The Distance Calculator uses Latitude and Longitude coordinates to calculate distance between locations in your supply chain network. These distance calculations are essential for the Network Optimization solver to accurately model transportation costs and routing decisions.
Use Distance Calculator to:
Calculate distances between Sites using the Intersite Lanes table
Calculate distances between Sites and Customers using the Customer Lanes table
Distance Calculations are performed exclusively through the Azure Maps API.
Prerequisites
Before using Distance Calculator, ensure the required Latitude and Longitude coordinates are populated:
Intersite Lanes: Populate coordinates for all Sites
Customer Lanes: Populate coordinates for all Sites and Customers
Use the Geocoding feature to populate coordinates automatically on these tables
Understanding Calculation Types:
Calculate Route Distance: The Route method retrieves real driving distances and travel times between locations using the Azure Maps API. It provides the most accurate, real-world distances, falling back to a straight-line estimate only when no route exists, though it takes longer to process than the Hybrid or Approximate methods.
Calculate Hybrid Distance (Fast): The Hybrid method estimates driving distances by combining straight-line calculations with pre-calculated reference data from known routes. Each location “snaps” to the nearest reference point, and a circuity factor is applied to approximate real-world road travel. Because it relies on local reference data instead of live route calculations, it is faster than the Calculate Route Distance option.
Calculate Approximate Distance (Fastest): The Approximate method calculates the straight-line distance between two locations and adjusts it using a standard circuity factor to simulate real-world travel paths. Because it doesn’t rely on external references or map services, it is the fastest method.
How to Calculate Distances
You can calculate distance using two methods:
Base Scenario Builder – Use this method to calculate distance when building or editing base scenarios
Base Scenario Page – Use this method to calculate distance for existing base scenarios
Base Scenario Builder Method
In the Base Scenario Builder, navigate to the Intersite Lanes or Customer Lanes table (located in the Transportation Tables grouping)
Ensure Lat/Long coordinates are populated for all relevant locations
Click the “Distance Calc” button in the top-right corner
Select your Units: Miles or Kilometers
Select your Calculation Type (see Understanding Calculation Types above)
Select an Overwrite Rule:
Overwrite All Records – Replaces all existing distance values with newly calculated distances
Overwrite Null Records – Only fills in missing distance values; preserves existing data
Click “Generate” to calculate distance
To calculate distance for the other table, repeat steps 1-7 in the other table
Base Scenario Page Method
From the Base Scenarios page, click the "Dist Calc" icon on any Base Scenario card to open the Distance Calculator popup.
Select your table from the “Select Table” dropdown
Select your Units: Miles or Kilometers
Select an Overwrite Rule:
Overwrite All Records – Replaces all existing distance values with newly calculated distances
Overwrite Null Records – Only fills in missing distance values; preserves existing data
Select your Calculation Type (see Understanding Calculation Types above)
To calculate distance for the other table, repeat steps 1-5, selecting the other table in step 1
