Strategic Optimizations – Automated Strategic Cycle Planning With Recurring Routing
Route4Me’s Strategic Optimizations simplify and automate complex strategic cycle planning tasks for multi-frequency delivery and service schedules over extended planning periods. Sync data via SFTP, upload Customer addresses with schedules, evaluate multiple optimization scenarios, and create recurring route plans for thousands of routes with weekly, bi-weekly, or other visit requirements with one click.
All you have to do is upload your data, and Route4Me’s enterprise route optimization API will handle the rest according to your recurring schedules. In this guide, you’ll learn about Strategic Optimizations and how 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.
Table of Contents
Route4Me Strategic Route Optimizations For Multi-Frequency Recurring Routes
Planning hundreds and even thousands of routes, all with different Recurring Schedules and visitation frequencies, is easy with Strategic Optimizations. Simply go to “Customers” > “Strategic Optimizations” from the Navigation Menu, upload your Customer Locations or sync data via SFTP upload, and Route4Me will automatically generate the most efficient recurring route cycles.
Then, follow the steps below to evaluate and select the best Scenarios for your business needs:
- Open a Strategic Optimization to see its associated scenarios.
- Open a scenario that meets your strategic cycle planning requirements.
- Import Scenario Routes either as regular routes or master routes for Recurring Routing.
Your account’s Strategic Optimizations page is where you can view, filter, and open Strategic Optimizations and their associated Scenarios. Keep reading to learn more about each of the above steps.
Open Your Strategic Optimizations
Upload Locations – Plan Multi-Frequency Recurring Routes From Spreadsheet
To upload a spreadsheet file with customer locations and schedule data, click “Create Optimization“. 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. To do so, simply click the link at the bottom of the “Upload Locations” field.
Route4Me’s Strategic Optimizations 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“.
Additionally, you can select “Ignore” from the menu to omit certain data columns from processing and optimization. Similarly, if a data column is necessary but not already listed, select the “Custom” option to associate that columns data to route destinations as Route4Me Custom Data. To go back to your Strategic Optimizations, simply click the link in the top-left of the page.
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 locations spreadsheet for strategic planning is similar to regular Route4Me Spreadsheet Formatting. The table below outlines supported data columns and shows which are mandatory for strategic optimization with recurring routing. You can also click the green button to download an example locations spreadsheet with mandatory and optional columns.
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.
| Column (Key) | Description | Mandatory | Expected Value |
|---|---|---|---|
| Alias (alias) | Name of the location, used to easily identify locations and find them via search fields. | Text | |
| Address (address) | Street address of the location. Can be used alone or alongside coordinates. | Text | |
| Depot (is_depot) | If the location is a route origin point (depot) or a destination location. | TRUE/FALSE | |
| Days (scheduler_days) | Days of the week of a planning cycle on which a location should be included in routes. | mon, tue, wed, thu, fri, sat, sun | |
| Time Window Start (time_window_start) | Time of day from which the location is available for visit. | Time (hh:mm) | |
| Time Window End (time_window_end) | Time of day till which the location is available for visit. | Time (hh:mm) | |
| Starting Cycle (scheduler_starting_cycle) | On which cycle of the recurring schedule should the location first be included in routes. | Number | |
| Days Between Cycle (scheduler_days_between_cycle) | Number of days between planned visitation cycles. | Number | |
| Days Range (scheduler_days_range) | Adds days before and after the Days Between Cycle value to account for delays and scheduling specifics. | Number | |
| Visits Per Cycle (scheduler_visits_per_cycle) | Maximum number of times the location can be included in routes per recurring schedule cycle. | Number | |
| Service Time (service_time) | Duration of planned location visit in seconds. | Time (ss) | |
| Latitude (lat) | Coordinate indicator of the location. | Coordinate | |
| Longitude (lat) | Coordinate indicator of the location. | Coordinate | |
| Customer UUID (CustomerUUID) | Unique internal ID used to identify a unique Customer in the system | UUID String | |
| Frequency (frequency) | How often the location can be planned for visitation when scenario routes are accepted. | Number |
Configure And Compare Optimization Settings For Strategic Scenarios
Once you’ve imported your data, you can configure optimization parameters for strategic cycle planning. The “Configuration” will automatically open with the “Form” tab selected. To adjust optimization settings for your strategic scenarios, follow these steps:
- Select the Scenario you want to adjust settings for.
You can add more scenarios by clicking “Add Scenario” at the bottom of the list. - Enter your settings in the correponding fields of the configuration form.
Learn more about available configuration fields in the table below. - 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.
| Configuration | Description | |
|---|---|---|
| Scenario | ||
| Scheduler Name | Name the scheduling scenario so it’s easy to find and reuse when planning cycles. | |
| Cycles | How many complete cycles to execute (cycle = 1 week by default). For example, enter “4” to plan 4 weeks. This determines how far ahead your routing schedule extends. | |
| Cycle Length | Length of each planning cycle in days. The default is 7 days (weekly). Adjust for custom planning periods – use “1” for daily, “14” for bi-weekly, or “30” for monthly cycles. Blackout Days still apply within each cycle. | |
| Schedule | ||
| Timezone | The timezone of your depot, facility, or departure address. Time Windows at customer destinations will use this timezone. | |
| Start Date | The first day of the planning period. The default is the current date (when optimizing). Set to a future date to prepare schedules in advance. | |
| Route Start Time | Routes will start at the specified time in the corresponding timezone (not your account timezone). | |
| Flexible Start Time | Set an earliest and latest time of day during which routes can start. Flexible Start Time enables optimal Time Windows route planning. | |
| Blackout Days | Weekdays to exclude from route planning, such as non-business days. | |
| Blackout Dates | Calendar dates to exclude from route planning, such as bank holidays, facility maintenance dates, etc. | |
| Optimization | ||
| Route End | Select the final destination type of routes in the scenario. Routes can end at any address for optimal route sequencing, end at the departure address for round trip routing, or end at the last address in the uploaded sequence. | |
| Business Rules | Input per-route constraint values such as maximum distance, vehicle capacity, number of destinations, etc. NOTE: “Max Route Duration” is required. | |
| Traffic Adjustment | Set Service Time and Travel Time Slowdown values to account for heavy traffic, service delays, etc. | |
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.
| Configuration | Description | Example Value |
|---|---|---|
| route_max_duration | Maximum route duration in seconds. | ”28800” (8 hours) |
| route_date | Route start date expressed as a UTC unix timestamp in seconds. | ”1893452400” (01.01.2030) |
| rt | Round Trip configuration. Defines whether the route ends at the final destination or returns to the depot. | ”TRUE” or “FALSE“ |
| route_time | Scheduled route start time relative to “route_date” in seconds. | ”43200” (12PM) |
| parts | Limits the maximum number of routes that can be scheduled on the same day. | 99 |
| vehicle_capacity | Maximum number of units vehicles can carry. | 99 |
| vehicle_max_distance_mi | Maximum distance vehicles can travel (in miles) used as a constraint when planning routes. | 420 |
| vehicle_max_cargo_weight | Maximum vehicle weight capacity constraint used for planning routes. | 450 |
| vehicle_max_cargo_volume | Maximum vehicle cubic volume capacity constraint used for planning routes. | 1800 |
| max_tour_size | Maximum number of destinations for routes in a scenario. | 20 |
| lock_last | Determines if the final destination on the route will be fixed (same as final destination in the uploaded file). | ”TRUE” or “FALSE“ |
| breaks | Driver Breaks JSON list. Automatically inserts Break Destinations based on the “mode” value (0: Elapsed Time, 2: travel Time, 3: Locations Visisted) according to the variable parameters (see example). | {“mode”: 2,”mode_params”: [3600],”repeats_number”: 1,”duration”: 1800} |
| advanced_constraints | JSON list which contains advanced route planning constraints values such as “max_capacity“, “max_cargo_weight“, “max_cargo_volume“, “members_count“, “available_time_windows“ | [{“max_capacity”:50,”max_cargo_weight”:7200,”max_cargo_volume”:1000,”}] |
| balance | JSON object which defines a “mode” for route balancing, currently supports balancing routes based on destination count. | {“mode”: “destinations_count”} |
| subtour_max_revenue | Maximum revenue per route in the scenario. | 1200 |
| slowdowns | JSON object which includes Traffic Slowdown configurations (Service Time Slowdown, Travel Time Slowdown). | N/A |
| service_time | Service Time Slowdown expressed as a percentage value in the “slowdowns” JSON object. | ”25” (25%) |
| travel_time | Travel Time Slowdown expressed as a percentage value in the “slowdowns” JSON object. | ”25” (25%) |
| is_flexible_start_time | Defines whether planned routes will use Flexible Start Time scheduling. | ”true” or “false“ |
| flexible_start_time | JSON object which includes the earliest and latest start time values for dynamic route start time scheduling with time windows. | N/A |
| earliest_start | Earliest permitted route start time relative to “route_date” in seconds. | ”43200” (12PM) |
| latest_start | Latest permitted route start time relative to “route_date” in seconds. | ”46800” (1PM) |
| timezone | Time zone for route scheduling set in your Account Settings. | ”America/New York“ |
| scheduler | JSON object which contains route schedule data. | N/A |
| start_date | Calendar date on which the first strategic cycle is scheduled to begin. | ”2030-07-04“ |
| cycles | Number of planned strategic cycles to optimize routes for. | ”4“ |
| blackout_days | Days of the week to omit when creating recurring route cycles. | [“sat”, “sun”] |
| blackout_dates | Calendar dates, such as Holidays, to omit from recurring route cycles. | [“12-25”, “01-01”] |
| scheduler_name | Custom name of the configuration with your current settings. | ”Strategic Scheduler“ |
[
{
"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",
}
]
Filter And Customize Strategic Optimizations Data Table
To find a specific Strategic Plan on your account, you can use custom filters or search for a Plan by name with the “Search” field.
Click the “Created Date” button to open the calendar and filter Strategic Plans by their creation date or time frame. Then, you can further refine the shown Optimizations by clicking the “Filters” button. Currently, you can filter Plans by the number of associated Scenarios and Customer Locations.
Furthermore, you can customize the columns on your Strategic Optimizations page to see only the data relevant to your needs. To do so, click the Display Columns Button and check the boxes next to the columns you wish to enable. After that, you can change their positions by dragging column names. Accordingly, columns listed from top to bottom are displayed from left to right on your Strategic Optimizations. Click the “Apply” button to save your data column settings.
| Column | Description | |
|---|---|---|
| General | ||
| Name | Unique name or alias of the optimization. You can use names to find it via the “Search” field. | |
| Created | Date when the strategic optimization was created via SFTP data sync. | |
| Locations | Total number of locations included in the optimization scenarios and routes. | |
| Scenarios | Total number of scenarios included in the strategic optimization. | |
| Source | How the strategic optimization was created. Currently supports SFTP. | |
| User | User who uploaded the strategic optimization. | |
| Route Metrics | ||
| Avg Routes | Average number of routes per week. | |
| Avg Distance | Average distance of routes included in the strategic optimization. | |
| Avg Duration | Average duration of routes included in the strategic optimization. | |
| Destination Metrics | ||
| Avg Destinations | Average number of destinations on routes included in the strategic optimization. | |
| Avg Time Delta Destinations | Average time between destinations on routes included in the strategic optimization. | |
| Avg Delta Destinations | Average distance between destinations on routes included in the strategic optimization. | |
| Travel & Service Metrics | ||
| Avg Duration | Average duration of routes included in the strategic optimization. Combination of Travel Duration and Service Duration. | |
| Avg Travel Duration | Average Travel Time Duration of routes included in the strategic optimization. | |
| Avg Service Duration | Average Service Time Duration of routes included in the strategic optimization. | |
| Avg Distance | Average distance of routes included in the strategic optimization. | |
Open Scenarios And Customer Locations From The Strategic Optimizations
Strategic Optimizations provide an overview of your Recurring Routing Scenarios bundled into Optimizations. To view more detailed data about a specific optimization and its associated scenarios, click the “Open” button.
On the “Scenarios” page, you can see the scenarios included in the Strategic Optimization you opened and their associated data such as the number of routes, visits, average and total route durations, and more.
Click the “Locations” tab to see the Customer Locations associated with the Strategic Optimization and its Scenarios. Additionally, here’s where you can find data relating to the visit frequency and pattern of each location.
Customize Scenario Data Columns And Settings
Just like Strategic Optimizations, you can customize the data shown for your Scenarios and Locations. To do so, click the Display Columns Button and check the boxes next to the columns you wish to enable. After that, you can change their positions by dragging column names. Accordingly, columns listed from top to bottom are displayed from left to right on the “Scenarios” page. Click the “Apply” button to save your data column settings.
The “Scenarios” and “Locations” tabs support different data columns. See the table below for more information about each section’s supported columns.
| Column | Description | |
|---|---|---|
| Overview | ||
| Description | Functions as the alias of a scenario and includes schedule details and parameters. | |
| Status | Current status of the scenario depending on whether it was accepted. If a scenario hasn’t been accepted, it will have the “Pending” status. | |
| Optimization Period | The period of time across which scenario routes will be scheduled. | |
| Route & Destination Metrics | ||
| Routes | Number of routes included in the scenario. | |
| Destinations | Number of visits to be planned for routes in the scenario | |
| Created Routes | Total number of scenario routes that have been successfully created. | |
| Ad Hoc Created Routes | Total number of planned routes imported as ad-hoc routes. | |
| Master Created Routes | Total number of planned routes imported as Master Routes for Recurring Routing. | |
| Failed Routes | Number of routes that couldn’t be optimized based on constraints and optimization settings. | |
| Accepted | Date on which the scenario was accepted. | |
| Created Routes % | Percentage of scenario routes that have been successfully created. | |
| Ad Hoc Created Routes % | Percentage of planned routes imported as ad-hoc routes. | |
| Master Created Routes % | Total number of planned routes imported as Master Routes for Recurring Routing. | |
| Failed Routes % | Routes that couldn’t be optimized based on constraints and optimization settings as a percentage of total planned routes. | |
| Duration Metrics | ||
| Avg Duration per Route | Average duration of routes in the scenario. | |
| Total Duration | Total duration of routes in the scenario. | |
| Total Travel Duration | Total combined duration of scenario route travel time. | |
| Total Service Duration | Total duration of route Service Time in the scenario. | |
| Avg Time Δ Destinations | Average travel time between scenario route destinations. | |
| Total Travel Duration % | Percentage of total route duration spent as Travel Time. | |
| Total Service Duration % | Percentage of total route duration spent as Service Time. | |
| Distance Metrics | ||
| Avg Distance per Route | Average travel distance of routes in the scenario. | |
| Total Distance | Total combined distance of scenario routes. | |
| Avg Distance Δ Destinations | Average travel distance between scenario route destinations. | |
Open And Accept Scenario Route Plans For Regular Or Recurring Routing
To see detailed information about a Scenario’s associated Route Plans, click the “Open” button next to a Scenario. This enables you to evaluate Strategic Scenarios in detail before accepting and adding routes to your account.
Once you open a Scenario, you can see the routes associated with it, including details like start time, planned distance and duration, number of destinations, etc. The combined totals for these metrics are shown in the Summary Panel on the left. For your convenience, Scenario Routes are grouped by week, giving you an overview of their recurring schedules and visitation patterns.
If the Scenario Route Plans meet your requirements, simply click the “Import All as Master Routes” button to add those routes to your account as Master Routes for Recurring Schedules. Alternatively, click the Down Arrow button to add the routes to your account as ad-hoc, non-recurring routes. NOTE: Non-recurring routes will be scheduled for the dates and times shown in the Scenario and won’t repeat.
To get a detailed breakdown of the visitation frequency and schedules for all destinations included in a Scenario, click the “Destinations Schedule” tab. Here, you can see the Customers and Customer Locations associated with destinations in the Scenario Route Plans. Additionally, you can see the visitation frequency and weekday schedules of each destination.
Customize Route Plan Data Columns And Settings
You can easily customize the data shown for your route plans. This streamlines the process of evaluating a Strategic Scenario and simplifies decision-making. To do so, click the Display Columns Button and check the boxes next to the columns you wish to enable. After that, you can change their positions by dragging column names. Accordingly, columns listed from top to bottom are displayed from left to right on a Scenario’s page. Click the “Apply” button to save your data column settings.
The “Routes” and “Destination Schedules” tabs support different data columns. See the table below for more information about each tab’s supported columns.
| Column | Description | |
|---|---|---|
| Route | ||
| Route Name | Name or alias of the routes. You can use a route’s name to easily find it in other Route4Me interfaces. | |
| Week | For how many weeks the route will be planned when scenario routes are accepted. | |
| Day | For which days of the week the route will be scheduled when scenario routes are accepted. | |
| Start Date | Date for which the route will be scheduled when scenario routes are accepted. | |
| Start Time | Time for which the route will be scheduled when scenario routes are accepted. | |
| Destinations | Total number of destinations that will be included in the route when scenario routes are accepted. | |
| Duration & Distance Metrics | ||
| Duration | Total duration of the route, including travel time and Service Time. | |
| Distance | Total distance of the route. | |
| Avg Δ Destinations | Average distance between destinations on the route. | |
| Avg Time Δ Destinations | Average travel time between destinations on the route. | |
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About author: Kristian Andreev
