Optimizing store deliveries in Retail & Wholesale – or do you want to reinvent the wheel every day?
Route planning – every day like groundhag day
Let’s imagine the following situation:
Monday morning, 6 a.m. (or earlier), start of the new week. The employees of the dispatch team of a well-known retail chain are sitting together, the first cups of steaming coffee are within reach. A new challenge is to be mastered: 70 retail outlets are to be supplied, for which 45 vehicles are available:
▪️ Please note the tight time window between the order deadline and the departure of the vehicles!
▪️ Different order quantities received by the branches result in different tours!
▪️ Watch out for back-to-school! Promotional items with writing utensils for ABC pupils must be planned and delivered in addition to the “normal” order quantities!
What is the best way for dispatchers to proceed?
Time is running …
Now things have to move quickly. The scheduling team has 60 minutes to plan the goods for the 45 vehicles available. The order quantities received from the stores are to be distributed as appropriately as possible to the delivery vehicles in order to achieve all the defined targets:
- As few tours as possible should be formed, as many vehicles as necessary should be used.
- The ordered quantities of goods should be delivered in full so that nothing remains in the warehouse.
- Each store receives the quantities ordered.
- Satisfied store managers, because processes in goods receiving and in the warehouse can be planned with pinpoint accuracy.
There are many ways to reach your goal. We only consider two.
Operational planning with a fixed itinerary.
A fixed delivery schedule has been defined. The plan thus includes fixed delivery days on which the branches receive their goods. Furthermore, this plan is revised twice a year to make possible adjustments, such as assigning to other distribution centers. This fixed tour plan is utilized for deliveries, and over- and under-coverages of tours are eliminated through ad-hoc planning proposals.
Fundamentally, it is important to note:
⚠️ The loading capacity in the vehicles is limited,
⚠️ if more goods are ordered, the excess will either remain for the next day or…
⚠️ extra vehicles need to be deployed.
⚠️ The use of additional vehicles can result in high costs.
Utilize various planning options: Creating an optimized planning foundation and testing different delivery scenarios
Not every tour is the same. What if five additional delivery addresses are added to an existing tour of 70 addresses? Or if 8 stores need to be supplied from other warehouses? Certain branches suddenly need to be visited on different delivery days? It’s also not uncommon for road closures due to major construction sites to alter routes.
Additionally, changes in ordering behavior could complicate matters, such as significantly more or less goods being ordered, the inclusion of promotional items, or product returns. The list of potential complications is endless. The fact is, all these changes need to be accommodated in the tour planning process within a very short time frame. However, planning time is limited.
These challenges often make planning difficult. We’ve recognized this, as we’ve been involved in the topic of retail delivery for many years, supporting the retail industry with our Retail Solution Package. The planning process fundamentally considers tactical planning, operational planning and execution, as well as analytics to support the continuous optimization process.
The ORTEC solution – best tested!
With the ORTEC Scenario Manager (OSM), various delivery scenarios can be easily tested. KPIs werden sofort angezeigt und geben Informationen über Kilometer, Transportkosten, Fahrzeiten und weitere. Disponenten können mit dem OSM für die Tourenplanung Filialbelieferung problemlos verschiedene Szenarien vergleichen und auf einen Klick entscheiden, welches der für sie effizienteste Plan ist. The OSM is a cloud-based application and can easily be used with Excel data!
Und das Beste zum Schluss: Ihre Ergebnisse, also die historischen Planungsdaten, fließen über die ORTEC Apps in den kontinuierlichen Optimierungs-Loop ein: Machine Learning macht es möglich!
Ihre Kosten bleiben in Balance und Sie entscheiden selbst, welche Stellschrauben Sie bedienen wollen, um unnötigen Mehraufwand, sei es bei Kosten und/oder Planungszeit, für zukünftige Tourenplanung für Filialbelieferungen zu sparen. ORTEC hat das Business verstanden, sprechen Sie mit uns, wenn auch Sie die Filialbelieferung optimieren wollen!
