Create Strategic Optimizations – Strategic Cycle Planning With Recurring Route Scenarios

Route4Me’s Strategic Optimizations simplify complex strategic cycle planning tasks for multi-frequency delivery and service schedules over extended planning periods. Sync data via SFTP, upload Locations with schedules, evaluate multiple optimization scenarios, and create recurring route plans for thousands of routes with weekly, bi-weekly, or other schedules with one click.

All you have to do is upload your data, pick your settings, and Route4Me’s enterprise route optimization API will handle the rest according to your recurring schedules. In this guide, you’ll learn how to create Strategic Optimizations to use them for selecting the most optimal high-volume recurring route scenarios.

NOTE: “Cycle” in Recurring Routing with Strategic Optimizations refers to an instance when a specific Recurring Schedule repeats.

Upload Locations – Plan Multi-Frequency Recurring Routes From Spreadsheet

To create new Strategic Optimizations, go to “Strategic Routing” > “Plan New Scenarios” from the Navigation Menu. Then, either click “Browse Files” and select a file from your device or simply drag and drop a spreadsheet file into the “Upload Locations” field.

Additionally, you can download a template file where you can enter your Customer Location data or use as an example when preparing your spreadsheet for upload. Simply click the “Download a template file” link.

Create Strategic Optimizations

You can also start creating a new Strategic Optimization from your Scenarios Page. Simply click the the “Create Optimization” button in the top-right. Then, proceed by adding your locations data file as described above.

Route4Me will automatically validate your data and map it to internal variables for optimization. If a column wasn’t validated, click the Down Arrow and select the correct data type from the menu. Once you’ve confirmed your uploaded data, click “Continue“.

Alternatively, you can select “Ignore” to omit columns from processing. Similarly, if a data column is necessary but not already listed, select “Custom” to map that column’s data to destinations as Route4Me Custom Data.

NOTE: Especially large datasets with thousands of locations and complex schedules may take slightly longer to optimize.

Locations Spreadsheet – Data Columns And Formatting For Strategic Optimizations

Formatting a spreadsheet for strategic planning is similar to regular Route4Me Spreadsheet Formatting. The table below outlines supported data and shows mandatory columns for strategic optimization with recurring routing.

Download Example Locations Spreadsheet

NOTE: If a location has no specific schedule and should be visited once per cycle, all scheduling fields must be left blank.

Configure And Compare Optimization Settings For Strategic Scenarios

Once you’ve imported your data, you can configure optimization settings. The “Configuration” window will automatically open with the “Form” tab selected. To configure your Strategic Scenarios, follow these steps:

1. Select the Scenario you want to adjust settings for.
   You can add more scenarios by clicking “Add Scenario” at the bottom of the list.
2. Enter your settings in the correponding fields of the configuration form.
   Learn more about available configuration fields in the table below.
3. Once you’ve set up your strategic optimization scenarios, click the “Create” button.

Route4Me will automatically use your Customer Location data and strategic optimization scenario settings to create the most optimal recurring routes according to your preferences.

To easily compare the optimization configurations of different scenarios, click the “Table” tab. You’ll see a data table showing optimization settings as columns for each scenario. Once you’ve confirmed everything is in order, click “Create” to proceed.

Manually Adjust Strategic Optimization Settings In JSON Editor

You can also configure strategic optimization settings directly in the JSON editor, which you can open by clicking the “JSON”  tab. Use the blue bar above the editor for formatting.

The table below shows a list of configuration parameters for recurring strategic cycle optimization, and you can find a JSON code snippet with the minimal necessary settings beneath the table.

[
 {
  "route_max_duration": 28800,
  "rt": 1,
  "route_time": 43200,
  "parts": 99,
  "slowdowns": {
   "service_time": 10,
   "travel_time": 10
  },
  "is_flexible_start_time": false,
  "timezone": "America/New_York",
  "scheduler": {
   "start_date": "2030-01-01",
   "cycles": 4,
   "blackout_days": [],
   "blackout_dates": []
  },
  "scheduler_name": "Strategic Cycle Planning Configuration",
 }
]

Open And Manage New Strategic Optimizations And Scenarios

Route4Me will automatically generate the most efficient recurring route cycles and Scenarios according to your settings. You can find them in your account’s Strategic Optimizations, where you can view, filter, and manage Optimizations and their associated Scenarios.

Open Your Strategic Optimizations