Luminar Works Glossary

This glossary defines the canonical terms used across Luminar Works. Common synonyms are listed so that familiar industry language maps onto the Luminar Works term — the canonical term is always the one used in the product and documentation.

Organization and account terms

Business Unit (BU) — a distinct operational division within your organization, such as a distribution warehouse or a regional sales office. The Business Unit is the home base for planning: resources and trips belong to a Business Unit, enabling each division to plan and manage its own operations independently. Also known as: depot, warehouse, branch.

Business Type — the configuration of a Business Unit as either Time-Constrained (planning around the time of the people doing the work; Agents are the primary resource) or Capacity-Constrained (planning around what equipment can carry or handle and the time available to do it; Assets are the primary resource).

User — an authenticated individual who interacts with Luminar Works. Each user has a unique profile and is assigned permissions or roles that determine their level of access and authorized actions.

License — provides an organization access to Luminar Works according to its subscription. It defines the modules available and any limits, such as the number of resources included. Also known as: licence, seat.

Module — a subscribable set of capabilities that layers on top of Luminar Core without restructuring your existing configuration.

Resource terms

Resource — an Asset, an Agent, or a combination of both, that conducts trips. Resources are associated to Business Units. Also known as: vehicle, driver, fleet, team member.

Agent — a person who conducts trips and completes tasks in the field, such as a driver, salesperson, or service technician. Agents are the primary resource in Time-Constrained Business Units, and can be assigned independently or paired with Assets. Also known as: driver, sales rep, technician, field worker.

Asset — a vehicle or piece of equipment assigned to trips based on its capacity and operational characteristics. Assets hold capacities, and are the primary resource in Capacity-Constrained Business Units. Assets can be paired with Agents. Also known as: vehicle, truck, van, equipment.

Primary resource / secondary resource — in each Business Unit, one resource type is the primary resource (required for planning) and the other is the secondary resource (optional). The Agent is primary in a Time-Constrained Business Unit; the Asset is primary in a Capacity-Constrained Business Unit.

Resource Type — indicates whether a resource belongs to your organization or is provided by a third party.

Speed profile — a resource attribute that reflects the resource's travel speeds. Speed profiles are taken into consideration inherently within the map sets. A newly created resource has its Business Unit's default speed profile, maintained thereafter at resource level.

Active / Inactive — resource states. An Active resource is eligible for planning; an Inactive resource is not. Setting a resource to Inactive does not affect the Business Unit's subscription license count.

Customer and location terms

Customer — the business or individual the work is for — the entity that places the order. A Customer holds service requirements, service windows, and contact details, which its Sites inherit by default. A Customer is not associated to a Business Unit, and can have multiple Sites. Also known as: client, account.

Site — a physical location where a Customer is serviced. A Site belongs to one Customer only, inherits the Customer's data by default, and may have unique traits of its own. Also known as: delivery point, pin, point, location, stop.

Hub — a common entrance to a group of locations where service may occur — for example, a shopping center entrance from which multiple stores are serviced. Hubs are not available at launch.

Task terms

Task — an individual piece of work to be completed at a customer location. Each task carries its Customer, Site, Business Unit, size, service window, and operational traits, and is classified as a drop-off, pick-up, or service task. Also known as: invoice, waybill, order, sales order, job, stop.

Drop-off — a task type where stock is delivered to the customer. Also known as: delivery.

Pick-up — a task type where stock is retrieved from the customer. Also known as: collection.

Service — a task type where work is performed without necessarily transferring stock — such as maintenance, inspections, or sales calls. Service tasks do not have sizes.

Item — a product (SKU) or work action associated with a task, representing what needs to be dropped off, picked up, serviced, or completed. In distribution environments Items are physical products; in service environments Items can represent work actions. Items can have attributes such as quantity, size, and traits. Also known as: product, SKU, work piece, line item. Items are not available at launch.

Size — the quantifiable amount of capacity required by a task.

Priority — the precedence given to a task during planning, expressed as High, Medium, or Low. Priority is set by the user or by your own systems via the REST API, and can be inherited from the Customer. The Smart Planning optimizer takes priority into consideration.

Ready — a task state: the task is eligible for planning but has not yet been planned.

Blocked — a task state: the task is ineligible for planning and execution — for example, because it has been canceled or retracted by the customer.

Planning terms

Plan — as a noun: the organization of tasks into trips assigned to resources. As a verb: the process of creating and maintaining trips — whether manually on the Gantt or generated by the Smart Planning module. Also known as: route/routing, schedule/scheduling.

Planning horizon — the date range selected for a planning run. It is the hard outer boundary of a plan: every trip's start and end must fall within it.

Trip — a planned sequence of tasks assigned to a resource, with a defined start and end. Trips are planned to visit multiple locations while respecting all constraints. Also known as: route, load, manifest, run.

Visit — a stop at a customer Site where one or more tasks are grouped and conducted as a single unit during a trip. Grouping tasks into a Visit means location-level activities happen once per Visit rather than once per task. Also known as: stop, call.

Gantt — the visual planning interface on which tasks are arranged into trips along a timeline.

Drag-and-drop — the manual planning interaction on the Gantt: tasks are dragged onto trips, and rearranged or reassigned by dragging.

Map — the geographic display of locations and trips. Luminar Works uses map sets — updated on a regular basis — to determine average travel speeds; speed profiles are taken into consideration inherently within the map sets. Also known as: map set.

Travel — the movement of a resource between locations, along the path determined by the map set. Travel must fall within the resource's operating window. Also known as: path, leg, drive time.

Constraint — any limitation, rule, or requirement that must be satisfied during planning — including trait-based constraints, capacity constraints, and time window constraints. Also known as: rule.

Trait — a definable attribute assigned to an Agent, Asset, or task that acts as a compatibility requirement or constraint during planning.

Capacity — the maximum quantifiable amount a specific Asset can carry, handle, or contain. Capacity acts as an upper boundary that must be respected when planning a trip. In a Capacity-Constrained Business Unit, the sizes of drop-off and pick-up tasks are planned against the capacity of the Asset conducting them.

Unit of Measure (UoM) — the unit in which Size and Capacity values are expressed.

Optimize / optimization — the process of using mathematical algorithms to find the best possible solution for a planning problem, rather than a manual solution. Provided by the Smart Planning module.

Drop-cost — the penalty cost incurred by the optimizer for not being able to plan a task or group of tasks.

Reload — the process where a resource returns to the Business Unit or a designated location to empty collected goods or replenish before starting a new trip. Also known as: replenishment.

Time terms

Operating window — when an entity may be active. The Business Unit operating window governs when the Business Unit may host activity; the resource operating window governs when a resource may be active and moving. A resource without an operating window of its own defaults to the Business Unit's operating window. Also known as: operating hours, working hours.

Service window — when work may be conducted for a Customer, at a Site, or on a task. Service windows are inherited down the chain — Customer to Site to task — and the task's service window is what planning takes into consideration. Also known as: time window, delivery window.

Blackout window — a defined period during which travel is prohibited. Part of the Rest/Break Management module.

Break — a planned period during a trip when a resource temporarily stops working before continuing — accounting for meal times, fatigue, or legal rest requirements. Part of the Rest/Break Management module. Also known as: rest.

Wait — a planned period during which a resource is unable to start its next activity until a service window or operating window opens. Also known as: idle time.

Start — the beginning point of a window, event, or process. Also known as: beginning, opening, commencement.

End — the closing point of a window, event, or process. Also known as: finish, closing.

Duration — the span of time that an activity, task, or visit lasts.

Status terms

Status — the state of an entity.

Planning — a state indicating an entity is part of a dataset that is actively being planned. While in the planning state, an entity cannot be edited or deactivated.

Planned — a task and trip state indicating that the entity is associated to a trip.

Published — a task and trip state indicating that the entity has been confirmed and locked for execution. Only published trips can be exported (to CSV, Excel, or PDF) or, at general launch, retrieved by external systems via the REST API.

Cost terms

Cost — the total monetary cost of a plan.

Fixed Cost — the cost for the use of a resource, incurred per start-up. Also known as: use cost.

Variable Cost — the cost of using a resource per unit — such as per distance, time, or visit. Also known as: cost per km, cost per mile.

Rating — an evaluation or grading of quality, value, or performance.

Mobile execution terms

Coming soon: A Luminar Works mobile app for agents — allowing published trips to be viewed and executed in the field — is coming soon after launch, and is not yet available. The following terms relate to mobile execution.

Execution — the process of carrying out a plan in the field, where Agents complete assigned trips, perform Visits, and capture data about their activities. Also known as: actuals.

Workflow — a configurable sequence of questions and data input fields that Agents complete during mobile execution to capture information at trigger points (pre-trip, post-trip, Visits, or tasks) — such as surveys, safety checklists, or inspection forms.

Accepted — a trip state indicating that the trip has been accepted by the Agent on the mobile application for execution.

Enroute — a task state indicating that the Agent is in transit to the Visit the task is associated to. Also known as: on the way, in transit.

In progress — a task state indicating that the Visit the task is associated to is currently active.

Suspend — a task and trip state indicating that the entity is suspended, to be completed later in the trip sequence.

Completed — a task and trip state indicating that the entity has been completed.

Terminated — a task state indicating that the task is not able to be completed — for example, because the customer's premises are closed, or the task cannot be conducted within the acceptable time windows. Also known as: abort.