Help & Support Home|Getting Started|F.A.Q|Issues|DiPS Basics|Advanced Features|DiPS Toolkit

When looking through your routes in Egotrip mode:

Press F2 to go through routes with errors
Press F3 to quickly go to the next route
Press F4 to quickly go to the previous route
Press F9 to open the sysout file viewer

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Work times are calculated based on Products or Units or both; with a combination of other factors such as work difficulty factors and extra time based on the Call, Vehicle and Depot.

1. The main way is to set a Work rate based on the quantity of units in an order ... Products loaded into Dips are converted into a DiPS unit used for calculating the quantity that can fit on the vehicles, etc. – e.g. converting products into Equivalent Pallets.
Go to Edit -> products units and work – Click on the Units tab – here you set the conversion factors for products into the unit and can add a work rate per unit

2. You can also set work rates based on the quantity of a particular product
Edit -> Product units and work – Products tab

3. You can set work difficulty factors to use to factor the work at certain calls or with specific vehicles – you set these up in ... Edit -> Product units and work – Work tab ... ready to assign to calls later

4. You can add extra time for specific calls as well as setting difficulty factors for that call
Double click on a call to get the Call Properties -> Work tab

5. You can set up extra time and modify the work rate based on the vehicle used
Edit -> vehicle classes -> double click a vehicle -> work tab

6. Finally the quantity of each product you have on an order will drive the work time based on the parameters you have set above
Call properties -> lines

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The File menu option Load Orders from Excel Spreadsheet will process and input order information directly from an Excel spreadsheet. This option is only available for specific report styles defined in the File, Study, Settings dialog. The style ORDERXL can be used if necessary as a short term measure. On running the option an initial dialog will appear to select the spreadsheet to be loaded, followed by the page and options dialog. Select the sheet or table to be used (default is always Sheet1) and then tick the required options if necessary. Choose different delivery addresses if orders have been defined that are to be delivered to another location rather than that defined by the Call. Selecting rather of the Generate New options will create system defined Order or Call numbers, meaning that the >*1 or >*2 columns need not be defined or are ignored. Once data is loaded, click Apply to re-load the model and. The preparation of the data must follow a few simple rules

1.  Each new ORDER must occupy a unique LINE in the spreadsheet.
2.  The columns containing data to be loaded must contain the correct labels as defined below in more detail.  Any column not containing this label will be ignored. In this way a selection of columns may be used (e.g. columns A, C, D and F  but not B or E).
3.  The most left-hand '>... labelled column must be the order ident. (NB This does not necessarily have to be column 'A').
4.  The data rows read from by DiPS are defined by a pair of   >>   labels to the left of the first and last rows of data. These labels cannot be placed in a column with other valid DiPS data. The selected datarows should begin on line 2 – with the headers being on line 1 of the spreadsheet.

>*1           Order Identifier               (may be left justified text or a numeric value)
>*2           Call Identifier                   (may be left justified text or a numeric value)
>*911       Order Tag Field                (up to 4 characters may be used)
>*9           Opening /Booked Time     may be numeric or time value (see below)
>*10         Closing Time                    may be numeric or time value (see below)
>*11         Order Margin                 (value may be defined 2 to decimal places)
>*12         Order Linked Job          (text field with the ident of an existing order to be routed next)
>*13         Skills Required              (text field with Y or N flags for 1-32 skills e.g. YYYNNNY is skills 1,2,3,7 required)
>*912       Order Country
>*913       Special Delivery Instructions SDI Line 1 (80 characters text or up to 240 for all 3 lines)
>*914       Special Delivery Instructions SDI Line 2 (up to 80 characters text for line 2 only)
>*915       Special Delivery Instructions SDI Line 3 (up to 80 characters text for line 3 only)
>*109       Due On Date (in format ddmmyyyy).
>*209       Due by Date (in format ddmmyyyy).
>*99         Order’s Pass Through Data for display in user-defined columns
>D1         Force CALL to belong to the DEPOT named in this column

RESTRICTIONS Data

>R2         Call Opening Time 1 may be numeric or time format (hh:mm:ss)
>R3         Call Closing Time 1 may be numeric or time format (hh:mm:ss)
>R4         Call Opening Time 2 may be numeric or time format (hh:mm:ss)
>R5         Call Closing Time 2 may be numeric or time format (hh:mm:ss)
>R6         Day Restrictions
>R8         Extra Time per Visit
>R9         Work Difficulty Factor
>R10       Pallet Fill Factor
>R106     Nominated Days
>R107     Crew Size Required
>R108     Delivery Priority
>R7         Maximum Vehicle Class (MUST BE LEFT JUSTIFIED TEXT)
>R27       Maximum Vehicle Class
>R37       Side Loading Restrictions (L = left, R = right, F = front, T = tail or appropriate combinations , e.g. L ,RT,LF)
>R47       Banned Vehicle Class 1 (doesn’t remove other banned classes)
>R57       Banned Vehicle Class 2 (doesn’t remove other banned classes)
>R67       Banned Vehicle Class 3 (doesn’t remove other banned classes)
>R77       Banned Vehicle Class 4 (doesn’t remove other banned classes)
>R11       Explicit Vehicle Class

ADDRESS Data

>A2          Grid Reference - either a Numeric EASTING (in which case >A3 is also required) or an Alphanumeric six digit
                (1km accuracy) SU1234 or an Alphanumeric eight digit (100m accuracy) SU120340
>A3          Numeric NORTHING (if >A2 is a numeric EASTING).
>A29        Numeric Easting for Ireland in UK projection
>A39        Numeric Northing for Ireland in UK projection
>A4          Name or Address Line 1
>A5          Address Line 2
>A6          Address Line 3
>A7          Postcode (automatically converts to Grid Reference)
>A8          Address Line 4
>A9          Address Line 5
>A11        Call Tag Field (up to 40 characters may be used)
>A12        Call Country (must be in a column before[ i.e. to the left of] any postcode entry)
>A13        Special Delivery Instructions Line 1 (80 characters text or up to 240 for all 3 lines)
>A14        Special Delivery Instructions SDI Line 2 (up to 80 characters text for line 2 only)
>A15        Special Delivery Instructions SDI Line 3 (up to 80 characters text for line 3 only)
>A77        Call’s Postcode (only when used with Order Deliver-To Addresses option)
>A99        Call’s Pass Through Data for display in user-defined columns

Totals for Product Data or Commodity Range

^>AAA     order quantity for product or commodity range

DiPS recognises a Commodity Range header label because it must be centrally justified using the carat symbol  ^  . The next character must be the greater than sign  >. Finally the label contains the Commodity Range's name. As an example, for the commodity range called FROZEN the  demand quantity header would be  ^>FROZEN. These commodity ranges or products must exist on the MASS file prior to running the program.

Individual Values for Commodity Range Data

Using the ># label on the top of a column allows multiple lines of quantity data to be loaded for each order. A commodity range code is created using >#1 and then details for this commodity loaded using subsequent ># columns. These commodity ranges do not have to exist on the MASS file prior to running the program to load the orders. The last row found for each commodity will be the quantity and conversions used. Rows will not add together to produce a cumulative value for a single commodity.

>#1          Commodity Range Label      (up to 20 characters text).
>#2          Commodity Description       (up to 40 characters text)
>#3          Primary Product Group No.  (use numeric values of 1-12 to represent products 1 to 12)
>#4          Primary Conversion factor   (use numeric values up to 21,000 to convert quantity into primary product)
>#5          Secondary Product Group No.     (use numeric values of 1-12 to represent products 1 to 12)
>#6          Secondary Conversion factor     (use numeric values up to 21,000 to convert quantity into second product)
>#7          Third Product Group No.     (use numeric values of 1-12 to represent products 1 to 12)
>#8          Third Conversion factor       (use numeric values up to 21,000 to convert quantity third product)
>#9          Quantity of this commodity  (use numeric values to add a quantity of this commodity)

Booked Times and Time Windows for Orders and Calls

The  >*9  flag may be used simply to define a single Booked Time for an Order using a Numeric Value in 24hr format, such as 1000 for 10:00 hrs or 800 for 8:00 hrs. For a Time Window, an 8 digit numeric value may be used giving from and to times, i.e. 10001700 would give 10:00 to 17:00 hrs; or 8000900 for 08:00 to 09:00. The >*39 field can also be used to specify the Order Closing Time window. Alternatively use the >R2 , >R3, >R4 and >R5  columns to define opening and closing for the Call in separate columns

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In terms of depots and calls the attributes correspond to header labels as follows :-

CALL Entity
>C1	Call Identifier (up to 40 characters possible)
>C2	Frequency (No. visits in Data Collection Period)
>C3	Cumulative Demand for PRODUCT 1 (negative if collections)
>C4	Cumulative Demand for PRODUCT 2 (negative if collections)
>C5	Cumulative Demand for PRODUCT 3 (negative if collections)
>C6	Cumulative Demand for PRODUCT 4 (negative if collections)
>C103	Cumulative Demand for PRODUCT 5 (negative if collections)
>C104	Cumulative Demand for PRODUCT 6 (negative if collections)
>C105	Cumulative Demand for PRODUCT 7 (negative if collections)
>C106	Cumulative Demand for PRODUCT 8 (negative if collections)
>C203	Cumulative Demand for PRODUCT 9 (negative if collections)
>C204	Cumulative Demand for PRODUCT 10 (negative if collections)
>C205	Cumulative Demand for PRODUCT 11 (negative if collections)
>C206	Cumulative Demand for PRODUCT 12 (negative if collections)
>C7	Total No. Drops in D.C.P. (not required if same as >C2 ).
>C8	Radius in Kms(only required if >C7 is greater than >C2 i.e. pre-clustered)
>C9	Enter   PAID   if Carriage Paid : NO to remove or set OFF (or Explicit Carrier Ident)
>C10	Carrier does Collections (use 0=NO or OFF, 1=YES or SET ON)
>C11	Call is never delivered by a carrier (use 0=NO or OFF, 1=YES or SET ON)
>C12	Call Margin value (up to 2 decimal places)
>C15	Skills Required  text field with Y or N for 1-32 skills e.g. YYNNY = skills 1,2,5)
>C16	Next Linked Call Ident or use NONE to remove all linked data for this call
>C40	Column header only will remove all MASS file Call Products, Profiles or Multiple Data
>D1	Force CALL to belong to this DEPOT (>D1 must not be the 1st column)
>C0	New Call Ident (changes the existing ident to this new one, must follow in next column to the right of >C1)

ADDRESS Data for Calls and Depots
>A2	Grid Reference -  either a Numeric EASTING (in which case >A3 is also required) or an Alphanumeric six digit (1km accuracy) SU1234 or an Alphanumeric eight digit (100m accuracy) SU120340
>A3	Numeric NORTHING (if >A2 is a numeric EASTING).
>A102	Numeric LONGITUDE (50.5 = 50 degrees 30 minutes)
>A103	Numeric LATITUDE
>A4	Name or Address Line 1
>A5	Address Line 2
>A6	Address Line 3
>A7	Postcode  (automatically converts to Grid Reference)
>A8	Address Line 4
>A9	Address Line 5
>A11	Tag Field (up to 40 characters may be used)
>A12	Country (if used must be in a column to the left of any postcode >A7 column to set the relevant country)
>A13	Special Delivery Instructions Line 1 (80 characters text or up to 240 or all 3 lines)
>A14	Special Delivery Instructions SDI Line 2 (up to 80 characters text for line 2 only)
>A15	Special Delivery Instructions SDI Line 3 (up to 80 characters text for line 3 only)
>A99	Pass Through Data for display in user-defined columns
>A17	Phone No. (or contact details) – up to 24 characters of text may be entered.
>A117	Pre Notification – value in minutes
>A217	Late or Post Notification – value in minutes

RESTRICTIONS Data for Calls and Depots
>R2	Opening Time - 1st Band
>R3	Closing Time - 1st Band
>R4	Opening Time - 2nd Band
>R5	Closing Time - 2nd Band
>R6	Day Restrictions
>R8	Extra Time per Visit
>R9	Work Difficulty Factor
>R10	Pallet Fill Factor
>R102	Booked Delivery Time in hhmm format
>R302	Booked Delivery Time Code in text format (AM,PM etc.)
>R106	Nominated Days
>R107	Crew Size Required
>R108	Delivery Priority
>R203	Week No. of first Delivery
>R7	Maximum Vehicle Class  (MUST BE LEFT JUSTIFIED TEXT)
>R47	Banned Vehicle Class 1  (doesn’t remove other banned classes)
>R57	Banned Vehicle Class 2  (doesn’t remove other banned classes)
>R67	Banned Vehicle Class 3  (doesn’t remove other banned classes)
>R77	Banned Vehicle Class 4  (doesn’t remove other banned classes)
>R11	Explicit Vehicle Class
>R37	Side Loading Restrictions (L = left, R = right, F = front, T = tail or appropriate combinations , e.g. L ,RT,LF)

DEPOT Entity
>D1	Identifier (up to 10 characters of text or numerics may be used)
>D0	New Depot Ident (changes the existing ident to this new one, must follow in next column to the right of >D1)
>A11	Tag Field
>D3	Maximum Daily Throughput of PRODUCT 1
>D4	Maximum Daily Throughput of PRODUCT 2
>D5	Maximum Daily Throughput of PRODUCT 3
>D6	Maximum Daily Throughput of PRODUCT 4
>D103	Maximum Daily Throughput of PRODUCT 5
>D104	Maximum Daily Throughput of PRODUCT 6
>D105	Maximum Daily Throughput of PRODUCT 7
>D106	Maximum Daily Throughput of PRODUCT 8
>D203	Maximum Daily Throughput of PRODUCT 9
>D204	Maximum Daily Throughput of PRODUCT 10
>D205	Maximum Daily Throughput of PRODUCT 11
>D206	Maximum Daily Throughput of PRODUCT 12

Handling Costs & Product Costs (available to 5 decimal places)
>D3H  Handling Cost for PRODUCT 1	>D3P  Product Cost of PRODUCT 1
>D4H  Handling Cost for PRODUCT 2	>D4P  Product Cost of PRODUCT 2
>D5H  Handling Cost for PRODUCT 3	>D5P  Product Cost of PRODUCT 3
>D6H  Handling Cost for PRODUCT 4	>D6P  Product Cost of PRODUCT 4
>D103H  Handling Cost for PRODUCT 5	>D103P  Product Cost of PRODUCT 5
>D104H  Handling Cost for PRODUCT 6	>D104P  Product Cost of PRODUCT 6
>D105H  Handling Cost for PRODUCT 7	>D105P  Product Cost of PRODUCT 7
>D106H  Handling Cost for PRODUCT 8	>D106P  Product Cost of PRODUCT 8
>D203H  Handling Cost for PRODUCT 9	>D203P  Product Cost of PRODUCT 9
>D204H  Handling Cost for PRODUCT 10	>D204P  Product Cost of PRODUCT 10
>D205H  Handling Cost for PRODUCT 11	>D205P  Product Cost of PRODUCT 11
>D206H  Handling Cost for PRODUCT 12	>D206P  Product Cost of PRODUCT 12

Loading Drivers from Spreadsheet
>D1	Depot Name (must be the first column defined)
>M1	Driver Identifier (Name) or Class Name (must be the second column defined)
>M2	No. Required (use 1 for an individual driver name)
>M3	Can Drive up to Vehicle Category    (1-9 or 99)     99 = Mate (can’t drive a vehicle)
>M4	Pay Scheme   (1-6)
>M5	Start Depot Ident   (must already exist)
>M105	Start Time    (default value applies to all days)
>M205	Latest Start Time    (default value applies to all days)
>M6	Finish Depot Ident    (must already exist)
>M106	Finish Time     (default value applies to all days)
>M7	Explicit Vehicle Id     (for individual drivers only)
>M8	Explicit Trailer Id      (for individual drivers only)
>M9	Explicit vehicle Class Wildcard
>M10	Day Restrictions    (use 7 digit values with 0 and 3 for Sun-Sat)
>M110	Night Out Banned     (Y for Yes or N for No)
>M11	Driver Group      (1-4)
>M12	Daily Limits – Maximum Shift Time
>M13	Daily Limits – Maximum Overtime
>M14	Daily Limits – Maximum Driving Time
>M15	Daily Limits – Maximum Driving Distance
>M16	Working Time Directive – Maximum No. of Days in DCP
>M17	Working Time Directive – Maximum Shift Time in DCP
>M18	Working Time Directive – Minimum Shift Time remaining in DCP to start another day
>M19	Working Time Directive – Maximum Cumulative Shift over a number of Consecutive Days (see M20)
>M20	Working Time Directive – No. of Consecutive Days for Shift (see M19)
>M118	Working Time Directive – Maximum Driving Time in DCP
>M119	Working Time Directive – Maximum Cumulative Driving Time over a number of Consecutive Days
>M120	Working Time Directive – No. of Consecutive Days for Driving (see M119)
>M21	Driver Can Handle Products   (12 characters for the 12 products with Y or N ;  e.g. YNYNYYYYYYYY)
>M22	Driver Has Skills      (32 characters of text to represent the 32 possible skills with Y or N)
>M116	Shift Pattern No.
>M23	Explicit Mate No.1       (20 characters maximum)(drivers only)
>M24	Explicit Mate No.2        (20 characters maximum)(drivers only)
>M117	No of Lines in Shift Pattern
>M216	Shift Pattern – Rota No.

In addition to the default depots and times defined by >M5, >M105, >M106, >M6 and >M106, different values for days of the week may be input by adding an @”DAY” on the end of the column header. Valid entries are @MON, @TUE, @WED, @THU, @FRI and @SAT. Examples would include >M5@MON to change the Start Depot on a Monday only, and >M106@WED to have a different Finish Time on Wednesday

Loading Vehicles from Spreadsheet

New field types have been introduce to allow either vehicle class totals or individual vehicle names (fleet nos. , registration nos. etc.) to be loaded directly from an excel spreadsheet. Use the >D1 depot identifier as the first defined column and followed by the vehicle class name preceded by   ^>   characters (e.g. ^>ARTC ,  ^>40FT or ^>R1). On each depot row individual names may be entered by typing the required text (e.g. VU05 XXX or TR0050), whilst class totals can be entered by using the required number preceded by a # sign (e.g. #20 for twenty, and #0 to set at zero or delete all vehicles of this class at this depot).

	>D1	^>ARTC	^>40FT	^>7.5T	^>7.5T
>>	DEP	ARTC1	40FT1
	DEP	ARTC2	40FT2
	DEP				#20
	SAT	#0	40FTG2	7.5TG2	7.5TG21
>>	SAT		40FTG3	7.5TG3	7.5TG22

Loading Working Routes
>W1	Relative Route Number
>W2	Day Name (Sun,Mon,Tue,Wed,Thu,Fri,Sat)
>W12	Week Number of Route (only if planning period is more than 7days)
>W3	Route Date (only if Daily Scheduling with Orders)
>W4	Route Length in days
>W14	Earliest Route Departure Time (in hhmm)
>W24	Explicit Gate Departure Time for a Trip (in hhmm)
>W5	Ident of Depot or Call
>W15	Order or Shipment Ident (if Daily Scheduling)
>W25	Quantity in Vehicle Unit1 (if Strategic)
>D1	Owning Depot of Route
>W6	Vehicle Ident
>W7	Trailer Ident
>W10	Driver’s Name
>W8	Slot or Window Number for Call
>W9	Product Group (1-12) in this slot (only required if split by product or multiple)
>W18	Call’s Profile Day No. (1-7 Sun-Sat) or start day for a depot’s trip if defined on a depot line
>W35	Call’s Profile Day Name (SUN, MON, TUE, WED, THU, FRI, SAT)

Loading Fixed routes
>F1	Relative Route Number
>F2	Day Name (Sun,Mon,Tue,Wed,Thu,Fri,Sat)
>F22	Nominated Days (using 7digit 0111110 format)
>F4	Route Length in days
>F14	Departure Time (in hhmm)
>F5	Ident of Depot or Call
>F15	Dummy Shipment Ident (if Daily Scheduling)
>D1	Owning Depot of Route
>F6	Vehicle Ident
>F7	Trailer Ident
>F10	Driver’s Name
>F8	Slot or Window Number for Call
>F9	Product Group (1-12) in this slot (only required if split by product or multiple)
>F18	Call’s Profile Day No. (1-7 Sun-Sat) or start day for a depot’s trip if defined on a depot line

For more headers, detailed information and instructions please see the DiPS user manual (pg.69)

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After you have downloaded and copied the new version of M3 into your DiPS/Win folder, you may find when you come to run DiPS you will see a Windows Security Warning:


To stop it reappearing, untick the box next to "Always ask before opening this file" then click Run. The next time you run DiPS the warning will not show.

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