Assessing the Benefits of Route Planning Systems for Various Industries

Route Planning System can help the logistics, waste management, state safety, mining and FMCG industries. They can help mitigate challenges like delayed trips, lacking communication and so on.

Automation is all the rage in today’s world. Companies pay more attention to their operations and analyse the way they function. While there are hundreds of businesses offering the same services, it is the small things that matter. This is where fleet management software comes into play, giving you the edge over others.

Businesses using vehicle tracking software have a better command over their fleet operations. The solutions that this system has to offer to help them not only optimise but also analyse their fleet, tying in any loose thread. Route planning software is one weaving tool that brings together a business’ operations.

Before taking up each industry and route planning solutions’ impact on their operations, let us take a brief look at what exactly these solutions are.

What are Route Planning Solutions?

Route planning, to put it literally, is the process of creating a path for vehicles to follow. This route thus created should take into consideration a few things like the beginning and the end destination of the vehicle. It is also important that trips thus formed should cover all the midpoints on the way.

But what does it mean with context to a fleet management system? The route planning solutions offered by vehicle tracking software allow fleet managers to enter their required halts in the system along with their desired sequence. Thus, the system creates a trip for them out of the entered information.

It comes in handy for fleets that have a lot of vehicles on the road at the same time. Manual route planning in such cases sounds not just tough, but can also be prone to errors. 

But what if the driver decides to follow another route separate from the designated route? Worry not! The route deviation alert will let the managers know immediately. Thus, giving them time to investigate the situation and advise their drivers accordingly. 

Industries that use Route Planning Solutions

Now that we have an idea of what the route planning software entails, what do you think are their use cases? Here are some industries where route management software can be a useful tool:

Route Management for Logistics 

The logistics industry plays a huge role in the global economy with a value of 4.92 Trillion. Looking at these numbers, we can only imagine how many vehicles related to the supply chain are running on the roads at all times. For logistics business fleets, especially ones that manage hundreds and thousands of vehicles, it is hard to manually plan routes for each trip.

The route planning solutions come to the rescue though! When fleet managers have the liberty to choose what path they want their vehicles to follow, they can set many parameters to do so. These might include the number of tolls, road conditions, traffic and so on. Thus, the route that they can come up with will be the one best suited for their task and priority.

For example, businesses A and B both have to ship their consignment from a warehouse in one state to another. Business A wants to cut down its toll costs and thus chooses the highway with fewer tolls. On the other hand business, B is more concerned about their consignment’s safety as it is fragile. Thus they will go for the route with better-built roads.

Route Planning Software for Mining

Mining is a difficult industry to manage considering its high-risk profile. Route planning solutions alone might not mitigate all the issues that this industry faces while handling their fleets, but they sure make operations simple. How? Before we get to know this, let’s understand the unique challenges this industry poses:

• Lack of Defined Paths: Mines are not formed of well-made roads, instead vehicles have to pave their way to travel from one place to another. This means that planning predefined routes is practically impossible. 
• Consignment Theft: Usually, the material these mines deal with is of high value which gives rise to theft. This can be a huge issue for most businesses.
• Minimum Communication: With no means to maintain good communication, drivers have no means to contact their managers or people at the weighbridges. Two vehicles might head to the same location due to this lack of communication. Thus, additional loss of time and a higher chance of collision.
• Delayed Trips: Undefined routes and lack of proper supervision can lead to time wastage. This can diminish the overall productivity of the mining business. 

As we explained above, trips are created by entering halts and sequences into the system. The lack of defined paths does not hinder this process as the system allows managers to create or save custom routes on a rough site map. Thus, drivers can follow routes custom created for their tasks. Adding geofences to areas that are dangerous helps drivers stay clear, keeping them out of harm.

ETA and POD help maintain a good level of communication between the driver and managers. People at the checkpoints or weighbridges stay updated about what time their vehicles will reach these places and can direct drivers based on this information. POD eliminates any chance of theft during transportation. 

Route Management Software For FMCG

When we think about the FMCG industry, the first thing that comes to mind is its time sensitivity. The FMCG sector deals with perishable goods with extremely short shelf lives such as dairy goods, bakery products, organic vegetables, etc.  (often as low as 4-5 days) 

Any form of inconsistency along the supply chain can end up in wasted goods, adding to the rising number of people sleeping on an empty stomach every day.  A business taking responsibility for such goods requires a solution that can help them choose the best path suitable for their nature of work. Route planning can be of use to this industry in two ways:

• Reduce Travel Time: When drivers do not have to worry about choosing their own routes, but can rely on their managers, a lot less time gets wasted. Using the system, managers can also ensure that their vehicles transport goods through traffic-free routes. Thus, they are able to meet the short time constraint without any loss.
• Make Insightful Decisions: For FMCG, when a business delivers goods to various distributors/retailers, the same vehicle is put in charge of revisiting several vendors on its way back to collect crates. With route planning, managers can decide what vendors their drivers visit first. Thus, they can prioritise their important customers and improve their business reputation.

Route Management for State Security Forces

The security industry requires a very well-planned organisation to maintain order in an area. The fleets affiliated with this industry are cop vehicles and PCR vans. But how can route planning help with this industry’s operations? Well, a more data-oriented approach to this industry can lead to many benefits.

Fleet management software helps manage patrolling vans and keep tabs on their rounds. Every round is like a trip that they have to take at different frequencies. The software prepares reports and sends alerts in case the targets are not met. By researching area demographics and crime rates, police can mark out dangerous areas falling under their jurisdiction. They can also mark these areas as geofences for daily patrolling routes so that officers can pay better attention.

A vehicle can be assigned to stay near such areas at all times. But how can the SP or the officer in charge ensure these instructions are followed well? With the help of a route planning system. Thus, another vehicle can be allotted in this area in case a vehicle moves out of the assigned task location due to some emergency.  This helps the police force prevent any mishap from happening. 

Route planning can also be used to map out possible ways to travel when dealing with emergency situations. Thus, allowing businesses to eliminate the chances of errors because of road conditions and so on.

Route Planning Solutions for Waste Management

The waste management industry is responsible for collecting garbage from various places and disposing of it in the assigned area. Inefficiency during this process can cause public havoc and dissatisfaction and can also become a hygiene-related issue. A prominent role of the managers in charge of waste management fleets is to plan a route map for each vehicle.

Let us look at an example for a better understanding of the need for this route-planning app. Think of two vehicles A and B. They are tasked to empty out the garbage cans of an entire block. But without any defined routes, they end up visiting the same garbage cans due to overlapping in the routes they took. This not only leads to higher time wastage but is also a reason for fuel consumption.

“An hour of planning can save you 10 hours of doing.” -Dale Carnegie.

Route planning solutions help waste management fleet managers to plan routes according to the requirement. This prevents vehicles from clashing during their tasks. When the managers have a set number of garbage bins to be emptied, they can form a route without missing any of them, making their operations much more accurate.

Benefits of Using Route Planning Solutions

The benefits of the route planning system are not limited to the industries we have mentioned above. Instead, a wide array of businesses can benefit from the solutions, including healthcare and public transportation. 

The healthcare industry that runs on an emergency can navigate its routes better when they have a team of managers working behind the scenes. But the benefits of route planning are not limited to just fleet benefits! Drivers can also take away a lot of benefits from using this solution! 

• Time Efficiency: The primary purpose of integrating route planning with a business’ operations is to increase its efficiency. Drivers who get paid on the basis of their tasks can save time when route planning is used, thus completing more tasks.
• Accuracy: Route planning eliminates any chance of drivers taking up the wrong kinds of routes or entering areas that were forbidden.
• Higher Visibility: A system that operates on data makes it very easy to showcase your hard work even in large fleets. Thus, they can get incentivised for their task efficiency.

When combined with other solutions that TrackoBit’s fleet management software has to offer, 

Route management solutions transform into a holistic optimising toolkit. Some ways route planning can be used as a tool in combination with other solutions offered by the vehicle tracking platform are:

• Driver Behaviour Monitoring: While route planning software ensures vehicles travel through the correct paths, driver behaviour ensures that the fleet is driven right. Thus, vehicles are out of harm.
• Fuel Monitoring: This solution allows managers to manage their vehicle’s fuel consumption. Using the mileage reports, and real time fuel status, they can also ensure that their fleet’s fuel consumption does not exceed their budget. This makes a huge difference, especially in times when fuel rates are constantly rising.

TrackoBit is Your Business’ True Match!

Booking at the benefits of using route planning solutions maps out the reason why so many sectors are shifting to automation. Why wouldn’t they when they can kill three birds with one stone- appeasing customers, and employees while maintaining good profits? 

But which fleet management system is the best? Which one has the best route planning solutions to offer?

The answer to both these questions is the same. TrackoBit, with its multi-dimensional features, is leading the industry. With the flexibility to customise and choose their solutions, fleet companies soar towards efficiency and portability. So why not request a demo and witness TrackoBit’s compatibility with your fleet yourself?