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Transport route planning is more than just plotting routes on a map. It's an essential performance lever for reducing costs, improving service levels and increasing responsiveness.
To achieve this, a high-performance route optimization engine helps you build reliable, realistic and profitable schedules, while taking into account your business constraints.
Here are the best practices to adopt if you want to build an efficient tour schedule, whether you're already using an optimization tool or want to structure your processes.
Tour optimization best practices
Define an objective
Before creating your tour schedule, it's essential to define an objective. This may be to make as many deliveries or collections as possible, to optimize costs, to optimize the use of resources... The profitability of your routes is always analysed in relation to an objective!
Identify and prioritize tour planning constraints
You have to deal with what's necessary, but it's completely counterproductive to enter habits or preferences into the tour optimization engine that are not essential. It's impossible to integrate all "customer preferences", which is why you need to concentrate on what's essential: real customer constraints.
The aim is to find a happy medium. If you don't take essential constraints into account, you run the risk of failing to meet your service rate and having to schedule a new visit to the customer (e.g. by not taking into account the need to use a tailgate).
On the other hand, if you take too many constraints into account, you'll "over-stress" the tour, making more rounds than necessary and using more trucks.
Continuous optimization of tour planning
Your tour schedules are forecasts: they must not be fixed or disconnected from the field.
Listen to feedback from operational staff (delays, unsuitable vehicles, forgotten constraints) to adjust your parameters and stay in line with your objectives.
Planning is a living system: it evolves according to data and feedback from the field. The indicators in your optimization engine will help you identify areas for improvement and validate any adjustments you make.
Finally, don't hesitate to carry out simulations ("What if we lightened the schedule constraints?", "What if we only used multi-purpose vehicles?"). These tests, generated by the optimization engine's AI, form a solid basis for discussion with your customers and support your proposals for improvement.
Training in route planning
Having the best route optimization tool won't do you any good if you don't master it properly.
A good optimization engine will be intuitive and easy to get to grips with, but you'll still need some initial support to get you off to a good start with the tool, to bring yourself up to speed (particularly with the arrival of new features) or to ensure that you're putting the right practices in place.
It is advisable to set up key users capable of steering the planning process in operational terms. Last but not least, all users should receive regular refresher training from the editor (e.g. every two years).
Don't hesitate to contact the editor of your route optimization solution to discuss the engine's roadmap. This exchange is beneficial both for the user, who discovers new functionalities, and for the editor, who identifies new levers for progress.
Back-up planners
The planner is a key element in tour optimization. However, the planner must not be the only one capable of creating optimized tours, or risk huge losses in profitability if he or she is absent.
That's why it's a good idea to use a route optimization tool and to train several people within the operation.
In this way, there will always be someone to take care of tour planning, thanks to an easy-to-use tool that will guide them in their task.
Use a tool that cuts to the chase and delivers real results
The most important thing to remember when choosing a route optimization solution is that the tool must be clear and easy to use, while allowing you to meet your needs. There's no need to use a "gas factory" that promises plenty of features, but misses the point. More specifically, remember that the software or API you use to optimize your routes must help you to do 3 basic things:
- Be easy to use.
- Respect the right constraints.
- Always perform well
The important thing is to use a tool that enables you to perform at least these 3 actions.
You also need to be able to set the bar for your expectations at a reasonable level: the tour optimization engine won't automatically handle 100% of special cases. You have to accept the possibility of making manual adjustments with the planner to adapt to the particularities of certain customers.
However, it's worth remembering that in the vast majority of cases, the tour optimization engine will be able to push optimization very far, without the need for adjustments (which is why it has become indispensable in the TRM sector).
Don't forget that you're still in control of your routes
The route optimization engine will provide you with high-performance schedules, but certain constraints may pose a problem.
It will always be possible to make small constraint forcings to modify routes according to certain specificities not natively considered by the software.
Don't forget: you're working with forecasts, so there are bound to be unforeseen circumstances, and the important thing is to keep control of your schedule!
Why choose Sinari Optim as your route optimization solution?
Our optimization engine is THE benchmark for route optimization solutions. It's easy to use, powerful (the most powerful on the market) and offers a wide range of functions to adapt to different customer constraints.
Thanks to our in-depth knowledge of the industry and our in-depth understanding of the challenges and constraints specific to the TRM sector, we have developed Sinari Optim, a powerful AI-based engine that is also flexible enough to adapt to any situation.
We also offer our customers comprehensive support, from the implementation of the tour optimization engine to training and advice to help you make the most of the tool and maximize the return on your investment.
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