How to control which Products can be Combined in a loaded Container

Cube-IQ can define which Products can be combined within a loaded Container

Below is a Load where products have no Combine Rules on how they are loaded into these 3 Containers.

There are green, red, and yellow colored products loaded without any rules on if they can or cannot be combined. Green, red, and yellow Products are loaded in the first two containers while yellow and green colored Products are loaded in the third container.

Here is the list of Products in this Load. Notice how the Combine Code is blank, reflecting why Products are loaded above without any Combine rules.

Use Combination Codes to control which Products are combined together

The Combination Codes window is accessed by: 1) click the top left menu, 2) click Data button in left panel, and 3) click Combination Code

The Combination Codes window is where Sequence number and Combination Codes are listed, and where Combination Codes can be added, modified, and deleted.

Add Combination Codes by clicking the blue plus button.

Remove a Combination Code by: 1) highlight the code, and 2) click the blue minus button

Combination codes can be edited by typing over their Combination Code.

The Combination Codes added for this exercise are Green, Red, and Yellow.

The Combination Matrix is where Combine rules are saved

Access the Combination Matrix by: 1) click top left menu, 2) click the Data button, and 3) click Combination Matrix

The Combination Matrix window is where a table illustrates which Combination Code can be combined in the same Container. The Green, Red, and Yellow Codes entered earlier are listed as column and row titles in the Combination Matrix. 

The Combination Code title of a row can be combined with the Combination Code title of a column if  a "Y" is in the cell where they intersect.

Here is how the Green, Red and Yellow codes are initially defined, a "Y' is in each cell where the same Combination Code intersects. This means Products can only be combined in a Container if their assigned Combination Code are the same.

Each Product in Cube-IQ has a dropdown menu where a Combination Code can be assigned

The area where Products are assigned a Combination Code is accessed by: 1) click Product menu, 2) click Other Data tab, and 3) select a Code from the Combination Code dropdown menu

Here is the Load with the Products listed again after assigning a Combination Code to each Product in this Load. Notice how the Comb. Code column is now populated accordingly. The Combination Code applied in this exercise is based on the color in the Product's ID.

Here is the Optimized results now that a Combination Code is assigned to each Product. The Combination Matrix is included in this example to illustrate how no cell with a "Y" is intersecting different Combination Codes.

The variety of green, red, and yellow Products with different Combination Codes are not combined together on account of the Combination Matrix having the  "Y" only where each Combination Code title intersect.

Use the Combination Matrix to configure which Codes can be combined in a loaded Container

In the Combination Matrix below, Green and Yellow Codes are allowed to combine together by typing a "Y" where Green and Yellow cells intersects.

Here is the Load Optimized after Combination Matrix is updated to allow Green and Yellow Combination Codes to combine together in a loaded Container.

Green and Yellow coded Products are now combined in Container 2 and 3 while Container 1 are all Red coded Products.

Products without a Combination Code can be combined with all Products

Here is the Load with black Products added. These black Products do not have Combination Codes assigned to them.

The Combination Matrix is still configured to allow Green and Yellow coded Products to combine while Red is configured to deny combining with either Green or Yellow. Here is the optimized result with black Products added.

Green and Yellow coded Products continue to be combined in loaded Containers, in Container 1 and 3; while Red coded Products continue to deny combining with Yellow and Green. However, the black Products with no Combination Code assigned are allowed to combine with Green, Red, or Yellow coded Products in all loaded Containers.

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