Integrated Map Visualisation & Route Automation for Transport Planning

Origin’s Automated Route Optimisation is an intelligent routing system, within the Origin TMS, designed for the "messy reality" of daily transport operations. It automatically generates optimised sequences when jobs are grouped into manifests, allowing planners to refine routes across three dimensions: distance, traffic-aware time estimates, and hard customer deadlines. Unlike traditional tools that are built for ideal scenarios, this system excels at real-time replanning, allowing dispatchers to incorporate urgent mid-day jobs and regenerate optimal sequences in seconds.

The Challenge: Why Static Planning Fails

Every planner knows the frustration of a "perfect" morning route getting turned upside down by lunchtime due to urgent jobs or changing delivery windows.

• The Burden of Manual Replanning: Planners must often mentally calculate distances and recall which customers have hard cutoff times.

• High Stakes of Error: Missing a single detail—such as a terminal cutoff—leads to late deliveries, unhappy customers, and stressed drivers.

• Theory vs. Practice: Many systems look good on paper but fail to account for the operational friction of daily logistics.

How It Works: Multi-Dimensional Optimisation

When jobs are grouped into a manifest, the system generates a starting sequence of Route Points. This sequence is then refined through three critical lenses

1. Distance Optimisation

• Direct Pathing: Planners can reorder points to create the most efficient physical route.

• Minimising "Empty Running": The system calculates total kilometres to help identify routes that reduce total distance travelled.

• Operational Impact: Reducing distance directly lowers fuel costs and vehicle wear. For large fleets, even small percentage improvements result in significant annual savings.

2. Time-Based Planning

• Traffic Intelligence: Integration with real-time and historical traffic data provides accurate travel time estimates.

• Congestion Avoidance: The system identifies routes prone to bottlenecks at specific times of day, allowing planners to adjust sequences proactively.

• Productivity: Drivers are routed around predictable traffic jams, ensuring they complete more jobs within the same shift.

3. Required Date/Time Alignment

• Prioritising Constraints: The system treats "Client Required By" and "Requested Pickup/Delivery" dates as hard constraints to ensure commitments are met.

• Visual Safety Alerts: If a manual change risks a service failure, such as missing a terminal cutoff, the interface highlights the conflict immediately.

• Proactive Management: Planners no longer discover at 4 PM that a container missed its window; they see the warning before the route is finalised.

Feature Highlight: Execution Flexibility

The real differentiator is the system's replanning capability. Instead of being a static morning exercise, route optimisation becomes a continuous tool:

• Dynamic Updates: When jobs are added mid-day, the system recalculates distances, travel times, and deadline compliance.

• Speed: Updated optimal sequences are presented in seconds, ensuring routes adapt to reality rather than becoming obsolete.

Benefits of Automatic Route Optimisation by Role

For Transport Planners

• The Role: Managing complex, competing priorities under tight deadlines.

• The Benefit: Planners save significant time by starting with system-generated optimal sequences. This allows them to focus on managing exceptions and special requirements rather than basic calculations.

For Dispatchers

• The Role: Reacting to the "on-the-ground" changes of a live fleet.

• The Benefit: Provides the ability to incorporate urgent mid-day jobs without breaking existing routes. High-speed recalculation prevents route degradation and maintains service quality as the day progresses.

For Operations Managers

• The Role: Driving fleet efficiency and reducing overhead.

• The Benefit: Enhances fleet utilisation and significantly reduces fuel costs. Most operations see a 5% or more reduction in average route distances, potentially reducing the total number of vehicles required.

For Drivers

• The Role: Executing deliveries in high-pressure environments.

• The Benefit: Drivers receive clear, traffic-aware instructions directly on their manifests. Avoiding known congestion and having realistic schedules reduces stress and increases job satisfaction.

Getting Started

Route Optimisation is now available for Origin TMS users. Implementation involves configuring your geofences and ensuring drivers are using the latest version of the Origin Transport Mobile App.

To begin your setup, contact your Origin account manager or visit originsupplychain.com/contact-us.