Load Planning Overview

Load planning is the central function of LOP. It is the process of determining where each item should go inside a container or truck — respecting physical limits, safety rules, and operational requirements — and producing a result that your warehouse team can actually execute.

LOP automates the hard mathematical work of this process while giving you full visibility into the result and the tools to adjust it.

The Planning Process

Every load plan in LOP follows the same sequence. Understanding each step will help you get better results faster.

1. Add Items

Before the optimizer can work, it needs to know what you are loading. Use the Items Panel on the left side of the editor to add your cargo. You can:

• Enter items manually with dimensions, weight, quantity, and handling constraints
• Import a bulk list from an Excel or CSV spreadsheet
• Import from an ERP or WMS system (SAP, Oracle WMS)

Each item carries properties that the optimizer uses: dimensions, weight, fragility, stackability, orientation restrictions, hazmat tags, and grouping assignments.

2. Choose Container(s)

Select the container or truck type you are loading into. LOP will use the internal dimensions, door clearance, and payload limit to constrain the optimizer. For large shipments, you can add multiple containers to a single plan and let LOP distribute items across all of them.

3. Run the Optimizer

Click one of the three planning mode buttons in the toolbar. The optimizer runs and places items inside the container, respecting all hard constraints. As it works, the 3D viewport updates in real time showing the best arrangement found so far.

Three planning modes are available, trading off speed against solution quality:

4. Review the Results

After the optimizer finishes, the 3D viewport shows every placed item in its final position. Five quality scores help you evaluate the plan:

• Utilization — what percentage of the container volume is occupied
• Weight Balance — how centered the cargo's center of gravity is
• Stability — how well items support each other
• Handling Efficiency — quality of the loading and unloading sequence
• Damage Risk — protection of fragile cargo and compliance with crush limits

An Overall Score (0–100) combines all five metrics into a single number. For most shipments, a score above 70 is acceptable; above 85 is excellent.

5. Adjust Manually (Optional)

If you want to change the arrangement after optimization, the 3D editor gives you direct control. Select individual items, reposition them by dragging or using arrow keys, rotate them through allowed orientations, or remove them from the plan entirely. Every manual edit triggers instant constraint revalidation — violations appear immediately in red.

6. Get AI Insights (Optional)

Click Analyze Plan in the right panel to ask LOP's AI to explain the arrangement in plain language: why items were placed where they are, what constraints are binding, what physical risks exist, and specific suggestions for improving the score.

7. Export

When the plan is ready, export it as a PDF load plan report, a multi-sheet Excel workbook, or a CSV packing list. All formats include item positions, weights, and loading sequence.

Key Concepts

Hard constraints are rules the optimizer never breaks. If an item cannot fit without violating a hard constraint (weight limit exceeded, item outside container bounds, hazmat separation required), it remains unplaced and is listed in the Unplaced Items section.

Soft constraints are goals the optimizer tries to satisfy. If they cannot all be satisfied simultaneously, the optimizer finds the best compromise. Soft constraint violations reduce the score but do not block a plan from being valid.

Progressive solving means the 3D viewport always shows the best plan found so far, even while the optimizer is still running. For Quick Plan mode this matters less (it finishes in seconds), but for Max Fill mode you can watch the plan improve over up to 60 seconds and stop it early if the result is already good enough.

The Editor Layout

The load planning editor is the main workspace in LOP. It is organized into four areas:

Top Toolbar (left to right)

Plan name, Camera presets (3D, Top, Front, Side, Door), Undo/Redo, Shortcuts (?), Import, Save Template, Share, Export, Quick Plan, Smart Plan, Max Fill.

Viewport Toolbar (left side of 3D view)

• Select tool (V) — select and move items
• Rotate tool (R) — rotate selected item 90° per axis
• Snap toggle — enable/disable grid snapping
• Structure toggle — show/hide container structural elements (corner posts, rails, corrugated walls)

Viewport Overlays

• Fill percentage — centered at the top of the viewport after solving
• Center of Gravity minimap — bottom-right corner, shows CoG position on the floor plan
• Axis gizmo — bottom-left corner, shows current camera orientation

Items Panel (left)

Two tabs: "Plan Items" and "Library" with visible tab borders. The panel has a notch tab on the right edge — grab it to drag-resize the panel width (200–500 px), or click it to collapse/expand. Keyboard shortcut: I.

Right Panel (AI Analysis)

Notch tab on the left edge labeled "AI" with a sparkle icon. Click the notch to expand/collapse. Keyboard shortcut: D.

Bottom Panel (Score)

Click the title bar to expand/collapse. When expanded, shows the overall score ring and five individual metric cards with progress bars.

Container Tab Bar

For multi-container plans, tabs at the bottom show each container with its fill percentage. Click a tab to switch to that container in the viewport.

Palletization

For many shipments, items are packed onto pallets before being loaded into the container. LOP supports a complete palletization workflow — build loaded pallets with packing patterns, layer rotation, and securing analysis, then load the pallets into the container as composite units. The solver treats each loaded pallet as a single item with the combined height, weight, and footprint of the pallet plus its cargo.

Next Steps

• Planning Modes — choose between Quick Plan, Smart Plan, and Max Fill
• Understanding Scores — what each score means and how to improve it
• Manual Editing — adjust placements by hand after optimization
• Multi-Container Plans — distribute cargo across multiple containers
• Constraints & Rules — hard and soft constraint reference
• Pallets — palletize items before container loading