Order Territory Management And Routing – Plan Routes With Orders In Customer Address Territories

Route4Me’s ERP Order Management and Routing Software enables medium and large last mile businesses to automatically import orders from CRMs and other systems, add, upload, scan, sort, and schedule millions of orders effortlessly. Additionally, you can sort your orders by custom-shaped geographical territories based on your unique routing and business needs. Furthermore, you can use your Order Territories to optimize multi-driver and multi-vehicle last mile routes.

In this guide, you can learn how to open and manage your Order Territories, filter orders by Territory and status, and use your Territories to optimize routes. Additionally, you can learn how to plan routes on the Orders List, route Order Groups, plan Orders Map routes, and scan barcodes to plan customer order routes.

NOTE: Depending on your account configurations, you may have different features enabled. To enable or disable specific features, please contact your Routing Expert or Route4Me’s Support Team.

Open And Manage Order Territories

A Route4Me Territory is a geographical area on the map that is defined by its custom-shaped borders. You can create Territories by simply drawing them on the map. Accordingly, if the address of an order is located within the boundaries of a specific Territory, this order is automatically associated with that Territory. Additionally, you can learn how to Create and Manage Territories.

Open Your Address Book Territories Map

To open the list of all Order Territories available on your account, go to “Operations” and then “Orders” from the Navigation Menu and then select the “Territories” tab. To manage a specific Territory, click the Three-dot Icon next to it and select the preferred option. Specifically, you can use the Territory for planning routes, change the Territory’s name and color, and delete the Territory.

Additionally, you can select a custom Optimization Profile for each individual Territory. An Optimization Profile is a template with predefined route settings and optimization constraints. Accordingly, when you plan routes using a specific Territory, its selected Optimization Profile will be automatically applied, and the routes will be optimized based on that profile’s settings. Additionally, learn how to create and use Optimization Profiles.

Open Your Order Territories

Orders Map Territories – Create And Manage Territories On The Orders Map

Furthermore, you can create Order Territories directly from the Orders Page by using the customer Orders Map. To open the Orders Map, go to “Orders” from the Navigation Menu and simply click the Orders Map Icon in the top-right of the Orders Page.

Then, create and manage Order Territories on the Orders Map by following these steps:

1. To create a new territory, click the Draw Polygon or Draw Rectangle button in the top right of the Orders Map. Alternatively, right-click anywhere on the map and select the preferred shape drawing option.
2. Then, click and drag to draw a circle or rectangle, or click to add points to a polygon.
3. Once you’ve drawn your preferred territory shape on the map, click the Save Icon next to “New Shape“.
4. Then, select “Territory” in the “Type” field and enter a unique name in the “Name” field. Furthermore, click the Paint Bucket Button to select a color for the new territory on the map. When done, click the “Save” button to create your new territory.

In detail, the name of a territory can be used to quickly find it in the search bar of the “Territories” and “Avoidance Zones” panel. Additionally, learn more about using the interactive Orders Map.

Plan And Optimize Routes Using Customer Order Territories

To plan routes with Order Territories, filter orders by date or date range using the “Time Period” field. Next, filter orders by the “Destination Type” (i.e., Delivery, Pickup, etc.) and “Order Status“. Specifically, only Sorted and Scheduled orders can be used for planning routes. Additionally, you can learn more about Route4Me’s Order Management System Order Statuses.

After filtering orders by date, type, and status, the “Total Orders” column will display the total number of orders within each Territory that are scheduled for the selected dates and fit the specified filters. After that, you can select one or multiple Territories for planning combined or separate routes.

Additionally, you can plan Territory routes on the Orders Map. The “Territories” tab of the Orders Page is your primary tool for aggregating and routing multiple Order Territories and provides a detailed overview of all Territories on your account, while the Orders Map enables you to quickly and easily manage and route individual territories.

The following steps describe how to filter the Orders Page so you see only those orders relevant to your routing needs on the Orders Map.

1. Open the View Mode Menu by clicking “Plan Routes” above the Orders List and select the preferred Orders Page View Mode.
2. Open the calendar by clicking “Scheduled For Date” above the Orders List and select the preferred date range type and date range.
3. Click “Filters” to open the filter menu and filter orders by the preferred attributes or details.

Plan Combined Route – Optimize Single Route With All Orders

The “Plan Combined Route” option allows you to plan a single route with all orders within all selected Territories. First, select one or multiple Territories that you want to use for planning the route by checking the boxes next to them. After that, click the “Plan Combined Route” button.

Next, schedule the route by selecting the preferred date in the “Route Start Date” calendar. After that, select the preferred Optimization Profile that will be used to optimize the route. Finally, click the “Continue” button to optimize the route.

Next, the Fastest Route Planner Software will plan and optimize a single route with all orders of the selected Territories. Accordingly, the route will be optimized based on settings in the selected Optimization Profile and scheduled for the selected date. When the system plans and optimizes a route, this route is automatically opened in Route4Me’s Route Editor.

Alternatively, you can plan a single route with orders from multiple Territories directly from the Orders Map. To do so, select the preferred territories by checking the boxes next to them. Then, click the “Bulk Actions” button and select “Plan Route With Selected” from the menu. Route4Me’s Customer Order Route Planner will automatically open the Route Planning page and import the selected orders into the newly planned route. After you’ve planned a new route, it will automatically open in the Route Editor.

Plan Separate Routes – Optimize Routes With Separate Territories

The “Plan Separate Routes” option allows you to plan separate routes with the orders within each individual Territory without overlapping with other Territories. First, select one or multiple Territories that you want to use for planning routes by checking the boxes next to them. After that, click the “Plan Separate Routes” button.

Next, schedule all routes by selecting the preferred date in the “Route Start Date” calendar. After that, you can change or keep the same assigned Optimization Profile for each of the selected Territories. Additionally, you can remove selected Territories from the list by clicking on the X icon next to them. Finally, click the “Continue” button to optimize the routes.

Next, the trusted route planner will plan and optimize one or multiple routes with orders from each individual Territory, without overlapping Territories. Equally important, routes within each Territory are planned based on its assigned Optimization Profile settings. Accordingly, depending on the Optimization Profile assigned to a Territory, the system can plan one or multiple routes with the orders within this Territory. When the system optimizes multiple routes, they are automatically opened on Route4Me’s Routes Map, where you can simultaneously view and manage multiple routes.

Additionally, the Orders Map enables you to plan Order Territories routes without crossing territory borders. To plan separate Territory routes, select the preferred territories by checking the boxes next to them. Then, click the “Bulk Actions” button and select “Plan Individual Routes With Selected” from the menu. Route4Me’s Reliable Route Software will automatically open the Route Planning page and import the selected orders into the newly planned routes. After you’ve planned new routes, they will automatically open in the Routes Map.

Dispatch Routes To Drivers And Track Order Progress

Furthermore, you can dispatch optimized routes to your drivers and vehicles. When using Optimization Profiles, routes are automatically dispatched to the driver and vehicle assigned in the used profile. Additionally, you can manually dispatch routes to drivers and vehicles. To manually dispatch a route to a driver or vehicle, assign the preferred user to the route or assign the preferred vehicle to the route.

Accordingly, when a driver is assigned to a route, this driver can open and complete the route using Route4Me’s Android Route Planning App or iPhone Route Planning App. As drivers navigate and complete routes, the orders on those routes automatically change their status in real-time.

Moreover, as orders are loaded on routes, delivered, and completed, they change their status in real-time. In detail, once an order is included in a route, the route is dispatched to the driver. Next, the driver can use Route4Me’s Mobile Driver App to load the order on the route, deliver, and complete the order. When the driver updates the order’s status, the route progress and the order’s status are automatically updated in your Orders List in real-time. When an order is successfully delivered or completed, it gets the “Done” status. Additionally, learn more about Route4Me’s Delivery System Order Statuses and Order Lifecycle.