cases

In Control Panel you can turn on Base Case function by flagging 'Enforce Base Case Constraints'. You should specify a Base Case Lane in Transport Cost Data sheet in template, set Base Case Lane attribute to 1 and provide the Base Case Volume which is to be enforced by the model. If the Base Case Volume hasn't been given but there is Minimum and Maximum Capacity, then the model considers the Minimum and Maximum Capacity. If the Base Case Volume has a conflict with any capacity/demand constraints (Supplier, Resource,Production, Customer), you will get an Error while Data Navigator validates the data.

Refundable Tax

You can configure refundable tax to be included in the optimization.

First you need to create the refundable tax as a custom cost for transportation via the configuration wizard in Data Navigator.

Then you need to indicate that the custom cost is refundable. You do this by setting the custom cost is refundable with limit on the Single Value Data sheet in the excel template to 1 or 2. * Non-refundable: 0 - No limit on the refundable part (Payable = total debits - total credit). * Option1: 1 - Refundable up to a zero balance, you never get any money back (Payable = max(0, total debit - total credit)). * Option2: 2 - Refundable up to a zero balance, after you will pay a penalty for the extra credits (Payable = abs(total debit - total credit)).

../_images/refundable_tax_in_template.png

In the Transport Cost Data sheet you can specify credits as a negative cost which will be considered as refundable in the optimization.

../_images/refundable_tax_template_transport_cost.png

In the optimization the credit (negative cost) can offset debit (positive cost). The sum of the two is always greater than zero (you don’t get any money back). You can see them in the Network Design’s reports: negative items represent the refundable part, positive items represent costs.

In Option1 if the credit is not used in total, then you can see the unused part in the Cost Summary Dialog.

../_images/unused_tax_credit_in_cost_summary.png

Custom Cost

You can now configure custom cost elements to be included in the optimization. These costs can be added to all points of the supply chain where physical costs are incurred. Example of use cases are the addition of taxes and duties, carbon costs and inventory holding costs to the optimization.

You can activate these functionalities via the wizard. You need to specify the name of the cost, and where it applies:

../_images/new_feature_custom_cost1.png

Once you have indicated the new cost elements and where they apply, there will be extra attributes in the Excel template for each of the checked combinations. Once you have specified the data and solved the model, you will see the data for the custom costs in the application, next to the physical costs:

../_images/new_feature_custom_cost2.png

Excel Template

We have made some changes to the Excel data template to make it easier and more intuitive to capture data. For example:

  • We have changed some column heading to be simpler, more descriptive and more intuitive.

  • We have split DC resources and production resources into separate tabs.

  • We have split transport data into separate tabs for costs, capacities, and trip time and duration data.

Despite these changes, it will still be possible to upload data templates that use the old format, subject to a warning message, so that users do not have to reconfigure old data templates.

../_images/new_feature_template1.png

Excel Upload/Download for Table Widgets

The Table Widget offers you the possibility to download its contents to an Excel workbook on your local machine, which you can use to further process your data in Excel. Also, the data from an Excel workbook can be uploaded directly to the Table Widget. More specifically, after using Excel to make edits to the data, the same sheet can be uploaded to the table and its changes will be applied automatically to the WebUI data (as if you made them through manual changes).

On the Table Widget header you can find the icons for Excel upload/download:

../_images/excel_icons.png

For example, when clicking the "Download Excel" button on the following table:

../_images/excel_initialtable.png

Its data is downloaded to an Excel workbook (with the same name as the name of the widget):

../_images/excel_tabledownloaded.png

Now, if the value in the cell B2 is changed in Excel, for instance, from 5.20 to 15.80:

../_images/excel_tableupdated.png

The new contents of the Excel workbook are uploaded to the table:

../_images/excel_uploadexcel.png

The contents of the table are updated accordingly:

../_images/excel_dataupdated.png

You can read more about this feature in the AIMMS Development Manual, under Excel Upload/Download Support.

Bill of Material

SC Navigator Network Design 2.23.01 includes the Bill of Material functionality. This will allow users to configure the Bill of Materials (BOM) and specify the production conversions.

../_images/new_feature_bom1.png

As a result, the capability for modeling is now extended to the full supply chain, including raw materials and intermediate products.

../_images/new_feature_bom3.png

This functionality is activated by choosing a certain option in the Configuration Wizard.