The Stow Factor, also called AutoStow Factor, is a composite attribute that consists of several key container attributes, such as port of discharge, equipment type, and status.
If your site licenses the Vessel AutoStow module, XPS uses the Stow Factor to create projections and to match actual containers to the preplanned projections when planning the vessel. The Stow Factor of containers to be loaded must match the Stow Factor of projected containers. You should create the Stow Factor Filter by defining the Equipment Type as a direct value or wildcard patterned value (example, 2% and not as %), or by defining the Equipment Class as an Auto Stow Factor Element to generate the projections as expected.
The Stow Factor settings are part of the XPS settings file. Your N4 administrator can customize the default settings to select and prioritize the critical container attributes for your operations. For example, you may want to add the special stow attribute to the default Stow Factor. For more information, see Changing the settings file for the XPS.
In general, you should closely align the Stow Factors to the factors that are used in your yard allocations so that you can load containers from the yard as smoothly as possible. If your site uses the Yard Expert Decking option, align the Stow Factor to the Section and Stacking Factors. For more information, see the manual Navis N4: Equipment Control Administrator and User Guide.
When you create projected container groups automatically, XPS creates a group of projected containers that match, in type and number, each Stow Factor group of the actual containers. See also Creating projection groups (on page 1).
When you plan the vessel, XPS verifies that the Stow Factors of the projected container and planned container match. If you plan manually and the Stow Factors do not match, the XPS client displays an error message. If you plan automatically by using AutoStow, XPS does not plan a container to the slot unless a Stow Factor match is found. For more information about AutoStow, see the manual Navis N4: Vessel Administrator and User Guide.
Notes
When you plan the vessel, it may be helpful to sort your load list by Stow Factor.