Did you know that route optimization can not only help you save on cost, but can also improve your overall efficiency? Read this blog post to find out three practical ways where route optimization can help you.
Route optimization can help you determine the most cost-efficient route that your technicians should take. However, it is more complex than just finding the shortest path between two points. Route optimization should be able to include relevant factors like the number of turns/intersections, best/nearest driver to dispatch on the route, traffic congestion and the best access to stops on the route. There are specialized route optimization software which have the ability to test several scenarios to help fleets quickly review the cost of varied route options and the availability of resources.
According to research, the idle time of an average technician was as high as 40% just a few years ago. On an average, as much as 3.2 hours of a technician’s day was wasted. Today, you can lower the idle time of your technician with route optimization. Route optimization can reduce idle time, improve productivity and optimize rules, all essential components to make your organization more successful. Here are three practical ways how route optimization can help your business.
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Improve efficiency by sending the most suited technician for the job
Route optimization can help you improve driver and job efficiency. Begin by categorizing customer visit types. Ask your technicians to log the job types they complete. Next, you can log success metrics. As and when your technicians begin logging job types like HVAC installation or furnace repair, you can add success metrics to each of these visit types. This will help you determine which technician should go for which job type. Finally, remember to map your technician’s skills to the job skills that they are most successful at. A route optimization strategy can help you use the above data to help you send the right technician to the right task. Sending the technicians most suited to the task will increase your efficiency.
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Simplify routes with the help of radius maps
You must be aware that there is a limit to the ground any one of your technicians can cover. This is why you must get to know the optimal territory size that each of your technicians can cover. You must also understand your customer base geographically and map it to the territory map of your technician. This will take care of long-term route simplification. With a radius map, you can see a simple visual representation of optimal field technician travel capabilities and customer density. In a radius map, customer location data and technician location data is combined to develop a circular visualization for a technician. There is route optimization software that can give you real-time insights to help you improve your technician’s overall utilization. You will be able to adjust assignments according to the technician’s location data.
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Use reports and alerts to streamline routes
Start by making sure that your technicians are logging in all the required information, whether it is in excel, mobile based or on hard copies. Set up processes for your technicians to follow. On a weekly basis you can track job completion ratios, the total number of jobs completed per technician, the average idle tie per technician and the average service visits required for job completion. With route optimization software, you can automatically track the metrics. You can use the real-time alerts to keep your dispatch team up-to-date with changes in the field. With the data, you can improve your route efficiency and keep your technicians on the job, instead of being in transit.
If you are looking for route optimization services, look no further than Outsource2india. Our team of experts can reduce rising transportation costs by half. We offer dynamic re-routing, real-time tracking, around-the-world coverage and interactive dashboards to name a few. Find out more about how route optimization services can help your organization reduce cost, while increasing efficiency at the same time.
We hope you found this information useful. Let us know what you think about route optimization by leaving your comments in the box below. We, Outsource2india love to hear from you!
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