Definition 

  • A lane is a connection between two nodes that facilitates flow of material.  


Characteristics

  • A lane has several characteristics:

    1. Origin

    2. Destination

    3. Direction--flow only goes from origin to destination

    4. Mode--a lane can have only one mode

  • Based on the mode, there are further characteristics:

    1. Distance (always total distance, not straight line)

    2. Time

    3. Cost

  • In addition, a lane can be categorized as:

    1. Supply Lane (between two facility nodes) 

    2. Service Lane (between a facility node and a customer node).

  • A solid line for a lane indicates that there is a flow of product along the lane, whereas a dashed line indicates that there is no flow along the lane.



Modeling Tips

  • If two modes are directed down the same geographic origin and destination pair, two destinations can be modeled in the same location in order to allow for two modes to join the two areas.