S-053-V3-EN
Limit short pieces is a template of the Custom duty preference. This template limits the minimum length of a work piece, effectively removing pieces that are under that limit.
If you are planning to optimize your schedule, it’s recommended to always use this preference to ensure that the optimization is quick and efficient.
Setup
To use the preference, follow these steps:
While in your schedule, open Preferences.
Search for Custom Duty Preference and click on it.
Hover over + Custom Duty Preference and click Load Custom Duty Preference.
Switch to the Optibus tab.
Search and click on Limit Short Pieces, then click Apply.
With this template, you can set a minimum duration of a piece. This way, the optimization engine will attempt not to cut pieces shorter than that limit. This is beneficial because:
It ensures that there are no short pieces, that drivers’ duties are operational and their work pieces are of reasonable length.
It reduces the number of pieces the optimization considers and thus the duration of the optimization time is reduced dramatically.
You can change the minimum piece length to the desired value: 60, 120 min, and so on. The best practice is not to go over 120 min, and the ideal range is 60 to 90 min.
Note: There is a Limit long pieces template for this preference as well. It functions the same way but limits the maximum duration of a piece instead.
Crew relaxation
It’s recommended that you set a Crew Relaxation rule for limiting short pieces. This rule lets you loosen the constraints such as Limit long- or short pieces if there is no other way to optimize the schedule.
To set up Crew Relaxation rules:
While in your schedule, open Preferences.
Search for Crew Relaxation and click on it.
Click + Add preference.
You will see a list of previously set constraints, including Limit short- or long pieces.
Check the boxes next to those constraints you’d like to loosen if necessary.
You can also drag and drop the constraints, changing the order. This will be the order in which they will be loosened until the optimization engine finds a solution.
Click Save & Close when done.