Optimal tour start times
Start time of individual delivery tours can have a huge impact on tour efficiency, directly influencing distance traveled, number of tours and work time
Contact Us
Why are individual starting times for
delivery tours needed?
Complication
Resulting need
Various parameters and constraints, which might impose contrary starting times, e.g. delivery time windows and traffic situation
Testing various start times in manual processes results in high workload and leads to sub-optimal various start times in manual processes
Sophisticated mechanism to plan optimal tour start times
Trade-off between parameters to define optimal start time
Automated planning process to avoid manual workload
Complication
Resulting need
Various parameters and constraints, which might impose contrary starting times, e.g. delivery time windows and traffic situation
Testing various start times in manual processes results in high workload and leads to sub-optimal various start times in manual processes
Sophisticated mechanism to plan optimal tour start times
Trade-off between parameters to define optimal start time
Automated planning process to avoid manual workload
How does Greenplan enable planning of
optimal start times?
Greenplan simultaneously exploits the flexibility of possible starting times, stop sequences and shipment/tour assignments to calculate an optimum combination
Greenplan determines optimal start times based on shipment specific delivery time windows, time-of-day dependent flow velocities and working time constraints
Greenplan automates calculation of optimal start time and thus eliminates manual effort required in status quo, i.e. testing various start times in manual processes
Greenplan plans more efficient tours by defining optimal start times and thus enables customers to reduce delivery costs and carbon emissions – by driving “the best way”
Deliveries Metropolitan Area
INITIAL SITUATION
Daily deliveries to retail stores in dense urban area
Scope of use case:
  • Single depot in central location
  • 500+ store locations supplied
  • Fixed delivery time windows at stores
  • LTL shipping
Unreliable (static) route planning due to heavy traffic congestion during the day
Fixed start times for single delivery tours prevent traffic avoidance
Results in delayed deliveries & missed time windows
SOLUTION PROVIDED BY GREENPLAN
Allows flexible tour starts between 5am to 6am
Calculates optimal start time based on e.g.:
  • Time-of-day dependent and street specific traffic flow velocities
  • Shipment specific delivery time windows
  • Working time constraints
Planning result provides optimal tour schedule :
  • A total of 33 delivery tours
  • A total distance of 3,081 km driven
  • A total driving time of 4,238 min across all tours
Benefits provided
Planning optimal start times for
individual tours enables:
  • Lower amount of tours
  • Less distance driven
  • Reduced costs
  • Reduced CO2 emissions
Automated planning of optimal
tour start times ensures:
  • Reduced planning workload
  • No errors due to manual planning

Various tour start times

Start times