SECTION 9 - END PACKING.

(Covers end packing input and calculation procedure)

At various stages when using CARGOMANAGER additional cargo can be specified for packing into the container. This may be done before any attempt is made at packing the container (i.e. before the end of the Input procedure), or, the additional cargo may be added to a container after some cargo has been packed into the container by CARGOMANAGER.

These two situations differ in that in the former instance the additional items are added to the complete cargo list which CARGOMANAGER will attempt to pack, whereas in the latter the additional cargo specified will be packed (where possible) into spaces available around the cargo which has already been packed.

This section of the manual covers all aspects of the latter situation. This procedure is referred to as End Packing.

It should be emphasised that End Packing is Always carried out on an Un-levelled packing arrangement. Levelling can be re-selected if required after packing has been carried out.

At various stages in CARGOMANAGER after cargo has been packed, the user may select an option to Add additional cases to the cargo already packed within the container.

This can be done immediately after the calculation phase or following the on-screen display of the packing arrangement.

The option Add is selected from both screens.

Having selected this option the user is faced with completed Cargo Data Entry screens very similar to that used to specify the original cargo (which has already been packed). It differs in two ways from the earlier screen.

The 'quantity' entry, which originally contained the quantity of each product available for packing, now contains zeros.

With this release the remainder of the product information (Description, sizes etc) can be accessed - thus you could change (for example) orientation constraints.

Normally just the quantity entries for existing cargo types are changed, though you could add Additional items of another case type.

Once data entry is complete select EndEdit to move on to the Summary of Input Screen.

This screen provides details of the cargo already packed, the remaining capacity in the container, and the volume and weight of the additional cargo.

Once again, selecting PackCalc will move on to the End Packing Calculation Phase.

During this phase details of the items already packed and the spaces remaining in the container are retrieved.

The additional cargo is then packed into the available space and, as with the initial packing calculation process, details of the progress of calculations is provided on screen. Unlike the Calculation Phase for an empty container, only one stage of packing is required. Fragile and heavy items in this additional cargo will be packed taking into account their packing constraints, but they will not be 'mixed' with fragile or heavy items already packed.

Once calculations are complete, the total number of Cases packed is displayed together with details of the weight/ volume of the additional items successfully packed. Selecting Continue proceeds to the Tabular Loading Results.

This screen is similar to that produced when packing an empty container, except that details of previously packed items are displayed as well as details of the additional items.

The Orig column contains details of the number of cases of each type packed prior to adding the additional items, Now refers to the total number now packed, Left gives details of those additional cases which remain unpacked.

Those items which are unpacked by the End Packing process are not retained for subsequent packing. Only cases which are unpacked when packing an empty container are stored in a file for subsequent packing (if required). This is discussed in more detail in Sections 4 and 6.

End Packing does have the advantage that items originally input (and packed) are left in place and the additional cargo is fitted into the spaces remaining in the arrangement.

Although, from a practical viewpoint this second method of adding additional items may well be preferable, it is important stress once again that CARGOMANAGER, as with manual load planning, is best able to provide high quality packings when the whole of the cargo to be packed is known at the outset.

Within CARGOMANAGER End Packing attempt to fill spaces remaining in the container with the specified additional cargo. However, in doing so it takes account of the user setting of the question in the Packing Options selection relating to whether a Multi-Drop load is involved.

If the user has specified a multi-drop load then CARGOMANAGER assumes that the unloading of the cargo for each destination has to be achieved without removal of any cargo due to be unloaded at 'later' destinations. Thus, once the cargo for a particular destination has been packed, any spaces which may remain to the rear of the current packing 'face' will not be utilised.