What is Route Optimization and How Many Hours a Day Can It Save Your Business?

Getting field teams to the right customer every day as quickly as possible is the lifeblood of logistics operations. However, traffic congestion, last-minute address additions or changing delivery times make this process very complicated.

Route optimization is a smart planning and route management method that evaluates all these variables at the same time and offers you the most efficient route. Thanks to this advanced technology, businesses are able to reach more destinations in less time, while reducing the amount of time they spend on planning. As a result, drivers work on a more regular schedule and customers are served without waiting. In short, route optimization increases and maximizes efficiency in all logistics processes together with roads and offers end-to-end solutions.

Route Optimization vs. Route Planning: What is the Critical Difference?

In traditional route planning, the destination points are set and the driver is given a list of straight paths. However, the dynamics in the real field are not so straightforward. Yesterday's conditions may not meet today's needs.

The daily routing of a business is influenced by the following factors:

• Instant traffic density in the city
• Change of delivery time requested by the customer
• Product capacity loaded on the vehicle
• Current road conditions (accident, maintenance, etc.)
• Drivers' legal working hours and rest obligations
• Customer or service location priorities

It is next to impossible to manage so much data accurately with manpower, especially in a busy logistics flow. Route optimization solves this complexity and makes the difference called service optimization. Sophisticated algorithms analyze everything from traffic to cost, distance to time, and come up with the ideal route that will bring you high customer satisfaction at low cost.

This means shorter roads, more deliveries and a more predictable business model.

Benefits of Route Optimization in Numbers

Businesses may be wasting hours of time every day, but they may not realize it. Real data from Mobiliz solutions clearly reveals the picture:

Every drop of fuel saved and every minute not wasted is a direct and net gain for the business. This proves that route optimization is not an operational expense, but a strong financial investment.

The Impossibility of Manual Planning: “The Traveling Salesman Problem”

At the heart of route optimization lies a mathematically difficult problem called the “Travelling Salesman Problem”. Even a few delivery points mean dozens of different route possibilities. As the number of stops increases, these possibilities multiply exponentially and finding the best solution becomes impossible for manual teams.

Teams that plan manually face the following challenges:

• It becomes impossible to adapt to instant changes in the field (cancellations or addition of new orders)
• Disruption at a single point disrupts the entire day's schedule
• As workload increases, planning becomes more complex and time consuming
• Human error is inevitable

Therefore, determining the most efficient route has become the expertise of AI-powered algorithms rather than human experience. For modern logistics operations and field services, digital route optimization has become an operational necessity rather than a choice.

Full Control with Mobiliz's Smart Technologies

Mobiliz provides end-to-end control to businesses by combining route optimization with instant tracking and performance analysis. Thus, the overlap between the planned route and the actual movements in the field can be monitored instantly and deviations can be reported.

Some of Mobiliz solutions:

• Route Optimization: Generates the most efficient routes taking into account traffic, distance and time windows.
• Vehicle Tracking System: Thanks to the systems most suitable for you, it shows the instant location of vehicles on the map and reports off-route movements. 
• DriverMeter and CANBus Integration: Analyzes driver behavior and identifies usage habits that increase fuel and maintenance costs.

Thanks to these systems, deliveries are completed faster, vehicles are used more accurately and the steps of any logistics operation become measurable.

Customized for your business demo request contact us for more information.

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