The optimization page
Shortcuts
> Create & modify a filter
> Save a filter
> Filter a selection
> Select & sort values
> Add & remove columns
> Coloring
> Select
> Manage the display
> Search
>> Create a visit after a search
>> Search around
> Analyse
> Views
>> List
>> Gantt
>> A single route
> Actions in the "Routes" panel
>> Lock
>> Assign
>> Reverse
>> Reorder
>> Load the evaluation routes
>> Find an accommodation
>> Delete
> Actions in the "Visits" panel
>> Optimize
>>> General
>>> Insert visits into an existing route plan
>> Single route ordering
>> Unassign
>> Add a delivery
>> Add a file of deliveries
>> Assign visits
>> Change a visit
>> Add a break
>> Lock
>> Delete
Basic principles
This page is accessible after the end of an optimization or after the opening of a simulation. It is an important workspace where many actions allow you to modify the routes and to share them.
Utilisation
Taskbar
It is the upper part of the page, useful to save, edit the name, launch optimizations and many other things. Discover how it works via this video.
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Panels
The screen of this page is organized in 4 to 5 resizable and reorganizable panels: map, tours, visits, details, analysis.
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Filters
Filters allow you to select data to be managed (optimize, modify, delete etc.). It is possible to create, modify and save them in several ways.
Create & modify a filter
All data imported (and associated) from your file can be filtered. To do this, click on the filter bar accessible above all tables. A filter can be deactivated, deleted or modified.
Save a filter
After creating a filter, it is possible to save it in the filter manager.
Filter a selection
The selection filter allows to see in the table the objects selected in the map. The action is available in the filter manager.
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Tables
Two tables are present in the optimization page (tours and visits). This type of table exists in the other pages of TourSolver and have the same characteristics.
Select & sort values
To launch an action (optimize..) you need to select visits. This operation is possible from the tables. It is also possible to sort the values.
Add & remove columns
Display the relevant columns using the "Customize the list" function.
The rows of the tables can be colored according to the filters made. Each table (routes, visits) has its own coloring rules.
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Map
The Map panel allows you to view, search, select and analyze your geographic data.
Select
The lasso and circle tools allow you to select your data on the map.
Manage the display
A display manager allows you to hide, display or modify the appearance of objects in the map. It also allows you to change the background of the map.
Search
A search bar allows you to quickly find a place in the map.
Create a visit after a search
From a search you can create a visit. A function allows you to move the location found via the address if it is not precise enough.
Search around
From a search you can find all visits within a search radius.
Analyse
It is possible to display a heat map according to the imported variables.
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Routes
The Routes panel lists the resource routes and allows you to launch actions to modify them.
Views
The routes appear as a list or as a Gantt chart.
List
The list displays the routes in the form of a customizable table (editable column). It is possible to hide the display of other routes in the map and to click on quick actions when hovering over a route.
Gantt
The Gantt displays the routes in a graphical form to appreciate the distribution of visits over time. It is possible to click on quick actions when hovering over a route, and to move visits from the Gantt.
A single route
Clicking on a route gives you access to its details, and allows you to perform modification actions such as moving a route within the route or assigning a route to another resource.
Actions in the "Routes" panel
The actions allow you to apply reversible modifications to the routes. You need to select the route(s) to be modified and then choose the most appropriate action. Here is the list.
Lock
This action makes the route unmodifiable. This is useful if you want to keep a route that you think is good but want to optimize other visits or other routes. TourSolver will not touch this tour in case of re-optimization.
Assign
This action allows you to reassign a resource or a date to a route. Useful when you consider the route as correct and you only need to change one of these two parameters.
This action re-optimizes the order of visits in a route. This action is especially useful after applying manual modifications that may have overridden some of your constraints.
Reverse
The route is correct in every way, but would you have preferred to start with the last route? "Reverse routes" swaps all tours to achieve this goal.
Load the evaluation routes
Load evaluation routes only appears when you have imported the 3 "evaluation mode" columns. It generates your existing route plan.
Find an accommodation
This action only appears when your tour contains overnight stays. It allows you to list the places of accommodation between the end of a route and the beginning of another one.
Delete
The route is not suitable. You want to delete it? This action allows you to do so. The action remains reversible thanks to the "redo" function.
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Visits
The Visits panel lists the visits to be optimized and allows you to launch actions to modify them.
Actions in the "Visits" panel
The actions allow you to apply reversible modifications to the visits. You need to select the visit(s) to be modified and then choose the most appropriate action. Here is the list.
Optimize
General
From a selection of visits, TourSolver generates one or more geographically scheduled routes. The optimization takes into account a maximum number of criteria whose criteria are available here.
The scope of the optimization: constraints, resource or date to be taken into account, is defined just before the optimization via the launch screen.
Insert visits into an existing route plan
As a planner, I want to be able to add routes to a route without deprogramming existing routes, so I can fit a last-minute route into an route plan that works for me.
No preservation: in this case, your entire route plan is re-optimized (unless you have locked visits or routes).
Preserve routes: all the visits already in the itineraries remain in them. However, the order of the visits may change. The engine tries to insert unplanned visits into the existing routes.
Preserve the order of the routes: all the visits already present in the routes remain there, and the order of the visits is preserved. The engine tries to insert the unplanned visits into the existing routes in the right order.
Single route ordering
From a selection of routes, TourSolver generates a single geographically scheduled route. The scheduling takes into account a reduced number of criteria, as follows:
- The average speed on the road,
- The availability times (if imported) of a customer,
- The place of departure (location of the resource or the first customer),
- The departure time,
- The date of the route.
Limitations:
- The capacities or more advanced criteria are not checked during this scheduling.
- By default the number of visits scheduled is limited to 20. It can be increased via the parameters (up to 50).
- The vehicle profile used for the route calculation is a car profile and does not depend on the one selected in the activity.
Unassign
This action removes the visits from their routes.
Add a delivery
This action adds a visit to your simulation.
Clicking on the checkbox "add to customer list" automatically creates a customer in your database. Take care to assign a customer code to complete the operation.
This action adds visits from another file to the visits already present in the simulation. The added visits must contain strictly the same fields as the initially imported visits.
This action allows you to choose the date and the resource on which you want to assign one or more visits.
This action allows you to modify one or more data in the visit (a quantity, start time, etc.). The modification can be applied to several visits at the same time.
This feature allows you to add localized breaks. Ideal if you have to stop in a garage for vehicle maintenance or to integrate an external meeting for example. Please note: the breaks are not integrated in the optimization engine. It is therefore advisable to use them after an optimization.
As a scheduler, I want to freeze certain visits for which I have received confirmation from my client so that they are not displaced by future optimization.
For users of the new optimization engine, it is possible to lock visits into the schedule. This way, when you re-optimize a tour, those visits are not moved.
The delete action removes the visits from your simulation. It can be reinstated however if you use the back button.
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Detail
The lower right-hand part of the page shows information linked to the current selection in the list of planning. It displays data according to the following case scenarios:
- If there is currently no selection, for example on loading the page, this section displays a summary of all routes. It presents the sum of distances, visits, total journey durations for all routes for the period;
- In the case of a filter operation on all routes for one resource, this section displays a summary of all routes for the resource for the optimized period. It presents the sum of distances, visits, total route and journey durations for the routes for the period;
- In the case of a filter operation on all routes for one day, this section displays a summary of all routes for this day for all requested resources. It shows the sum of distances, visits, total route and journey durations for the routes for this day;
- In the case of a filter operation on all routes for a resource, this section displays a summary of all routes for the optimized period, as well as all the data for the resource at the time the optimization was run. It shows the sum of distances, visits, total route and journey durations for the routes for the period;
- In the case of the selection of a visit in the list or the planning, this section displays data for this visit: customer information, visit constraints an d any other imported data;
- In the case of violation of at least one time or volume/capacity constraint, following a manual moving of a visit from the list or the planning, an alert displays in red at the bottom of the section and specifies the nature of the violation.
Happy TourSolving!
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