Optimisation Overview
Creation date: 3/25/2026 4:20 AM
Updated: 3/30/2026 11:39 AM
Prerequisites
To optimise a Scenario, at least the Forecast and the Operations must be configured. This minimum configuration is required because the optimiser must understand the supply and demand, as well as the network capabilities to satisfy that demand.
Costs configuration is not a hard requirement, but the more information you provide the more optimisation options will be available.
Please refer to our Scenario configuration guides.
Getting started with an Optimisation
In the Scenarios list, navigate to the Scenario you wish to optimise. If at least the Forecast and the Operations are defined, there will be a blue Optimisable badge next to the Scenario name. Otherwise this status badge will state Draft in yellow, with prompts to complete the required configurations.
Click on the Optimise button in the lower right corner of the Scenario card to create an Optimisation.
You will be prompted to name your Optimisation and select the dimension you want to optimise. Name your scenario and select an available dimension. Then click on the Create button. You can always change the optimisation dimension later.
Optimisation Dimensions
There are four available dimensions to optimise on.
- Asset Km: Always available, as long as the Forecast and Operations are defined. See the Understanding Asset Kilometres section below to learn more about this network metric.
- Transport Cost: Requires that the Transport Costs section of the Scenario be configured. See our guide on Transport Cost configuration.
- Facility Costs: Requires that the Facility Costs section of the Scenario be configured. See our guide on Facility Costs configuration.
- Total Cost: Requires that both the Transport Costs and Facility Costs of the Scenario be configured, allowing the optimiser to properly quantify tradeoffs between these two dimensions.
When a Scenario is fully configured, all four optimisation dimensions are available to choose from. Otherwise, dimensions for which there is insufficient data will appear greyed out.
Understanding Asset Kilometres
Asset Km (Asset Km) is the product of the volume shipped and the distance travelled. Both of these quantities are major drivers of cost, so that Asset Km is strongly correlated with network costs.
This metric serves as a useful proxy for identifying efficiency improvements even before granular costs are modelled. It can help you identify high intensity lanes where costs are driven by long distances, large shipping volumes, or both.
Asset Km optimisation is always available for an Optimisable Scenario.
Constraints page overview
In the Configure Optimisation page, you instruct the optimiser on the changes that it is or isn't allowed to make to the network. This is achieved by configuring constraints for the locations.
Optimisation Dimension Menu
The first menu on the Configure Optimisation page is the Optimisation Dimension drop down, where you can choose the metric to optimise depending on how much information is provided in the Scenario. See the Optimisation Dimensions section above for more details.
Define Constraints Menu
This section contains a card for each Location Type in the network that isn't a supply or demand location. Supply and demand locations are configured in the Forecast and do not appear here, as they represent the fixed start and end points of the supply chain.
Constraints for all intermediate links in the value chain are defined in this menu.
Each location type can have one of two types of configuration: Greenfield or Constrained.
Greenfield
Selecting Greenfield for a Location Type will instruct the optimiser to ignore all locations of that type and create them from scratch at optimal locations according to the optimisation metric selected. Greenfield locations will continue to reflect the capacity and cost configurations defined for the Location Type in the Scenario.
Greenfield configuration is a good way to explore the art of the possible, and explore how components of the network, or even the whole network, could look like if it were rebuilt for efficiency from the ground up.
To configure a Greenfield Location Type, the only requirement is selecting the countries where new locations will be created. Use the drop down menu to select countries. You can also use the search bar to find countries quickly.
Constrained
Constrained configuration offers granular control over each location of the Location Type. There are five kinds of constraints.
- Optional: Allows the optimiser to decide whether to keep or remove the location.
- Exclude: Removes the location from the network. The optimiser will find alternative paths for the location's flows.
- Mandatory: The location remains in the network, but the optimiser decides whether to direct flows through it or not. Note that the fixed costs associated with the location will continue to contribute to the overall costs even if all of its flows are redirected.
- Fixed Flows: All flows in and out of the location remain unchanged. Note that fixing flows impacts the configuration of connected locations.
- Advanced: Allows you to fix specific flows at the location, by inflow/outflow as well as Flow Type.
The Constrained interface also displays the Current Capacity of each location and the Flex Capacity column, where the capacity at each location can be modified. For example, when setting locations to Optional, it is recommended to give other locations extra capacity to allow the optimiser to redirect the flow volume of shut down locations.
Constraints can be set uniformly for all locations of the given Location Type by using the controls on the very first row of the Constraints table, or more granularly at the individual location level. Constraints can be combined for the same Location Type in any way required.
Types of Optimisation
The granularity of configurations available offers a wide range of constraints, from open Greenfield design to fully constrained redirection.
Depending on your constraint configuration, there are three main kinds of Optimisation:
Greenfield
This is the most unconstrained kind of Optimisation. If even one location type is set to Greenfield, then the Optimisation is classified as Greenfield regardless of any other constraints. You could for example set just one Location Type to Greenfield while constraining the rest, or allow all Location Types to be Greenfield for a full art-of-the-possible exploration of your network.
Consolidate
If your configuration does not include any Greenfield locations, but at least one location is marked as Optional, then the Optimisation is classified as Consolidate. The configuration can range from every location being marked as Optional, to only a single location being Optional, with all others constrained to non-Greenfield configurations.
Redirect
When all locations are set to Mandatory, the optimisation is classified as Redirect. This is the most constrained type of optimisation, allowing you to explore how to make the best use of the network as-is. No new facilities are opened and the network cost continues to account for all Facility Costs, even if an inefficient location is used less.