Some companies use fleet routing software in progressive stages and expand their operational capabilities over time. This is the case for Kuna FoodService, a premier food distributor to schools, churches, restaurants, fund raisers, and many other organisations in the US.

Previously Kuna trucks were routed by memorising customer delivery windows, arranging order tickets by area, and using static routes. This process became even more challenging as new customers were added, order volumes fluctuated, and routes needed to be updated prior to loading and dispatch. 

“We had always coordinated routes manually but there came a point when the daily routing became too large to effectively manage and we knew we could be more efficient with our fleet”, says John Schuler, general manager at Kuna FoodService. 

The company decided to investigate automated fleet routing and Kuna chose Direct Route, available from AutoLogic Systems Ltd in the UK.  Schuler says it chose Direct Route based on the ease of running the software as well as the cost vs. other packages.

For a smooth implementation of the software, the company initially imported existing routes into Direct Route to calculate accurate delivery schedules for the drivers. The system was also used to manage daily route updates based on the actual customer orders received.  

“Before using Direct Route we would manually adjust routes in our back office system.  However, we found there were significant advantages to using the systems route mapping tools and viewing the updated times, remaining capacity, etc. as changes were made.”  

The company used the delivery schedules from Direct Route in conjunction with an on-board system to track the actual time at each stop versus the planned schedule.  This allowed Kuna to review planned versus actual unloading times and establish performance pay for drivers who exceeded the standard.  

“Direct Route lets us incorporate the setup time and unload rate for each customer and generate accurate delivery schedules.  We are able to compare the planned delivery times with actual times and provide bonuses based on performance.”

Once the pay-for-performance program was established, Kuna management began to compare their static routes with dynamic routes generated by Direct Route and review cost-savings opportunities. During this process the company realised that many customers had delivery appointments at the beginning of each day. 

Direct Route allowed Kuna to run ‘what-if’ scenarios and see what savings were possible with different dispatch and delivery window parameters. 

The sales and route management team met and laid out a plan for determining accurate delivery windows with its customers.  Once the accurate windows were established, dynamic routes were phased in over a period of time by transitioning each geographic area individually.  This approach allowed Kuna to control the change and take any lessons learned into the next region rather than changing all the areas at once. 

Through this process, Kuna was able to eliminate 15% of their routes while still meeting customer expectations.   

Multiple Scenarios
Once Kuna became comfortable with the dynamic routing process, they began to run multiple scenarios before releasing the routes to dispatch.  Direct Route quickly creates optimal routes using various dispatch parameters and allows users to review total hours, miles, etc. for each scenario. This flexibility allows companies to review results under multiple sets of parameters and select the routes they would like to use.  

“Each day we run multiple routing scenarios with Direct Route and choose the solution we want to send to the warehouse for that particular day. With hundreds of customer delivery points, truck capacities, and other business rules incorporated into the routing, this analysis would be extremely difficult using manual methods.”

Schuler explains: “We can model varying limits of overtime and max work time to see how these impact the schedules, number of trucks, and costs.  We can then choose the particular routes to send to the warehouse based on minimising delivery costs using these parameters.”

Multiple scenarios can be calculated and saved using this capability and clients are not locked into a particular routing scenario using a static set of parameters.  Kuna uploads the finalised fleet routing from Direct Route to the back-office system for warehouse operations and daily dispatch.  Truck loads and sequences are accessed for order picking and loading functions.  Delivery volumes and unloading times are used to provide accurate schedules and order information. 

The company also uses Direct Route to bid for new business, model future scenarios, and review fleet changes before decisions are made.  Using order volume projections, incorporating drop-and-hook locations, and evaluating different truck types are a few examples of this.  

Plus, Kuna uses the system to calculate total delivery costs for the various scenarios and make financial decisions regarding the fleet operations.  “Before we make an operational change, we use Direct Route to review the impact on fleet requirements and transportation costs” concludes Schuler.