The Right Route

Routing software can provide a number of benefits to document destruction firms. Perhaps the most notable is the ability to put off an additional vehicle purchase as the result of improving the efficiency of your current routes. In addition, document destruction firms also can benefit from fuel savings as well as reduced wear and tear on vehicles. But, before you experience these benefits, you may have to face your fears.

EMBRACE CHANGE

“Don’t be afraid of change,” suggests Cyndi Brandt, director of marketing, UPS Logistics Technologies, Baltimore. “If you want to become more efficient, you have to be willing to create and make change.”

In the case of routing, Brandt says this can mean experimenting with dynamic routing if you’ve traditionally favored static routing. Dynamic routing uses strategy rather than fixed criteria to develop routes.

By implementing this change, Brandt says a destruction firm could possibly accommodate additional clients during the service day. “Across your fleet, you can grow by 20 percent without buying another truck,” she says.

Brandt suggests talking with customers about the changes that may result from your new approach to routing and why you are making those changes. She says customers likely will be receptive to the change if they understand that your aim is to become more efficient.

However, destruction firms have more to consider than windshield time when routing.

MAXIMUM EFFICIENCY

 Scott Bidwell, president and COO of Andrews Software, Cleveland, says routing software can do “a great job at addressing the windshield time and choosing the best optimized path,” but destruction firms also should consider other variables when routing. Among these variables are the number of bins to service per stop, truck capacity, scheduled service times and the need to empty the truck during the route. He adds, “Sometimes human intervention is needed to help address all of the variables that the routing software may not be able to interpret.”

Making the most of routing software often means investing time initially to provide the software with all of the information it needs to perform its job, Bidwell says.

Not all companies define routing efficiency in the same way, however. “One facility may value fuel economy as the primary consideration, [and] another facility may value being at a customer’s location at an agreed time as the primary consideration,” Bidwell says. “These two, quite different objectives are generally addressed by a software package in the form of preferences that modify how a route is optimized. Based on the preferences that are established, it is possible to achieve many different results when processing the same data.”

Routing software can work in conjunction with GPS (global positioning systems) to improve the route efficiency.

CONSIDER GPS

While Brandt says she believes incorporating GPS on each service vehicle is critical, Bidwell says it is not essential, “but they do offer great diagnostic tools and allow for post-route analysis.”

Brandt says she views this analysis as critical to the success of a company’s routing objectives, adding that a routing plan is only as good as its execution. By incorporating GPS in each service vehicle, a destruction firm can improve customer service by proactively informing clients of a service failure, she says. GPS also can alert companies to drivers who diverge from routes and those who make unscheduled stops, Brandt notes.

In addition to considering whether to incorporate GPS, destruction firms may want to contemplate additional advice.

SHOPPING TIPS

“Destruction firms need to purchase a solution that will scale with them as the business grows,” Bidwell says. He suggests purchasing software that is capable of routing multiple trucks.

“Working with ‘current’ maps is very important, so knowing how frequently software is updated is an important consideration,” Bidwell says. “Regardless of how current the maps are, however, having the ability to push pin coordinates is also very useful.”

Brandt suggests choosing a provider that understands what makes the destruction business different from beer and food distribution. She also suggests looking for software that has historical traffic information and height and weight restrictions embedded into the technology and editable maps.

BOTTOM LINE

Destruction firms can see a number of benefits from routing software, including a reduction in mileage, fuel consumption and wear and tear on vehicles, Brandt says.

Bidwell says that in addition to reduced operating costs, destruction firms can benefits from improved efficiencies from routing software. “[You] May not need that new truck yet.” n

The author is editor of SDB magazine and can be contacted at dtoto@gie.net.