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[telarin]

The introduction of minecarts, wheelbarrows, and stockpile links many moons ago significantly enhanced the logistics of running a large fortress. However, there is still room for improvement. I know most of these have been suggested at one time or another, but thought it might be helpful to compile them into a single post focused on improving the logistics of a fortress:

1) Take from/Give to Minecarts: Allow workshops to be directly linked to minecarts. Instead of having to spread out the goods from a minecart into a stockpile linked to a workshop, then linking the output of a workshop to stockpile and then to a minecart, allow the workshop user to take goods directly from a linked minecart stop, as well as being able to place finished goods directly into a waiting minecart.

2) Minimum barrels/bins: Allow a setting for the minimum number of bins or barrels in a stockpile. Some stockpiles get very heavy usage, going from empty to full and back on a regular basis. Lots of extra time is wasted by hauling barrels and bins to and from the stockpile. This would allow you to set key stockpiles to always be kept full of bins.

3) Haul full containers only: Add a setting to links between stockpiles that would allow you to configure it so that only full containers get hauled. There are times when you want two stockpiles linked, but it makes no sense for your dwarves to haul a single item at a time. When this option is enabled on a link, the dwarves will instead wait until there is a full container eligible for hauling before moving goods.

4) Stockpiles gather restrictions: Allow options on where a stockpile gathers. Anywhere - works just as they do now. Radius - set a maximum search radius so that items will only be gathered that are within the distance set by the player. Burrow - Items will only be gathered from the burrow selected by the player.

5) Use of bags for gathering fruit: With the addition of fruits and nuts that dwarves can gather, I have noticed that they are terrible about hauling these things one item at a time. It would be very helpful if they could be told (at the stockpile level perhaps) to gather these things using bags or some other appropriate container, instead of one item at a time.

[AceSV]

Another logistical point, I've noticed that my dwarves seem to prefer to grab reagents (wood, ore, etc.) from the farthest possible sources instead of stockpiles right next to their workshops.  I don't like to force them to work from a specific stockpile because if they run out, the order gets canceled and they go idle for a long time.  I know it would be terrible for FPS to calculate the nearest possible reagent, but there's got to be something better. 

[NW_Kohaku]

The biggest problem with logistics right now is that I'm constantly getting spammed with messages about misplaced items or not being able to find an item for a workshop job when the stocks screen says I have 70 of that item sitting in four different places in a single stockpile, so I KNOW that it's not like someone just grabbed the last one...

Announcement menus need to have more than one zoom-to button, so that you can zoom to where the dwarf in question was trying to path, rather than just where the dwarf happened to be when they lost track of an item. 

Further, the "give to" from stockpiles is problematic, as you can be in a situation where you forgot you assigned a stockpile to "give to" a given workshop, and it constantly spams messages about not being able to find objects when they're sitting two tiles away in a different stockpile.  Just having an indicator that it has a specified "take from" mode on would help.

Anyway, to the OP...

1. Yeah, this would be preferable, but it's also not all that big a deal.  It's only a few wasted steps, and the minecart itself will probably save so many that I'm usually more worried about idlers than shortening production lines. 

2. Use the "reserve barrel" function when making a stockpile.  Or better yet, don't, it's problematic.  Generally, an empty barrel will stay on a stockpile, anyway, and dwarves drag the barrel to the workshop for many jobs, as well.  If the distance between empty barrel and full barrel is a problem, have an empty barrel stockpile near the food or whatever stockpile, or just enable empty barrels as a stockable item in the stockpile to begin with so that they never get dragged off it but to fill the barrel. 

3. Considering weight concerns, this usually isn't really going to help.  Still, if you really want to force full containers, use minecarts.  Especially if it's long enough of a distance for this to really be a concern, minecarts are the answer.  (Even guided ones are vastly superior.)

4.  Radius restrictions on a stockpile seem finnicky and prone to problems with lack of feedback.  Also, I'm not sure what problem this actually tries to solve? Hauling is already done to the nearest available valid stockpile, so are you trying to exclude items that are outside of a given range?  Just throwing all your haulers into the burrows seems more logical for that purpose.

5. Dwarves already carry many food items at a time when picking fruit, so I'm not sure what you're talking about.  In fact, it's sort of ridiculous that they can carry 50 or more fruits at once, and actually get slowed down by it.  The only time they don't do this is with harvesting from a farm, and for that, it would be easier to just make harvesting use some of the plant gathering code, rather than making bags mandatory for more jobs than they already are mandatory for.  I have enough "can't find bag" spam as it is.

Another logistical point, I've noticed that my dwarves seem to prefer to grab reagents (wood, ore, etc.) from the farthest possible sources instead of stockpiles right next to their workshops.  I don't like to force them to work from a specific stockpile because if they run out, the order gets canceled and they go idle for a long time.  I know it would be terrible for FPS to calculate the nearest possible reagent, but there's got to be something better. 

They do generally grab from the closest stockpile.  They just grab from the closest stockpile in absolute distance.  If you have a horizontal layout for your fortress, this can often mean running halfway around your fort to get to a stone 2zs directly below rather than 5 steps to the stone stockpile horizontal from them.  Always build your resource stockpiles directly above your workshops, and have stairs up to them to solve this.