Route optimisation: What it is and why you need it ?

‘WTHeck is route optimisation?’, we hear you ask.
Plain and simple, route optimisation is finding the best route between two or more destinations. Best, however, does not necessarily mean shortest, fastest or most scenic (although wouldn’t that be nice?). Best means the most cost-effective route for your business, which requires consideration of:

• Number of drop-off destinations
• Crossing the line of traffic (no right-hand turns here!)
• Best or nearest driver to dispatch to the route
• Traffic congestion for the current time of day
• Best access to a stop along the route

With so many factors to consider, you can quickly see how the number of possible routes would add up fast. In fact, just one vehicle and 10 stops can have over 300,000 different routes. It's mind-boggling to consider manually planning.

The downsides of manual planning

With just one driver and 10 stops, planning your route is already getting overwhelming, and it’s likely most wholesale suppliers, like you, have more than one driver and more than 10 stops on any given day - and you don’t have the time for that. But if that alone isn’t enough to convince you that route optimisation software is best for your business, here are a couple of other things to consider when it comes to the downfalls of manual planning.

Error-prone: you’re human, and so is the rest of your team, and humans simply cannot keep track of all of those factors and manage them in an efficient way. Manual planning also means manually managing paperwork (even if that paperwork is digital) and filing it properly, and even if you’re incredibly organised, you can see where there is still plenty of room for error.

Time: your time is precious, and we’re sure you can think of countless other ways it could be put to good use. Just try to imagine the amount of time it would take to analyse thousands of routes and pick the best one - every single day.

Flexibility: your drivers do their best to find the route they believe is most efficient, but they can’t account for unforeseen traffic or other factors. Additionally, if a customer needs to make a last minute change to their delivery window, it could shake up the whole route (wasting time and kilometres).

Poor visibility: without one central place to access and view all routes, orders, and customer information, you could be missing important factors and not even know it. Manual planning also doesn’t give you direct oversight of how your drivers complete their routes, meaning if you start losing money somewhere along the way, the cause will be hard to pinpoint.

Expensive: for all of the reasons listed above, you can see how manual planning will cost you more. Your time is valuable, as is that of your drivers. Without a route optimisation system in place, you’ll be losing dollars on time, and fuel, and potentially increased risk of late deliveries and unhappy customers.

How route optimisation software can boost business

If you’re not yet convinced, here are the ways that route optimisation software can help you run a more efficient, more profitable business.

Save time: time is money, and we know yours is incredibly valuable for a well-run business.

Reduce cost: reduce fuel costs, skip tolls (where feasible), streamline driver hours and avoid bleeding money through inefficiencies.

Efficiency: routes can be set up based on a number of factors including customer delivery windows, leaving times, return times and a number of others to ensure the very best route is chosen for each driver’s day.

Boost profits: optimised routes mean less fuel and other costs cutting into your profits, while extra time in your day means you’ll have the capacity to add new customers to your books.

Customer satisfaction: timely, well-managed deliveries mean happier customers - and happy customers like to share their experience with their friends and industry contacts. Plus, route optimisation software allows customers to keep track of their orders too, meaning clear visibility for both parties.

Reduce carbon footprint: to truly be ahead of the game in the business world, reducing your carbon footprint should be a top priority. Every little bit counts when it comes to cutting fuel use and time on the road.

Route optimisation in a nutshell?

Route optimisation increases the profitability of your business by saving you time and fuel costs, and improving customer satisfaction.

Route optimisation software takes a number of parameters and factors into account to optimise your delivery routes daily. Plus, it allows clear visibility for you, your drivers, and your customers and you’ll be able to quickly edit routes when unexpected things pop up - and we all know they do!

To find out more about how route optimisation software can work for you, download our Supplier of the Future Guide.