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Have you ever had a laundry list of errands to run, then reached the end of the day only to find yourself making the same trip twice because you were stuck in traffic or didn’t plan your route efficiently? It’s a frustrating problem, and for companies it can mean exponentially higher costs, more man-hours, and increased CO2 emissions.

But thanks to Greenplan, it doesn’t have to. Their route planning software helps companies make the most of their drive time. By using real-time GPS data – updated every five minutes – and easily planning routes beyond standard geographical boundaries, they can cut costs, increase on-time deliveries, and slash CO2. We asked Greenplan co-founders Clemens Beckmann and Florian Merget to share three things you may not know about their innovative e-commerce scale-up.

“Big postal players and freight carriers are obvious customers for Greenplan, but there are so many applications for their technology,” says Clemens. He highlights their work for CSG technicians out on repair or maintenance calls. “With our software, they substantially improved the way the engineer’s route is planned. Before, they had around three jobs per day, per technician, and now they have six and a half. Efficient service time for technicians is now close to 80%.”

2. The solution can radically change commercial transport

Greenplan can save companies up to 30% on costs and make huge reductions to routes, vehicles, staff time, and importantly, CO2 emissions. It’s a fundamentally different approach to route planning, which is both a win and a challenge for the company. “To get new customers into the game is quite challenging, because this is a very sophisticated tool,” explains Florian. “Particularly for postal operators, they’re quite conservative and bureaucratic so it really takes time, it’s seen as a very fundamental change.”

3. There’s a shelf full of awards to prove it

One of the professors on Greenplan’s R&D team, Prof. Stephan Held, won the 2021 Amazon Last Mile Challenge, and it wasn’t a close race – their entry was 42% better than the second place winners. They’re also the proud owners of the 2020 PostEurop Innovation Award.

Greenplan in the spotlight - 3 Things you should know about optimizing route planning

3 Things you should know about optimizing route planning

Cloud-based route optimization using time-of-day speed profiles and a sophisticated algorithm — the future of transportation belongs to smart route planners. Certainly, with their help the journey from A to B can be completed faster and more efficiently. That is not all, however; better routes make a respectable contribution to reducing CO2 emissions. Greenplan, a young tech company that has emerged from Deutsche Post DHL Group, is committed to realizing both of these goals. An interview with Greenplan managing directors Florian Merget and Clemens Beckmann about sustainable transport on optimized routes.

Florian, Clemens, how exactly should we picture Greenplan’s solution in our minds?

Beckmann: We have developed a solution that calculates efficient and sustainable route plans. Numerous benchmarks demonstrate that our route plans are more than 10 percent more efficient than those created using traditional systems.

This superiority results from two factors. First, our algorithm takes into account time-of-day traffic flow speeds for each route segment when planning routes. It allows us to make very precise predictions about our arrival times and to comply very closely with time windows. Second, Greenplan can plan tours fully dynamically, i.e., without any predefined area boundaries. Moreover, we are able to adapt our solution to the specific circumstances of our customers. The use of our solution requires a critical mass, however — it is usually worthwhile for a fleet of more than 100 vehicles or for a volume of 200 or more tours per week.

What customers, what target groups do you address with your solution?

Merget: Our customers come from various industries, and the use cases among them vary. In the road freight business, we are looking at the segments “LTL” (Less Than Truck Load) and “PTL” (Part Truck Load). There is greater potential for optimization in these segments than is the case for “FTL” (Full Truck Load). Furthermore, we have many customers in the "last mile" sector who are driven by the e-commerce boom. Some of our customers operate in the express sector because our solution also incorporates very precise time windows for deliveries into its calculations. In addition, we are active in the field service pharmaceutical logistics. Still, our clientele also includes traditional postal service companies.

This sounds like very different requirements for individual customers — factors that are also not always easy to model.

Beckmann: Yes. And these factors are exactly what prompted us to develop our business rule engine. While the core of our algorithm always strives for maximum efficiency, the business rule engine ensures that other criteria are met. Notional costs sanction undesirable behavior, even if the solution based solely on the strict specifications would be possible. A simple example of this is delivery times. Suppose a shipment is supposed to be delivered by 6 p.m. of a specific day for quality reasons, but the actual deadline is 8 p.m. Our business rule engine allows us to apply notional costs for every minute after 6 p.m. that the delivery takes place. An incentive for the system to satisfy the requested condition — if possible — is generated.

This requires flexibility and plenty of modeling work with long implementation times. After that, however, the solution fits like a tailored suit.

Can you give us an example of a particularly challenging rule?

Beckmann: For us, trailer handling was a very complex issue. Certain customers in freight transport handle consignments comprising multiple elements rather than single items. Once a trailer has been loaded and hitched to a truck, it is of course no longer possible to load and unload the front truck. Such factors must be taken into account during planning. Another case is refrigerated transport as sometimes only one section of the truck is refrigerated, requiring planning with two types of capacity in one vehicle. The only thing we can’t combine with the software is an optimal packing instruction for the specific route. Packing instruction means mastery of the so-called “Tetris game” of geometrically optimal arrangement of all packages in the cargo area.

Another highly demanding task: unscheduled pick-up events. These are situations when goods are scheduled for collection, but time and place have not yet been precisely set. The procedure must always calculate whether there is still enough space in the truck and whether any later time windows might possibly be “shattered” by a detour.

The transport sector contributes a major share of global CO2 emissions. To what extent does the increase in efficiency achieved by your solution have an impact in terms of environmental sustainability?

Merget: First of all, this thought is in our name — Greenplan. When we optimize or improve route planning, we usually reduce the mileage driven by as much as 20 percent. This is both an important selling point and our contribution to climate-friendly solutions.

Beckmann: Another important lever for greater sustainability is the electrification of fleets; we can currently use the range of electric vehicles to plan their effective use on our road map. Then there are city and municipal regulations requiring CO2-neutral means of transport in certain zones. We foresee the implementation of increasingly strict rules in urban areas. Since these rules can be modeled in our solution, we can meet these requirements.

Greenplan is a young technology company that has been spun off from Deutsche Post DHL Group. What were the reasons behind the successful spin-off of your company at this specific time?

Beckmann: There were two primary reasons for our decision. For one, everything related to software and its development is foreign to Deutsche Post DHL. In most cases, solutions are also procured externally because they are highly mathematical or have a highly complex structure. The core business of our parent company is the organization and efficient performance of transports, not software. A very few companies have developed this area completely for themselves — one well-known example is UPS and its ORION solution. We want Greenplan to serve other postal services as well. Large freight companies and other postal services would have reservations if Deutsche Post DHL were still the primary Greenplan shareholder. Thanks to the management buyout, we can now continue to expand Greenplan’s growth and have the necessary industry knowledge and skills within our team to make the most of global business opportunities.

What is your vision for the future? Where do you want to see Greenplan in five years?

Merget: Our five-year objective is to become one of the leading players on the market for route planning and route optimization, and we expect to be represented in many other regions worldwide. We will maintain our clear focus on the product and become even more familiar with requirements posed by drivers and addresses, for example. Furthermore, we want to align even more closely with future customer requirements so that we can offer a more holistic approach in our solutions.

Beckmann: In the coming years, we will also be looking at the extent to which we can apply our Greenplan methods to flight scheduling or shipping.

Faster, more efficient, and more sustainable

Interview with Detecon Consulting - Faster, More Efficient, and More Sustainable — Greenplan Reinvents Route Planning

Deutsche Post DHL Group has signed an agreement with current management team to divest Greenplan GmbH, a route planning solution provider owned by DHL.

Greenplan's unique software solution enables route optimization with significant cost, time and CO2 savings for delivery and maintenance organizations worldwide.

The divestment will further accelerate the successful development of Greenplan.

Deutsche Post DHL Group has announced the divestment of Greenplan GmbH, a DHL owned route planning solution provider, to current management team through a management buyout (MBO). Dr. Clemens Beckmann, CEO of Greenplan, has led the acquisition together with Florian Merget, former Head of Strategy and Business Development at Greenplan and now Co-owner with a 25% share and Managing Director of Greenplan GmbH. They will continue to manage and strategically develop Greenplan's business of cloud-based, dynamic route optimization. Greenplan provides an attractive solution for national and international logistics companies to improve business performance and customer satisfaction in an environment-friendly way.

"The commitment by Dr. Clemens Beckmann and Florian Merget to invest in and further develop the Greenplan solution, marks an important step in the successful growth story of Greenplan. With the management buyout the team will now accelerate the growth of that unique route planning solution provider", says Katja Busch, Chief Commercial Officer at DHL. "Smart route planning, based on a powerful algorithm, helps forwarders and customers with large fleets to optimize the utilization of their vehicles, to improve route planning, and ultimately reduce CO2 emissions by driving fewer kilometers."

"Greenplan, having its roots in the world's leading logistics company DHL and the renowned Mathematical Institute of the University of Bonn, Germany, has created a superior solution to improve the efficiency and reduce the costs of the transport industry, and making a big impact in fighting climate change", says Dr. Clemens Beckmann, CEO of Greenplan. "Together with the team we have the right industry knowledge, skill set and expertise needed to capture the global business opportunity. We are enthusiastic about this opportunity to drive the growth of Greenplan together as a team." 

"Tech company Greenplan started off as a research cooperation between DHL and the Mathematical Institute of the University of Bonn in 2016, initially being a research project to optimize transportation and route planning for the world-leading logistics company DHL", Florian Merget says. "In the last years, Greenplan successfully expanded its customer base, solutions and won blue-chip external clients for its algorithm. We are confident that we can release our full potential going forward and grow into new markets. We are convinced that Greenplan has an excellent future."

With the transaction Deutsche Post DHL Group is following its commitment to focus on its core business of transportation and logistics services; as Deutsche Post DHL does not consider the commercial scale-up of software start-ups to be a core activity. The new management will now lead the global scale-up of the business and further development of the algorithm, while DHL is looking forward to remain an important long-term customer.

Management Buyout

Management team acquires DHL's route planning tool Greenplan through a Management Buyout

Greenplan CEO Dr. Clemens Beckmann stresses the importance of smart tour planning solutions for more efficient deliveries

The September issue of Parcel and Postal Technology International magazine features leading industry frontrunners on the power of tour optimization. A brand new Sustainability Special Report explains how smart algorithms support dispatchers in their daily work and help providers to come up with greener deliveries. Among other industry experts, Greenplan CEO Dr. Clemens Beckmann also finds mention explaining why new tour planning approaches were needed. According to Dr. Beckmann more efficient planning leads to a better use of resources and improves sustainability by reducing CO2-emissions: "This is a low-margin business and the cost pressure is very high, so efficiency is really key."

About Parcel and Postal Technology International magazine

Parcel and Postal Technology International is a leading magazine in the postal technology sector. The publication covers all the latest developments, trends and challenges in the industry including new investments in sorting hubs, delivery vehicles and digital platforms.

Green Lanes: New sustainability report about the power of tour planning algorithms

Supply Chain Management Startups Handbook 2021

Greenplan is listed in the Supply Chain Management (SCM) Startups Handbook 2021

This week the new SCM Startups Handbuch 2021 has been published. With the book, publisher Matthias Bosse offers a good overview of young and innovative companies in the field of the supply chain. In addition to meaningful company profiles, the handbook serves as a professional guide for industry experts and venture capitalists interested in supply chain and logistics innovations.

Compilation of more than 200 companies from 27 countries 

In total, the book includes 215 company profiles of startups or scale-ups from 27 European countries. The profiles include detailed product descriptions, feature overviews, and contact details. In addition, the so-called "SCM Startups Navigator" sorts all providers along with the corresponding market segments. This makes it possible to find the right provider for every application right away. 

Leading industry experts comment on innovations in the supply chain sector

In addition to the company profiles, the reader also gains an exciting insight into current logistics trends. 10 "Supply Chain" experts from well-known companies such as McKinsey, EY, IBM, DHL Consulting, or Fiege Logistics comment in detail on topics such as artificial intelligence, "Circular Economy", sustainability, "Internet of Things" and real-time monitoring.

Greenplan in Supply Chain Management Startups Handbook 2021

Amazon's official press release

In early 2021, Amazon launched the Amazon Last Mile Routing Research Challenge in partnership with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) Center for Transportation & Logistics. The competition aimed at optimized last-mile package delivery planning.

Despite enormous progress in tour optimization in recent years, there is still a noticeable gap between theoretical optimization and the actual implementation of tours. Particularly, in practice driver knowledge still primarily determines the course of a tour. The competition organized by Amazon, therefore, aimed to investigate how algorithms can learn the knowledge of experienced delivery and use these information for optimized last-mile delivery.

The mathematical approach to the problem is a new variant of the well-known Travelling Salesman Problem. This involves finding the shortest route through a large number of cities or parcel addresses. Whether efficient algorithms can be used for this problem or not directly relates to the "Millenium Problem P vs. NP".

Stephan Held, a member of the Greenplan research team, and his team find the most efficient results

Professor Dr. Stephan Held of the Hausdorff Center for Mathematics and a member of the Greenplan development team at the University of Bonn participated in this year's competition among 2,285 attendees. Together with his teammates Keld Helsgaun (Denmark) and William Cook (Canada), he tried to solve the problem by further developing known combinatorial local search algorithms - with success. Stephan Held's team presented 42% better results than the runners-up from MIT. This exceptional achievement was rewarded with $100,000 in prize money.  

The team recognized a two-level hierarchical cluster structure in the driven tours, which leads to a new variant of the Traveling Salesperson Problem. They also extracted so-called sequence constraints between clusters from a known tour with a similar cluster structure. Such sequence constraints define, for example, that cluster A should be approached before B and C. This resulted in new disjunctive sequence constraints stating that clusters must be visited either in the order A, B, C, or in the order B, C, A.

Machine learning is not the preferred solution 

Interestingly, machine learning was not the preferred solution approach of the participants. Only 35% of all participating teams used machine learning techniques to solve the problem. According to Held, machine learning has not yet played a major role in combinatorial optimization problems such as the classical TSP, although much research on this topic is increasing. 

Held comments on his own approach as follows: "The hype around machine learning means that nowadays one almost has to justify not using these methods in discrete optimization. For me, a key motivation was to demonstrate the strengths of optimization algorithms, especially in a machine learning competition, which is based on a combinatorial optimization problem." 

The mathematician suspects that combinatorial algorithms (like Greenplan) will continue to be the future for route planning and optimization - possibly in combination with machine learning algorithms. 

A total of 220 teams from 22 countries participated in the competition. 45 teams made it to the final round.

Read the official press release from the Hausdorff Center for Mathematics here

Amazon Last Mile Routing Challenge

Exhibition pass

Home Delivery Asia 2021 is held as a fully virtual event

This year, Greenplan is part of Asia’s must-attend event for the retail logistics industry. Challenging times for deliverers with ever-growing e-commerce volumes are bringing together leading logistic experts to share their experiences and learnings from the past few months. The fully virtual event hosts live presentations, live panel debates, and digital round tables with various opinion leaders from retailers, e-commerce platforms, and online sellers. 

Over the 2 days, interesting topics including digital delivery trends, food and grocery delivery, last mile logistics, and warehouse and inventory management will be discussed. The conference will be hosted via Swapcards providing attendees with the chance to visit virtual booths, expand their network, and access innumerable hours of on-demand content.  

Greenplan’s CEO Dr. Clemens Beckmann will be speaking about tour planning intelligence on 7 July at 8:30 a.m. (CET)

As an official event partner, Greenplan will share insights about smart tour planning for last mile logistics. Visitors of the exhibition hall will learn more about the intelligent tour planning algorithm and can read through some case studies.

Furthermore, during the last mile stream Greenplan's CEO Dr. Clemens Beckmann will be speaking about the evolution of tour planning intelligence. In his presentation, he will highlight current drivers of intelligent tour planning in logistics and explain how artificial intelligence helps to excel in tour planning processes. Besides many strengths supporting better results for tours, certain limitations are requiring human knowledge. Dr. Beckmann concludes with an outlook about the evolution of urban deliveries once authorities start to more intensively steer traffic flows controlling air and noise congestion. 

Home Delivery Asia 2021 is organized by Terrapinn. Visitors can book a free exhibition pass to attend the virtual event. 