CARGOMANAGER - Getting Started. (www.packyourcontainer.com)

If you are carrying out a TRIAL of CARGOMANAGER then the CD will contain a fully functional version of the software which will function for a limited time period - up to 21 days. [Those who have purchased a license should follow the installation instructions provided with their licensed CD].

Trial copies (only) MUST be installed LOCALLY on your computer (e.g. C: drive). After installation is complete Exit from the CD menu system. The application can then be run by selecting Start / Programs / CARGOMANAGER / runcargo. The rest of this very brief guide should help get you started. A full manual can be accessed from within the installed application (e.g. from the opening screen).

2. What you will be able to do.

CARGOMANAGER is a powerful suite of programs which allows you to quickly and easily determine:

In doing so a wide range of practical considerations - priorities, weight, fragility etc are considered. Solutions typically take just a few seconds to produce and thus can be used for both load planning and telephone orderline support.

When you first try out the software on your own problems you will need to have available dimensional information on your products - once this data has been entered once, then data entry for each item in a consignment is just a mouse click away.

Data formats used by CARGOMANAGER ensure that should you have product information available on other IT systems (e.g. in a spreadsheet), then this can be used as database or consignment data

Start CARGOMANAGER from the Start / Programs / CARGOMANAGER entry which will have been set on your machine.

CARGOMANAGER input comprises of container and consignment details.

If a new problem is about to be investigated (as we will illustrate below) then New Data is selected.

If consignment data has been entered previously and perhaps some changes are needed to this then Data File would be selected.

A full online Manual can be accessed and well as the GOAL Internet site.

CARGOMANAGER has an inbuilt database of Container Sizes - ContBase (which users can configure to the sizes of their containers and trailers), together with a database of cargo items - Itembase. The Itembase can be created from data held in other systems (e.g. via a spreadsheet using our MAKEIB utility), or gradually built up by making manual entries as you use the system. Linkfile allows input of complete consignment data from other computer systems.

CARGOMANAGER can tackle loading problems involving just a single container load or a consignment requiring 100 or more containers. The basics of data entry are the same in all instances and as a first step we will show how to determine the number of containers needed for a very simple consignment.

To tackle a new loading problem the New Data option is selected. You are then invited to give the consignment you are to input a title or description.

After making some suitable entry and selecting Proceed you are then presented with some possible container / trailer sizes as held in the Container Database. In practice you will use the Contbase option on the main menu screen to set up your own set of possible container / trailer sizes. [Standard internal container sizes vary slightly from company to company].

On this occasion we wish to use a 40ft Std Steel (Maersk) container - the first entry in our container table. We use the mouse to select this from the list, and the details are then displayed just in case we wish to modify them for the current run.

Having selected OK you will be presented with one of a number of 'User Tip' screens which explain what you can do next. Once you have become familiar with the system you can (as described on the Tip screen) choose not to display these. If you find these annoying you can at any time tick the box to stop them being displayed. They can always be re-activated on the CARGOMANAGER opening screen.

The next step is to specify the items in the consignment. For each item we will need to input the dimensions, weight and quantity, and indicate the orientation(s) valid for packing. We will also need to indicate special considerations (e.g. weight, fragility etc).

When first displayed the screen data entry fields await completion and in the picture overleaf we have entered details of our (single) consignment item. A smaller database screen will typically be shown to the left of the above screen, this is discussed later and provides cargo input 'with a single click of a mouse'.

You will note from the data entry screen that as well as entering the dimensions, a quantity to ship and the weight of our product, we have left the two orientation boxes ticked - this means that the boxes can be loaded in any orientation.

You will also note that there are data entry fields available to cater for heavy or fragile cargo items. Also, the ability to specify packing priorities is useful when packing either multi-drop loads or when you have some essential cargo to send together with additional filler items.

If we had more cargo to specify we would select 'Add more Items' and continue until the Cargo list was complete. Later in this guide we will also show how to enter all the above product data with the click of the mouse. On this occasion we select Cargo List Complete. We are then invited to select the type of loading required. Our objective in this instance is to maximise fill so we accept the first option and Continue.

The screen that follows (aside from any User Tip Screen), provides you with details of the cargo volume, the container volume and the percentage fill which would need to be achieved in order to pack the whole consignment. In this instance a fill of 343.26% - nearly 3.5 containers worth. The bottom half of the screen (below) shows the options now available. Here we will select Multicont to load the given consignment into multiple containers of the size we have already specified.

Although we have already selected a 40' container as that to be used, we now have the opportunity to select other containers which we might wish to utilise. This will allow CARGOMANAGER to provide you with a loading comparison between several container sizes. On this occasion we will just press Continue.

We are then prompted to save the consignment details to disk for subsequent recall but on this occasion we will just accept the default filename (saved.dat) and then CARGOMANAGER will proceed to pack the cargo in the most efficient manner in the given 40' containers.

and on selecting the Solution button the detailed solution, container by container is available:

When you select the Continue button you are then presented with miniature pictures of each of the 4 loaded containers. The load plans for the first 3 containers are, not surprisingly given the single product, identical. That for Container 4 shows the partly filled load.

You can then highlight any of the containers and proceed to obtain a detailed consignment list and 3D pictures of the load as it is built up, or select PrintALL to immediately get summary load plans for all the containers.

On this occasion we select (say) Container 1 and then Continue, firstly to a detailed summary of the contents and then Draw Picture to reach the screen shown overleaf:

The small picture of the complete loaded container is first shown in the top left.

The remainder of the screen initially shows a 3D view of the empty container and a key to the colour coding used to show item orientation. On printed diagrams colour or shading is optional as orientation codes are also output.

The buttons shown allow you to build up the load plan and select the number of printed reports and the positioning of these. You can draw the full consignment as a single picture (use the All button), or build up the load plan a step at a time from the rear of the container using the Next button.

As the picture is built up you can select the number and positioning of pictures to be produced (on printer or to an email file) using the Back, Hidden and Print buttons. Once again the manual will assist in understanding this simple process.

Each picture which is subsequently output (to printer / email) will contain a detailed picking list together with printed codes on each case indicating the orientation in which it is to be placed and (optionally) colour/shaded coding.

On screen, pointing at a cargo item with the mouse in the main drawing will show details of that item. Once the load view is complete the printing or emailing (using the add-on e-CARGO PDF module) of the load diagrams can be activated.

Naturally one can produce side and plan views of the load (by selecting the 2D-Views option).

Three packing modes are supported - PackCalc - calculating the best packing of the cargo specified into a single container of a given size; BestCont - where you specify which of the container / trailer sizes in your Container Database might be used for this consignment - and CARGOMANAGER provides a list ranked on performance; and MultiCont - where you want to know how many containers of the selected size are required for the cargo specified, or compare the efficiency of using alternate sizes.

It is also possible to create complete consignment lists (e.g. in a spreadsheet) which can be input into CARGOMANAGER using the Linkfile Option on the opening screen.

To meet specific loading requirements it may be necessary on a one-off basis to adjust the default settings for the CARGOMANAGER Packing Options.

When you manually entered data into the Cargo Data Entry screen earlier in this guide then a 2nd Itembase window was also displayedto the left of the screen as shown to the left here. This contains 3 TRIAL products and their dimensions etc, which we have input using the Itembase option on the opening screen. TRIAL 4 CATERING is, in fact, the product previously entered manually into the Cargo Entry screen.

Instead of manually typing in the dimensions you could have double-clicked on TRIAL 4 CATERING and all the information would have been entered automatically leaving you to just enter a quantity.

In addition, had you typed in TRIAL 4 CATERING as the Case Code then CARGOMANAGER would have seen that the product was in the Itembase and, once again, completed the appropriate fields.

An Itembase can be created by direct entry from the keyboard, or from cargo sets you have entered previously, or should you have dimensional and weight information available in (say) a spreadsheet or database this too can be used to create an Itembase of up to 25,000 items using the supplied MAKEIB utility.

CARGOMANAGER is available in two basic forms. Both of these allow you to investigate how best to load a consignment into a user-defined container / trailer, with up to 20,000 individual items / container and up to 15,000 different item types forming the complete cargo set. CARGOMANAGER Lite allows you to investigate any problems involving the loading of cargo to form a single container load. This includes a facility to rapidly compare the efficiency with which up to 10 user-specified container / trailer sizes may be loaded. The full CARGOMANAGER product extends this to allow both the rapid calculation of multi-container loads needing 1-999 containers, as well as providing a rapid comparison as to the efficiency achieved from using any set of up to 50 of the user-specified container sizes. PDF email support for load plans is available through e-CARGO.

Gower Optimal Algorithms Ltd have over 30 years experience in providing companies worldwide with logistics solutions. Our unique, powerful and reliable windows software meets the demands of the packaging professional, and has behind it an unrivalled research basis (see our website for further information).