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Route planning and road-transport telematics

The next generation of route planning
In route planning, the principal objective is to create the best possible
assignment of jobs to vehicles - as well as to find the ideal sequence of
customer sites to be served by each vehicle. When other restricting factors,
including the limited transport capacity of each vehicle or a heterogeneous
vehicle fleet, are added to the equation, extremely complex problems arise.
Highly developed software is used to solve them. Modern, dynamic systems
also constantly consider the latest traffic information in optimizing the entire
route.

The classic problems of route planning

Route planning, a branch of distribution logistics , focuses on the problems of
planning, managing and controlling transport and warehouse systems. Routeplanning problems cover a broad spectrum. The following section uses a
classic vehicle-routing problem as a representative example:
A certain number of customers in a region whose needs and locations are
known are to be supplied with a good by a certain number of vehicles with
certain capacities using one depot . The objective is to supply the customers
with the good at minimum cost under consideration of all restrictions.
There are a large number of route-planning problems that differ from one
another in a number of ways. Examples include:
Collection problems in which nothing is delivered but mailboxes are emptied.
Pick-up & delivery problems in which the delivery to customers and the pickup of returns are done simultaneously - at breweries, for instance.
Multi-depot delivery problems that arise as a result of the availability of
several depots , e.g., the supply of various filling stations with fuel from
several storage sites.
The problem of the depot -free delivery, in which goods are not transported
from a depot to a customer location, but between customer locations, e.g., in
cab companies.
Route planning with customer time windows in which clients have to be
served within a certain interval. In the everyday world of business, these
problems are extremely important because of the constantly rising demands
placed on the delivery service .
The problems just described here are only a sample of the large number of
challenges related to route planning that companies face every day.

The potential goals of route planning

The goals of route planning can vary considerably and depend in the end on
the purpose of the plan being carried out. In addition to keeping costs to a
minimum, other goals are frequently reducing the distances that must be
covered to the greatest extent possible and lowering the time required to
complete a tour as much as possible. But another goal can also be to minimize
the number of vehicles being used. In addition, non-monetary issues or factors
that are difficult to quantify, including optimal delivery service or equal capacity

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utilization of the vehicles, could be potential goals as well.

Frequently, the goals contradict one another, meaning that it is impossible to
ensure simultaneous achievement of them. If, for instance, various types of
highways like rural roads or freeways are available, the shortest way may differ
from the fastest route. In terms of the capital needs of the delivery fleet,
minimizing the number of vehicles being used is a significant issue - if, for
instance, longer route times per vehicle are to be accepted. From a business
management point of view, ensuring that the vehicles utilization capacity is as
equal as possible is actually not relevant. But drivers can become dissatisfied
if, over a longer period of time, one route is shorter than the other routes.
In the case of parcel delivery, route planning can be complicated by the
possibility that a customer wants to have a delivery made before a particular
time - for instance, before 11 a.m. In addition, some customers may become
accustomed to deliveries within a certain period of time and want their parcels
to be delivered within this time window, if possible every day. All of these
factors must be considered in optimal route planning.

The use of computers in optimal route planning

The factors that have just been described show just how important computer
technology is to route planning. In principle, the work involves purely
mathematical optimization problems that can be solved by weighing an array of
variables and restrictions. To increase efficiency, a company can also link its
route planning to enterprise resource planning (ERP).
For small and mid-sized companies, though, the high costs of software
licenses, training and maintenance pose significant barriers. These costs are
measured against cost-cutting potential that is difficult to quantify. Further
problems arise from the occasionally very specific requirements that
companies place on route-planning software. For this reason, individually
programmed solutions are frequently favored over standard solutions. Finally,
a lack of acceptance of the systems can pose a problem if, for instance, a
route that has been produced automatically is not reasonable from the drivers
point of view.

The latest developments in route planning

In recent years, the importance of route planning has risen considerably. There
are several key reasons for this, and they will be summarized in the following
section:
The additional stress placed on customer service and the higher demands
made by customers. For instance, efficient route planning is the only way
several customers can receive deliveries within the optimal time window.
The disproportionate increase of operational cost blocks related to route
planning, including fuel and personnel costs.
The general increase in environmental awareness, which has resulted in the
rising significance of the shortest possible routes.
Increased traffic and the related optimal route planning for traffic jams and
crowded roads.
The search for the optimal route is a challenge that companies will have to

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face in the near future if they want to avoid competitive disadvantages. As an

example of modern solutions, the following section describes a concept for
dynamic route planning that is being developed by the DHL Innovation Center.

Dynamic route planning using DHLs telematics software

Generally speaking, dynamic route planning is considered to be route-planning
problems in which the delivery situation changes intensely. Such changes
could be new or canceled deliveries or altered environmental conditions.
Road-transport telematics is an electronic management system used to
optimize transports. With the help of this technology, traffic jams can be
avoided or driven around. In Germany alone, such highway tie-ups lead to the
unnecessary consumption of about 14 billion liters of fuel each year. This
damages the environment as well as the economy - as a result of lost work
time, among other things.
The DHL Innovation Center, joined by innovation partners from the business
and scientific communities, is working on software that can considerably
improve the scheduling of DHL vehicles and the planning of their stops.
Dynamic scheduling based on the latest amount of traffic is particularly
significant in metropolitan areas. Considerable distances can be saved by
optimized route planning in rural areas as well.
Even today, satellite-based navigation systems make it possible to do stable,
distance-related route planning. In the future, however, much more extensive
amounts of information can be considered, including in terms of traffic, traffic
lights and construction sites. Left-hand turns, which eat up time and fuel, can
be avoided to the greatest extent possible as well. In terms of such factors,
todays route-planning systems are far from optimal.
Another special strength of the new system is its ability to arrange potential
meetings of delivery drivers. A constant, real time monitoring system
determines how far vehicles are from one another. If a route can be optimized
by setting up a meeting of two drivers at which they hand off or exchange
parcels - a so-called rendezvous - the change will be carried out at once. This
saves fuel and time while significantly decreasing the emission of greenhouse
gases. The system also teaches itself and works out the routes on the basis of
an ever-increasing amount of data.
In just a few years, this system is expected to be ready for widescale use. The
first prototypes will be ready this year.

Recommended reading
Logistik | Vahrenkamp 2007

References
URL
http://www.dhl-

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discoverlogistics.com/cms/en/course/technologies/reinforcement/route.jsp

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