Online multi-stop, commercial vehicle route planning plots more efficient routes, faster
Worcester, UK – 22 December 2010 – A study of over 300 manually planned routes has shown that Worcester-based IT firm Postcode Anywhere’s commercial route planning software, Route Optimiser, “significantly outperforms” manual routing.
The study, which took the form of a “find the fastest route” competition, involved entrants visiting 20 waypoints and meeting two timeslot deadlines. A prize of £250, awarded to Mr Gabhin Hill, was offered for the fastest route plotted by hand.
Route Optimiser’s lead developer Richard Geary said: “Route Optimiser has significantly outperformed manual attempts to plot the fastest route. Taking real-world traffic data into account, over a third of entrants failed even to deliver to both timeslots punctually.
“Those that did ended up with routes that took, on average, eight hours and 17 minutes to complete – almost an hour and twenty minutes over the optimal answer. It goes to show just how difficult it is to plot efficient routes, even for a mere 20 waypoints!
“It would be a fair observation to say that for more complex routes, of the type typically encountered by hauliers and couriers, Postcode Anywhere's route optimisation can perform up to 20-40% better than traditional methods involving maps and pins when it comes to the length of the routes.
“But it’s also worth noting the time it takes to plan these journeys. Even if you were to finally achieve a relatively optimal route planning by hand, Route Optimiser will give a better or similar result, but in a fraction of the time.
“The efficiencies which this technology can bring to commercial route planning are considerable.”
Parshotam Showan, Managing Director of electrics retailer Sonic Megastore, said: “Since using Route Optimiser to plan deliveries, we’ve seen a 20% increase in efficiency, by reducing man hours, completing deliveries faster, and using less fuel.
“Taking the cost of the service into account, by our estimation this means we’ll save around £10,000 in the first year alone.”
A free trial of Route Optimiser is available through the website at www.routeoptimiser.com. Developers and technology resellers can access customisable route optimisation web services via www.postcodeanywhere.com.
About Postcode Anywhere
Postcode Anywhere has been providing address services for ten years and is the fastest-growing reseller of Royal Mail’s Postcode Address File (PAF®). A multi-award-winning organisation, it has also appeared in successive Deloitte fast-growth European technology company lists. Postcode Anywhere supplies software and services which improve the day-to-day operations of over 8,000 organisations worldwide. Best known as a provider of address auto-fill and verification software, the company offers a range of data-driven services, including route planning and customer profiling. For more information about Postcode Anywhere, please visit www.postcodeanywhere.com.
Recent Awards and Recognition for Postcode Anywhere