Section 2 Required Container Quantity Simulation for Piece Shipping Totes (Collapsible Containers)
This feature accurately simulates the required quantity of plastic totes, returnable containers, and collapsible totes (oricon) needed for piece/small-lot shipping based on daily shipping data.
Rather than performing a simple gross total calculation of required containers, it executes practical engineering calculations through the following steps, considering transport loading efficiency and empty tote storage footprints.
Primary Calculation Steps
- Parameter Configuration: Select the target "Shipping Date", specify the "Plastic Tote / Container Type" to be used, and enter the "Fill Rate %" (degree of volumetric packing density inside containers).
- Data Extraction: The system automatically extracts destination records from "Shipping Category" fields where piece shipping container deployment is specified.
- Volume Aggregation & Container Quantity Calculation: Aggregates cargo material volume (cubic dimensions) per destination to calculate the following parameters:
- Required Container Quantity: Total count of plastic totes or boxes needed for shipping operations.
- Loaded Pallet (PL) Count: Number of pallet slots required when stacking calculated containers onto pallets.
- Empty Container Storage PL Count: Number of pallet slots required to store returned empty plastic totes (oricon) in their folded/collapsed state.
Operational Implementation Points
To support efficient distribution center facility management, the following practical features are provided:
- Restricting Scope of Application: Because reusable piece shipping totes require empty container collection and return workflows, calculations strictly target destinations serviced by in-house dedicated fleets or dedicated contract carriers.
- Comparing Diverse Calculation Logics: Displays "Simple Aggregation", "Round Down", "Round Off (Half Adjust)", and "Round Up" metrics simultaneously, supporting container fleet decision-making matching various operational contexts.
- Determining Total Required Container Fleet Size: In practical field operations, total container fleet holdings are finalized by adopting "Round Up" calculations on peak shipping days and multiplying by destination container return cycle turnover rates.
Procedure for Calculating Required Piece Shipping Containers from Shipping Data
Destinations utilizing piece shipping totes are restricted to in-house fleets and dedicated carriers capable of returning empty containers. The actual calculation procedure in the software is as follows:
- Select the target shipping date, choose the plastic tote (container) model size, and enter the container fill rate %.
- Click the "Start Calculation" button.
- The software automatically filters shipping destination records specified for piece shipping tote operations from "Shipping Category" fields.
- Based on destination cubic volume aggregation, calculates required container counts and pallet slot requirements for loaded pallets.
- Simultaneously calculates required pallet slots for storing returned empty totes in their collapsed state.
The calculation results screen presents a comparative table displaying simple aggregation, round-down, round-off, and round-up calculations.
Normally, adopting peak-day round-up calculations and multiplying by destination plastic tote return cycles yields the exact total container fleet required for facility operations.