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At the suggestion of a number users we have introduced a major new function - Contfill - to both PALLETISE and COLLATION modes of operation. This allows users to see immediately the impact of a particular case design on both pallet fill and container / trailer fill. A design maximising pallet fill might produce a poor utilisation when loaded, on or off pallets, into trailers or containers. This feature is described in detail in Section 5.11 of the manual.
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Users may be aware of the further major changes Microsoft has introduced during the year including enhancements to Windows Vista and the new Explorer browser. In addition wide-screen displays are becoming more popular. The new release contains major updates across every screen to support all of these areas, and we have also introduced a new 'calculation engine' which will speed up operation across the whole suite of software.
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We have also introduced a number of changes which will further enhance the user experience. These include extending the labelling on near-square cases to assist visual recognition in CUBE, PALLETISE and COLLATION modes, an extension to the spreadsheet export capabilities of the STORE module and enhanced graphics on a number of reports.
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In response to requests from a number of users we have now added the facility for users to specify a logo to replace the standard PALLETMANAGER logo in the top left of PALLETISATION and COLLATION reports. The procedure to follow to provide this is described in detail in Appendix 1 - 17 of the online manual. Obviously this is optional and the previous small default PALLETMANAGER logo is used otherwise. The logo, when used, will be displayed on all new reports, all reports printed from STORE database and any new reports saved to the Webbase database.
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The 'DO BETTER' module has now been extended and enhanced so as to produce a wider range of solutions and to deal specifically with square items. How often have you though - 'This case does not palletise very well, I wonder if minor changes to the dimensions could provide an improvement'? A unique and powerful function 'Do Better' is now available which answers exactly that question in Palletise, Collation and Tertiary modes of operation. This complements the existing 'Fixed Volume' optimisation which may be available to you (according to licence). See Section 15 for full details.
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As well as adding graphics in the form of a logo to reports we have
now also added facilities to display primary images on the faces of
reports produced in Collation mode. Details of how this can be achieved
is detailed at the end of Section 6 of the manual.
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Users may well be aware that during the last year Microsoft has introduced a new browser technology - Explorer 7 - and has also introduced a substantially different operating environment - Microsoft Vista. Our software has been subject to major update to ensure compatibility. Amongst the work done to ensure this was the introduction of a completely new Help system, and an updated, browser based, manual display system. As with past releases Help is provided relevant to individual screens, whilst a fully searchable Manual provides help across the full application.
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| When displaying the tabular results of the palletisation of any given or calculated case sizes on your selected pallet PALLETMANAGER has always listed these in cost order. This takes into account not only the transport costs associated with pallet movement and storage but, for problems where case sizes have been developed as collations of primary units, the likely packaging costs associated with each design. This very powerful feature can result in the least cost solution not actually being the one fitting the most units / pallet. The latest version now provides an additional set of buttons on the tabular results screen (Screen 5), so that the display can be 'toggled' between the traditional cost based listing and one sorted according the the number of primaries fitted on each pallet. |
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Whilst PALLETMANAGER has always been able to deal with
the packing of tote boxes or tray units, the increased use of these has
resulted in us tailoring the software to meet the specific needs of such
users.
As well as changes to display screens we have also introduced modified report formats which are automatically output when totes / trays or slipsheets are to be used.
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A new form of pallet stack was introduced in v7.4 which combines both column stacked and interlocked case layers. Stacks of this type will consist of a number of identical layers in a column stack at the base (the number being specified by the user), with the remaining (upper) layers being of the standard interlock format (mirror, flip or rotation). An example of such a pallet stack is shown on the left, with the first 3 pallet layers being of a column stack format, with those above forming an interlocking pattern. Such layouts are available in Palletise, Collation and Tertiary modes and can provide the stack strength advantages of a column stack with the stability benefits of an interlocking arrangement. The on-screen development of the interlock arrangement is unchanged, but immediately prior to selecting to View and Print specifications the user can specify the number of column stacked layers they wish to use. Naturally the solutions obtained in this way can be saved to both STORE and Webbase for subsequent recall / reprint.
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