Loading Groups

Loading Groups let you organize pallets into named groups — by destination, customer, unload order, or priority — and tell the optimizer to keep each group's pallets together and load them in the order you choose. It is how you get a plan that is both dense and organized: tightly packed for shipping efficiency, yet structured so the right cargo comes off the truck first at each stop.

Loading Groups operate at the pallet level. You group loaded pallets, not individual items — so palletize your cargo first, then organize the pallets into groups.

What Loading Groups Do

By default the optimizer is free to place any pallet anywhere that improves density. That produces the tightest load, but it can scatter pallets bound for the same destination across different containers and different parts of the floor — which makes unloading slow and error-prone.

A Loading Group changes that. When you assign pallets to a group, the optimizer:

• Keeps the group's pallets together — concentrated in the same container rather than spread across the plan.
• Honors your unload order — groups are loaded in the sequence you specify, so the group you unload first ends up nearest the door.
• Tints the group in the 3D view so you can see at a glance which pallets belong together.

Pallets that are not in any group are packed normally, with no constraint — grouping is something you opt into for the cargo that needs it.

Creating a Group

The Loading Groups section lives at the top of the Items Panel, above the pallet list. It only appears once you have at least one group — until then you will just see a small + New group action once your plan contains pallets.

There are two ways to create a group:

Path A — an empty group, then assign.

1. Click + New group at the top of the pallets area
2. In the dialog, enter a name (e.g. "Hamburg / Customer A"), pick a color, and choose whether the group is flexible
3. Click Create — the group appears in the Loading Groups section, empty
4. Assign pallets to it afterwards (see below)

Path B — select pallets first, then group them.

1. Cmd-click (Mac) or Ctrl-click (Windows) on pallet rows in the panel to multi-select them — selected rows show a highlighted ring, and a count appears
2. A Group selected (N) action bar appears
3. Click New group from selection to create a group containing exactly those pallets, or Add to existing group ▸ to drop them into a group you already have
4. Press Escape or the ✕ on the bar to clear the selection at any time

[Screenshot: The Loading Groups section at the top of the Items Panel, with two groups listed and a "Group selected (3)" action bar above the pallet list.]

Unload Order

Every group has an unload order — a number that says when this group comes off the truck. Unload 1 is unloaded first, unload 2 second, and so on.

Because the group you unload first should be the last one loaded — sitting nearest the door — LOP inverts the unload order into a load order for you. You think in terms of "which group comes off first"; LOP works out "which group goes in last."

• Unload 1 → loaded last → nearest the door (comes off first)
• Unload 2 → loaded before it → further from the door
• Ungrouped pallets have no unload priority and are loaded first, deepest in the container

New groups default to the next available unload number. To change it, edit the group (the unload order field appears in the edit dialog). The on-screen loading sequence and the PDF report both follow this order.

Flexible vs Non-Flexible Groups

When you create or edit a group you choose whether it is flexible:

• Non-flexible (the default) — the group's pallets stay in a single container. The optimizer will never split the group across two containers. This is what you want when a group must be unloaded as one unit at one stop.
• Flexible — the group may be split across containers if doing so improves overall density. Pallets still cluster as much as possible, but the optimizer is allowed to send the overflow to another container.

When a Group Doesn't Fit

If a non-flexible group is too large to fit in any single container, the optimizer keeps its promise — it will not split the group. Instead, the pallets that don't fit are left unplaced, and a warning appears in the Loading Groups section naming the group:

Group "Kasa" doesn't fit in one container. Mark it flexible to allow splitting across containers.

The warning includes a one-click Mark flexible button. Clicking it flips the group to flexible and marks the plan for re-solving; run the optimizer again and the group will be allowed to split, placing the previously-unplaced pallets.

Group Colors in the 3D View

Each group has a color, shown as a dot next to the group name in the panel. In the 3D viewport, a grouped pallet's platform is tinted with its group color — blended over the pallet's normal appearance so you can still read the cargo while seeing group membership at a glance.

The tint works alongside the pallet X-Ray toggle: when X-Ray makes pallets translucent, the group color still shows through. Ungrouped pallets render normally, with no tint.

[Screenshot: The 3D viewport showing two groups of pallets, each tinted with its group color — blue and amber — clearly clustered in separate parts of the container.]

How Planning Modes Affect Grouping

Grouping interacts with your choice of planning mode:

• In Max Fill, a non-flexible group is treated as a hard constraint — it is never split, full stop.
• In Quick Plan and Smart Plan, cohesion is a strong preference — the optimizer works to cluster a group's pallets tightly, with the effort scaled to the mode.

In all modes the assignment step keeps a group in one container up front; the difference is how hard the later optimization works to tighten the cluster within that container. See Planning Modes for how each mode spends its time budget.

Groups in Exports

The PDF loading report reflects your groups directly:

• The loading sequence pages are ordered by unload order — the unload-1 group's pallets appear last in the load sequence (loaded nearest the door)
• Each grouped row is labeled with the group name and unload order
• The row is color-coded with the group color, matching the 3D view

Warehouse staff can follow the printed sequence top to bottom to load the truck so that each group comes off in the right order at each stop.

Editing and Deleting Groups

In the Loading Groups section, each group row shows its color dot, name, unload-order label, a Flexible toggle, and the pallet count. Expand a row to see its member pallets; each can be removed from the group individually.

• Edit a group (the pencil action) to change its name, color, flexible setting, or unload order
• Delete a group (the ✕ action, with an inline confirm) — the pallets are not deleted, they simply return to ungrouped
• A group that loses its last pallet is removed automatically

Practical Tips

Group by what gets unloaded together. The most common use is one group per delivery stop or customer. Set unload order to match the route — first stop is unload 1.

Start non-flexible, relax if needed. Leave groups non-flexible so cohesion is guaranteed. If a group overflows, the warning will tell you exactly which one, and Mark flexible is one click away.

Palletize before grouping. Loading Groups organize pallets, not loose items. Build your pallets first (see Pallets), then group them.

Use color meaningfully. Pick distinct colors per destination so the 3D view and the printed report read at a glance on the warehouse floor.

Next Steps

• Multi-Container Plans — how groups are distributed across containers
• Planning Modes — how mode choice changes group cohesion
• Pallets — building the pallets you organize into groups
• Export & Reports — the grouped loading sequence in the PDF report