INDUSTRY FEATURE

ILOG Transport PowerOps
More profit per mile
Transportation companies and their customers have long been forced to watch profits slip at the gas pump. Rising fuel prices have fueled a search for a software solution that optimally balances the tradeoffs between service costs and delivery performance.

ILOG has put an end to this search with its new ILOG Transport PowerOps (TPO) application. The first release from ILOG’s new PowerOps Suite, ILOG TPO enables trucking companies and logistics services to create plans that are more realistic than those generated by most solutions in use today. Users can now better control costs and increase efficiency with an application that specifically addresses the complex planning requirements of retailers, third-party logistics providers, and makers of consumer packaged goods.

ILOG TPO delivers this by bringing together three powerful software technologies for the first time: interactive visualization that realistically depicts transportation assets; business rule management that lets business users change customer parameters as often as necessary; and resource optimization that automatically balances asset utilization and costs against service levels. Users get fully optimized transportation plans for their available resources.

ILOG Transport PowerOps interface Click to enlarge (opens a new window)

ILOG TPO contributes to lowering fuel costs by providing detailed routing plans that reduce the distances driven and waiting times at warehouses and other pickup and delivery points. It also maximizes vehicle utilization while minimizing the number of vehicles needed -- all contributing to higher overall profitability.

ILOG TPO provides a much richer and, therefore, more accurate resource modeling environment. For example, many systems simply model the number of dock doors at a site. ILOG TPO users can include the number of forklifts, exit gates – even the number of available people down to the minute. Because this new product provides far more granular scheduling, congestion and waiting times are reduced or even eliminated. Arrivals at a busy warehouse, for instance, can be scheduled according to the actual resources required to load shipments.

To learn more about ILOG TPO, visit: http://tpo.ilog.com.