Delivery Pain Points
1. Suboptimal route
The logistics department has to deliver 1000 orders with 30 vehicles to 800 different locations per day. How should they arrange the delivery route so that the distance traveled is as optimal as possible? How to divide it and assign it to each driver of the vehicle?
Routes from a manual planning process are usually less than optimal, or have been optimal but took a long time to process and require a lot of resources.
2. Vehicle Capacity
In addition to assigning drivers, companies must also remember the capacity of each vehicle they own (or rent). This capacity varies greatly depending on the specifications, both in terms of volume and maximum weight of goods that can be transported. If vehicle utilization is low, it will increase transportation costs, starting from fuels, drivers and vehicle rental prices.
Even with the most experienced route planning supervisor, this process cannot be solved manually because there are so many other factors to consider. Maximizing the route with the vehicle capacity requires a great deal of effort in computerizing the planning process.
3. Operational Constraints
Route planning is not only about making the fastest and shortest routes, during the actual implementation in the field, there are many other factors that contribute for the company to have the most optimal route planning. Examples include driver working hours and working days, vehicle availability status, road regulations (especially vehicle type and maximum weight), to the handling type of each product (for example, must be stored in a refrigerated machine or a fast expiration date).
5. Limited Operating Hours
With warehouse opening hours or store business hours, companies are expected to fulfill delivery orders on predetermined days and hours with the least amount of time. By considering operational hours limits, waiting time for drivers for loading/unloading of goods can be optimized.
6. Last Minute Product Orders
Shipping goods is one of those businesses that must always facilitate change. Prioritized customers sometimes order, cancel or reschedule delivery of orders suddenly. This causes an interference with the delivery schedule that has been planned in advance. However, if this demand is not adapted quickly it can result in lost time, profit, and customer satisfaction.
7. System That Can Learn Real Variables From the Field
Delivery process involves many complex documents. If this proof of delivery is only collected without further analysis, the company will not be able to find out what routes and shipping methods are the most optimal for their distribution network, warehouse locations and which operators are the most suitable to the customer base, and other shipping data needs.
8. Increased Customer Demand for the Shipping Tracking Feature
In a competitive business, the differences between companies are often subtle. That is why many companies start to offer more to improve their customer experience, for example, such as tracking delivery features for customers.
Delivery Route Planning Solutions