What is Scenario Builder?
Scenario Builder is Dynamic RFP’s data analysis tool where you can use default or custom constraints to build and test scenarios in minutes. It thinks like you do, so understanding the outcome of an RFP event award strategy has never been easier.
This article will explain:
Navigating the Scenario Builder
Scenario Builder is found at the event level. Scenarios can only be created after rates have been collected and bidding has closed.
Steps to access to Scenario Builder
- Click Events and select the event you want to create a scenario for.
- Click Scenarios.
- Click Create Scenario.
Scenario Types
Once the “+ CREATE SCENARIO” button has been selected, a window will display that will show the options for the approach for your scenario
Enter a name for the Scenario
Choose your approach from the listed options: Lowest-Cost Optimization, Custom Rule-Based Optimization, and Manual Allocation.
Lowest Cost Optimization
Allocate volume per lane based only on lowest cost
Select “Lowest-Cost Optimization”. Then click “Next” to go to the Formula Source screen
Formula source - Choose between a defined Event Formula or Create a new Cost formula
Use Event Formula - This will use the formula defined in your lane template
Select “Use Event formula”. The formula displays in the field
Clicking “Submit” will create and save your Scenario and then optimizing of the event data will begin using the designated formula
Please go to the Optimization and Summary section to continue
Create New Cost Formula - This will allow you to create a different cost formula from what is defined in your lane template
Select “Create New Cost Formula and click “Submit”
The Cost Formula Builder screen appears.
In the Custom Cost Formula field, type the name of the Shipper or Participant Data that you want to use in the formula. A list of the Shipper and Participant Data fields are listed lower on the page.
At the end of the Custom Cost Formula field is an Add a Function button, then when clicked, a list of supported operations will display. (Example: Min, Max, Count, etc.)
When you are done creating your Custom Cost Formula, click “Save” in the top right corner
Clicking “Save” will create and run your Scenario using your selected formula.
Please go to the Optimization and Summary section to continue.
Custom Rule-Based Optimization
Tailor constraints to your business needs
- Enter a Scenario Name in the top field
- Select Custom Rule-Based Optimization and click “Next”
Formula Source screen - Two approaches are available, Use Event Formula Create New Cost Formula
Use Event Formula - This will use the formula defined on your lane template. Select and then click “Submit”
The Constraint screen now displays. Here is where you can define Constraints to help with the awarding process.
To add a Constraint, click on either of the “Add Constraint” buttons.
This will pop up the Constraint Wizard where you will enter all of your constraint data.
Once you have saved your Constraint(s), you can then run your scenario by selecting “Run Scenario”.
Clicking on “Run Scenario” will save your scenario and will begin the optimization process.
Please go to the Optimization and Summary section to continue.
Create New Cost Formula - Create a new Cost Formula for your Scenario.
The Cost Formula Builder screen appears.
In the Custom Cost Formula field, type the name of the Shipper or Participant Data that you want to use in the formula. A list of the Shipper and Participant Data fields are listed lower on the page.
At the end of the Custom Cost Formula field is an Add a Function button, then when clicked, a list of supported operations will display. (Example: Min, Max, Count, etc.)
Clicking “Save” will create and run your Scenario using your selected formula.
The Constraint screen now displays. Here is where you can define Constraints to help with the awarding process.
To add a Constraint, click on either of the “Add Constraint” buttons.
This will pop up the Constraint Wizard where you will enter all of your constraint data.
Once you have saved your Constraint(s), you can then run your scenario by selecting “Run Scenario”.
Clicking on “Run Scenario” will save your scenario and will begin the optimization process.
Please go to the Optimization and Summary section to continue.
Manual Allocation
Hand select your allocations for each lane.
Enter the name of the Scenario and select Manual Allocation.
Click Next
On this next screen, Formula Source, you can choose between Use Event Formula, or Create New Cost Formula.
Use Event Formula - This will use the formula defined on your lane template. Select and then click “Submit”
Clicking on “Submit “ will save your Scenario and begin the optimization process on your event data.
Please go to the Optimization and Summary section to continue
Create New Cost Formula - Create a new Cost Formula for your Scenario.
Select Create New Cost Formula and then click Submit
The Cost Formula Builder/FTL Formula Creator screen appears.
Default FTL Cost Formula - This will be the default formula based on the rate format selected for your event
- Flat Rate = [Flat Rate]
- RPM = Max([All-In (RPM)] * [Length Of Haul], [Minimum Rate])
Custom FTL Cost Formula - Select this option if your event requires special variables to calculate cost per load.
In the Custom Cost Formula field, type the name of the Shipper or Participant Data that you want to use in the formula. A list of the Shipper and Participant Data fields are listed lower on the page.
At the end of the Custom Cost Formula field is an Add a Function button, then when clicked, a list of supported operations will display. (Example: Min, Max, Count, etc.)
Clicking “Save” will create and run your Scenario using your selected formula.
Clicking on “Save “ will save your Scenario and you will be brought to the Summary view with all lanes Unallocated and ready for manual allocation.
To manually allocate volume, Select “View Unallocated Lanes” in the top section of the page, or you can click on Lanes in the left navigation bar.
You can manually allocate lane by lane within the application or by downloading your event results file and allocating within Excel.
To allocate lanes within the platform, select “Lanes” in side panel and click on individual lane to allocate
From here select Primary or Backup and enter awarded volume
Click “Save Changes”. Do this for every lane that needs allocating
To allocate lanes from a spreadsheet, download your current allocations by clicking on Manage Allocations in the upper right of the screen and selecting Download Allocations
Your event results template will be downloaded
Locate the Award Status column and select Primary or Backup
Locate the Awarded Volume column and enter the awarded volume
Do this for each lane needing allocation.
When done, save your file.
Go back and select the Manage Allocations link in the upper right, but this time, select Upload Allocations
Browse to your allocations file or Drag & Drop you file onto the upload box, then click on Submit
Awards will be uploaded and you will be brought back to “Lanes” view of Scenario
Allocated lanes will now show with an ALLOCATED status
Navigate back to the “Summary” section in the side panel to choose to add additional rules or delete the scenario you created. Both features are located in the top right corner of the Summary Screen.
If you are satisfied with the results from your scenario, you can then click on the “READY TO AWARD?” button, also in the top right corner. This will start the process to publish your awards.
Manual allocations can be made on lowest cost or rule-based scenarios following the above steps.
Optimization and Summary
After optimization is complete, a Summary screen will display.
Total Contract Spend, Allocated Lanes, and Participants with Allocations data is displayed here.
In the next section, you can view data from the Top 5 and Bottom 5 Participants by Contract Spend
The bottom section will display data from the Top 5 and Bottom 5 Lanes by Contract Spend
In the left panel of the Summary screen, you can select different views:
The Summary screen:
The Lanes screen:
And the Participants screen:
Your Event Scenario has been built!
From here, you can:
- Delete the Scenario
- Add Rules
- Go on to publish the Awards based off the scenario you just created
All the options are located in the top right corner of the screen
Constraint Wizard
Adding a constraint will trigger the Add Constraint window and display wizard.
Here, you will be able to choose from different types of constraints:
- Only award to specified participants
- Never award to specified participants
- Allocate spend
- Allocate volume
- Set a number of awarded participants
- Favor specified participants
First, set the Goal of the constraint. This means you can select the function of your constraint.
Options include:
Only award to specified participants
Use when you only want specific participants to be awarded based on defined criteria.
• This is the updated version of “award 100% of volume across all specified participants.”
• If there is not enough volume from specific participants, then volume across applicable lanes will remain partially allocated or unallocated.
Never award to specified participants
Use when you want to prevent awarding to specific participants based on your defined criteria.
- This is the updated version to “award 0 volume across all specified participants.”
- If there is not enough volume from all other participants then volume on applicable lanes will remain partially allocated or unallocated.
Allocate spend
Use when you want to control your spend across defined lanes and participants. Allocate spend by percentage or dollar amount.
Allocate volume
Use when you want to control your awarded volume across defined lanes and participants. Allocate volume by percentage or number of loads.
*Volume is defined using the count of estimated volume per frequency. Frequency and contract duration is NOT considered here.
Example:
• Lane A has estimated volume of 10/week
• Lane B has estimated volume of 30/month
• Total volume = 40
Set a number of awarded participants
Use when you want to avoid having too many or too few participants on defined lanes.
The second guided constraint option is Lane Filter.
Options include:
Apply constraint to all lanes
This means that your constraint will be applied across your entire event (all lanes) without any filtering.
Ex: I only want to award to participants where Partner Type is Asset. This means that only participants with Partner Type of Carrier will be awarded across all lanes on a given event.
Apply constraint to a subset of lanes
This means that your constraint will be applied only to the lanes that match your filtered criteria; lanes that do not match your filters will be allocated via lowest cost optimization
Ex: I only want to award to participants where Partner Type is Asset on lanes where Origin Loading Type is Live. This means only participants with Partner Type of Asset will be awarded on lanes where Origin Loading Type is Live. Lanes where Origin Loading Type is NOT Live will be allocated via lowest cost optimization (ignoring all constraint rules).
Then, select Lane Scope to define how you want your constraint to be applied to defined lanes. Options include:
Target your defined lanes as a whole
This means that your constraint will apply across all defined lanes combined.
Ex: I want the number of awarded participants to be ≥ 5 across all applicable lanes (in this case all lanes). This means that I need to have at least 5 participants awarded across my entire event.
If lanes were filtered, then this would mean I want to have at least 5 participants awarded across only my filtered lanes
Note: Participant Filter is not applicable when goal selection is Only or Never Award to specified participants.
Target each lane individually
This means that your constraint will apply to each individual defined lane.
Ex: I want the number of awarded participants to be ≥ 5 on each individual applicable lane (in this case all lanes). This means that I need to have at least 5 participants awarded on each individual lane across my entire event.
• If lanes were filtered, then this would mean I want to have at least 5 participants awarded on each individual lane that matches my filtered lane criteria
Note: Participant Filter is not applicable when goal selection is Only or Never Award to specified participants.
Target your defined lanes by groups
This means that your constraint will apply across all defined lanes combined.
Ex: I want the number of awarded participants to be = 5 across all lanes out of each origin. This will result in having the same 5 participants awarded all lanes out of each origin (5 out of Chicago, 5 out of Denver, 5 out of Philadelphia, etc.)
If lanes were filtered, then this would mean I want to have 5 participants per origin but only on my filtered lanes.
The fourth selection is Participant Filter.
Options include:
Apply constraint to all participants
Use this when you want your constraint to apply to all participants across your event.
Ex: I want the number of awarded participants to be ≥ 5 for all participants. This means that I want this constraint to be applied to all participants who submitted a bid response. This will end up awarding to the 5 lowest cost participants.
Note: Participant Filter is not applicable when goal selection is Only or Never Award to specified participants.
Apply constraint to a subset of participants
Use this when you want your constraint to participants that match selected criteria.
Ex: I want the number of awarded participants to be ≥ 5 only for participants where Partner type is Asset. This means that you are requiring 5 or more participants with an Partner type of Asset across applicable lanes.
*Notes: Additional participants that do not match the filter may still be awarded if there is remaining volume that needs to be allocated after constraint is fulfilled.
Participant Filter is not applicable when goal selection is Only or NeverAward to specified participants.
The final constraint option is the Participant Scope.
Options include:
Target your defined participants as a whole
This means that your constraint will apply across all defined participants combined.
Ex: I want to allocate ≥ 50% of my volume to participants where Partner Type is Asset. This means that I want to award at least 50% of my volume on applicable lanes to participants whose Partner Type is Asset. (I want 50% of my volume to be allocated to Carriers (not brokers)).
Note: Participant Scope will not be applicable when goal selection is Only OR Never award to specified participants OR Set number of Awarded Participants.
Target each participant individually
This means that your constraint will apply to each individual defined participant
Ex: I want to allocate ≥ 50% of my volume to each individual participant where Partner Type is Asset. This means that on applicable lanes, I want each participant where Partner Type is Asset to receive at least 50% of volume.
*This will likely fail unless there were only two participants where Partner Type is Asset and both bid on an equal amount of volume
Note: Participant Scope will not be applicable when goal selection is Only OR Never award to specified participants OR Set number of Awarded Participants.
Once all required data is entered, constraint can then be validated and saved.
Favor Specified Participants
Shippers can create a business rule to apply a weighted preference (positive or negative) to participants of their choice
- Choose 'Favor' or 'Penalize'
- Assign a percentage value
- Example: 'Favor by 10%' would apply a positive weight to carriers who meet your criteria in the next step
- Add Parameter
- Define the criteria for the rule to apply to
- Ex. Mode, Tag, Participant Name, Parter Type, SCAC, etc.
- Define the criteria for the rule to apply to
- Click Save Goal
- Choose Lane Filter by clicking Edit
- Apply constraint to all lanes
- Apply constraint to a subset of lanes
- Click Save Lane Filter
- Click Save and validate constraint parameters
Constraint validation runs and will result in a success message or error message.
When constraint parameters are valid, constraint can then be added to the scenario.
When constraint parameters are not valid, constraint will need to be edited or deleted to proceed.
Once a constraint has been successfully saved it can be edited or deleted.
Additional constraints can be added to the Scenario by repeating the same process.
When at least one constraint has been added then Scenario can be run by selecting “Run Scenario”.
Scenario will be run and upon completion, scenario summary will be displayed (no change in existing functionality).