Case study: Delivery planning, optimized route planning

As part of a comprehensive corporate project to increase efficiency and competitiveness, our client, a leading supplier of hygiene products with locations throughout Europe, was planning to reorganise its delivery concept. This project was part of a broader initiative to optimise operational processes and open up new growth opportunities. Specialising in the continuous supply of goods to companies in various industries, our client is a leading provider in its service sector and places great importance on efficient and reliable logistics.

With more than 10 locations in Germany in mind, we were commissioned to assess and optimise delivery planning. This included a thorough analysis of existing processes, routes, vehicle utilisation and other relevant factors in order to identify and exploit unused potential.

The overarching goal of this project was to increase the efficiency of the delivery processes and at the same time achieve time and cost savings. By optimising routes and reducing empty runs, we aimed to significantly improve our client's operational performance. We were also keen to ensure that the optimisation measures were in line with our client's business objectives, employee requirement profiles and needs in order to guarantee long-term success and customer satisfaction.

To optimise delivery planning, we first carried out a comprehensive inventory. This included analysing the current delivery processes at the respective location, collecting data on routes, vehicle utilisation, delivery times and other relevant parameters. In order to gain a better understanding of the existing challenges, we accompanied an employee for a day. The unfiltered insights gained from this provided further important information for the inventory and revealed further potential. 

On the basis of this analysis, we used planning software to develop optimisation proposals and constantly coordinated them with our customer. This involved dividing the customers geographically into areas, assigning route(s) and allocating a total journey time to the various days of the week, taking into account the corresponding working hours. The routes were planned from the city centre outwards towards the city district. Special challenges in the design of the new routes were posed by temporary driving bans in certain traffic zones with high customer density, large customer deliveries, building structures and long journeys with low customer density. In addition, the customer had a number of employees with limited capacity, which had to be taken into account separately in the route planning.

In order to meet the challenges, so-called special journeys were developed, which were adapted to the needs and delivery volumes of the respective customers. For delivery zones with temporary driving bans and high customer density, routes in affected areas were placed close together to enable deliveries within tight time slots and reduce the time pressure on employees. In addition, a continuous dialogue was maintained with the site management in order to benefit from their local expertise. 

An important aspect of our work was the close collaboration with local employees. We organised training sessions and workshops to raise awareness of the importance of efficient delivery planning and to promote acceptance of the proposed changes. This participative approach enabled us to ensure that the optimisation measures were actively supported and implemented by the employees.

During the implementation phase, we continuously monitored progress, liaised with the customer on an ongoing basis and made subsequent adjustments where necessary. This enabled us to react flexibly to changes and ensure that the targeted improvements were implemented successfully and sustainably. Through regular reports and status updates, we kept our client's Management Board informed about the progress of the project and involved them in the process.

At the end of the project, we carried out a comprehensive evaluation to assess the effectiveness of the measures implemented and incorporate them into the planning for the next location. This holistic approach enabled us to ensure that our customer benefits from efficient and cost-effective delivery planning in the long term and remains competitive. In total, depots throughout Germany were reorganised and also estimated for the locations outside of the customer. On average, savings of 2-5 routes per depot were achieved.