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Smith Brothers Farms Optimizes Delivery Routes with RouteSmart for ArcGIS
Technology Category
- Analytics & Modeling - Predictive Analytics
- Functional Applications - Fleet Management Systems (FMS)
Applicable Industries
- Food & Beverage
- Transportation
Applicable Functions
- Business Operation
- Logistics & Transportation
Use Cases
- Fleet Management
Services
- Software Design & Engineering Services
- System Integration
The Challenge
Smith Brothers Farms faced significant challenges in optimizing their delivery routes to improve efficiency and reduce costs. The company needed a solution that could handle the complexity of their geographic and business requirements, including daily, weekly, and seasonal fluctuations in deliveries. They initially tried other routing systems, but none could meet their needs. The primary goals were to limit the number of trucks without eliminating drivers, reduce or eliminate overtime pay while maintaining customer service, and decrease total travel time and distance despite a complex street network.
About The Customer
Smith Brothers Farms is a local family-owned dairy that has been serving the greater Seattle area for over 100 years. The company delivers to 54,000 homes every week, providing the freshest milk and select products from the Northwest to customers' doorsteps. Known for their commitment to customer service, Smith Brothers Farms relies on their team of drivers, still referred to as milkmen and women, to ensure a high-quality delivery experience. The company recognized the need for a better route optimization and planning system to maintain their service standards while improving operational efficiency.
The Solution
Smith Brothers Farms partnered with RouteSmart to accurately model and optimize their delivery routes. They began by focusing on a single region, collecting and evaluating service time for each customer. The analysis of travel speeds and the flexibility of RouteSmart's street network attributes led to the creation of highly accurate routes. The company then modeled routes based on four-day work weeks instead of five-day, allowing for the elimination of one truck for every five routes. This approach enabled milkmen and women to rotate among trucks, fulfilling the requirement of reducing the number of vehicles without eliminating jobs. Using RouteSmart for ArcGIS, Smith Brothers created geographically compact areas for each day, generating and sequencing new routes. RouteSmart solvers quickly modeled various scenarios, and the best ones were selected and polished using RouteSmart’s route editing tools. The success in the initial region convinced Smith Brothers to expand the optimization to the rest of their service area.
Operational Impact
Quantitative Benefit
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