Route Optimisation: The benefits of reducing travel time between jobs

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Travel time optimisation is one of the most crucial steps to keeping operational costs under control while expanding their scope with the volume of the same resources. It usually starts with applying a route optimisation solution to find the perfect work optimisation formula. Route planning for complex schedules with hundreds of resources assigned to different entities is tricky. That’s why serious thought is required in optimising complex work models and keeping costs and inefficiencies under control in the meantime.

So how can we save time, money and effort by optimising the total travelling time between field jobs?

Resource optimization and business scheduling software

CASE STUDY: How a regulatory agency cut costs with resource scheduling software?
          • reducing the scheduling time with up to 75%
          • increasing efficiency of operations with 40%
          • fully eliminating errors in the resource allocation process.
Download the case study.

Route optimisation 

When we talk about optimising the travelling time between jobs, we mean applying a route optimisation solution for finding the most cost-efficient route from point A to point B and point C, D, E, etc. And if needed, we change the order jobs to fit more completed tasks in a day.

Google maps can indeed do (and has done) route optimisation for almost every person with access to the internet. But when we mean complex jobs like field inspections and managing hundreds of teams, we should start looking to end-to-end work optimisation systems. And that goes far beyond the functions of google maps.

Related: Where do resource allocation optimisation and remote inspections intersect?

The hidden benefits of route optimisation

We already said why it is crucial for companies to use route optimisation – to reduce efforts, costs and time. But there are also hidden benefits that are nonetheless important. To name just a few of them:

  • Improving field service for the end customer: increasing the number of daily completed jobs is going to shorten the response time. Therefore it will bring more satisfied customers. 
  • Improving employee productivity: reducing the travelling time of inspectors, technicians or other entities to enhance their focus and motivation.

We already said that it takes more than google maps to optimise complex operations with many variables. If we have to plan ten different field inspections today to 10 locations, we will have to open a file, fill in the details, and assign the tasks to relevant inspectors.

Manually designing a conflict-free schedule will be a very time-consuming endeavour. But throwing all of this data into an electronic inspection management system and then leaving the AI engine automatically to make an optimal schedule will take seconds.

route otpimisation software

What science is used for efficient inspection scheduling with optimised routes?

Certain factors define how long an inspection will take – the complexity of the case, the distance between a job and an inspector, the available technical devices (if needed), the location of the warehouse (if there’s such), the inspector’s skill set, etc. Based on these factors, is created a route between the ten inspection jobs and the assigned inspectors.

This example serves as a good case for regulators and organisations performing field inspections to understand how route optimisation can help them. Their specific objectives often require error-free inspection scheduling to send qualified inspectors to relevant jobs with minimised travelling time. The skillset is a crucial variable in the route optimisation formula. Based on our expertise with regulators, we refined this formula and offered it as a successful model to our customers from the regulatory sector. Read the case study now.

But when we talk about resource optimisation in other industries, the business objectives will be different. New variables must enter the equation to find the most suitable route optimisation formula. Canalix dedicated a significant amount of time developing a suitable proof-of-concept to mirror a real-world scenario. That’s how we help our new customers find a working route optimisation formula that serves their business objectives. Request a product tour here.

How is route optimisation implemented into field operations?

Canalix offers a resource scheduling software to help field service providers with route planning and safety management. Our track record includes regulators that successfully use our solution as an inspection optimisation tool. Book your free demo with us today if you want to learn more about our resource optimisation system.

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How does resource scheduling optimisation work?

No matter how much comfort and productivity technology brings to the world of business, wasteful activities like traveling, misalignment of resource scheduling, and delays in resolving customer issues can lead to colossal losses. That rings especially true to public sector regulators that have to send inspectors to complete the inspection workflow. Minimising wasteful activities consistently leads to finding the proper resource scheduling optimisation technique. Let’s dig into how RSO solutions can be implemented into inspection management processes (or other field services) and how organisations can benefit.

Most of our clients who perform inspections say that resource scheduling has been a very time-consuming process for them. Many mistakes are happening in the process of scheduling, and therefore it’s hard for them to predict and measure the performance of their inspection teams. Their burning questions is always the same: How do we make our schedules profitable?

Optimising work schedules and making them profitable, not wasteful

The introduction of our inspection management software into our customers’ processes (mainly regulators) made scheduling optimisation an achievable object for them. Canalix includes a particular product feature called Jobtimizer that encompasses skill-matching capabilities to ensure that an inspector with the right skillset is being assigned to complete successfully a job that requires his skill profile.

Inspection teams need to finish their assignments to resolve inspection requests successfully and quickly. The more finished inspection jobs by inspectors mean more realised potential. That has a positive impact on the financial sheets of the organisation and also on the customer’s satisfaction.

The goal of every scheduling optimisation software is the same – to fit as many jobs as possible per day while minimising drive time. If we pick up exact figures, the resource scheduling optimisation tool Jobtimizer constitutes in:

Resource optimization and business scheduling software

CASE STUDY: OPTIMISING THE RESOURCE UTILISATION IN REGULATORY AGENCY
          • reducing the scheduling time with up to 75%
          • increasing efficiency of operations with 40%
          • fully eliminating errors in the resource allocation process.
Download a case study.

How does resource scheduling optimisation work?

Jobtimizer as a resource scheduling optimisation system can design the most optimal daily schedules for each inspector of field technician. The schedule plans are optimal because Jobtimizer considers various factors like geo-location, the driving distance between subsequent inspection jobs, risk level, complexity, required skill set and available equipment. One of the most impactful RSO benefits is minimising the driving distance between inspection jobs.

Manually designing efficient schedules will take hours or even days. When there are last-minute changes in the schedule, it becomes almost impossible to craft a new effective program on time. But with automated resource optimisation tools like Jobtimizer all this is being done fast and easy.

The benefits of resource scheduling optimisation software

The problem with crafting efficient schedules for inspection management is standard. That’s why it’s easy for us to predict the best possible solution for the regulators that turn to us for help. Speaking in benefits, the most common problems that we help our clients fix are:

  • Inspectors spend more time performing inspection jobs than driving between jobs compared to the period before automating their resource scheduling.
  • Schedulers get excellent assistance in scheduling operations and can do more with their time.
  • More completed inspection jobs mean more profits, which benefits everyone.
  • Resource optimisation doesn’t optimise only the routes of inspectors but also the course of technical equipment needed for a specific job.

Read also: How to achieve a measurable ROI from resource management software?

Last but not least, our resource optimisation solution is designed to fit the needs of any inspection job that requires technicians on-site, not just inspectors.

Why should you consider the use of resource scheduling optimisation software seriously?

The RSO software can help an organisation achieve the intersection point between productivity and efficiency. Regulators and enterprises can spare hundreds of hours of manual scheduling work and automate it all using a single RSO solution. See for yourself how it works in the video below and schedule a meeting with us to show you even more:R

How Canalix transforms the world of regulatory inspections?

Read now: 7 resource management software tools to look for in 2022

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How resource optimisation improves task management in field inspections?

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The global pandemic brought companies’ focus back on cost efficiency and resource optimisation. But in the process of chasing these objectives, organisations have to keep the customer experience undisrupted. To do that, they must be aware of the risks on the road to achieving cost efficiency.

Achieving the balance

The benefits of cost-efficiency would always outnumber the risks of disrupting the customer experience. Following a balanced strategy will minimise the disruptions in the customer experience and customer may not even notice them if there are any. This rings especially true for process-driven work like inspection management and other field operations. Resource optimisation can be implemented with zero disruptions for the customer but also it can boost the task orchestration.

Before explaining how exactly this happens, let’s dive into the essence of resource optimisation and task management.

What is resource optimisation in inspections?

Process-driven jobs like inspection management and field operations are often being subjected to resource optimisation projects. Resource optimisation aims to align the work process (inspection) with deadlines and available resources. Organizing resource optimisation properly can boost efficiency by allowing staff to be productive and prioritise their tasks according to standardised risk levels. Resource optimisation is often recommended to process-driven industries as a mean to achieving cost optimisation and improving the customer experience.

What is task management in inspections?

Every job in a process-driven work routine contains several sub-tasks that need to be completed to finish the job. The orchestration of these tasks – their prioritisation based on their level of importance and interdependency is called task management.

Where’s the connection between resource optimisation and inspection task management?

Looking at the descriptions of both – task management and resource optimisation, we’ll see that prioritisation is mentioned in both descriptions. So let’s first dive into the symbiotic relationship between resource optimisation, task management and prioritisation of jobs.

1. Prioritisation of tasks on field inspections

The planning of field inspection requires the efforts of inspectors, back-office administrators and other actors. But if there are not enough inspector with the most needed qualification, then the backlog of cases will start growing exponentially. This is where prioritisation of inspection cases is needed. The prioritisation may be based on available resources, complexity score of each case, geo location of the site, etc.

task management inspections

2. Timely completion of jobs

If we have a deadline for inspection completion, but our inspector is working overtime because he travels too much between inspections, then we’ll have an overallocation issue which may lead to low productivity. Resource optimisation software can allocate an inspector to cases that will follow an optimised route between each one of them. This work optimisation will ultimately decrease the total travel time.

Fun fact: Our portfolio includes a success story with our client – a UK regulator that achieved 40% reduction of time spent on travel. Download our case study and find out how we dit it.

3. Eliminate errors

Thanks to cloud technology everyone involved in a work process can get updates in real-time. When everyone is in the loop with what’s happening, the possibility of errors is minimised and collaboration between teams is being improved. This is one of the aspects of efficient task management.

4. Keep employees productive

If David spends more time travelling for inspection jobs than Maria, and at the same time David has to finish an equal number of inspections as her, soon he will burn out. Resource optimisation software promotes the mental well-being of staff. An aspect that is directly related to the long term quality of the completed jobs. Resource optimisation can resolve the issue with the equal distribution of the caseload. This on the other can leads to improving the task management because inspectors are staying productive and don’t suffer from overallocation.

How Canalix transforms the world of regulatory inspections?

If you’re already giving a thought to implement resource optimisation techniques to improve task management, keep reading.

Jobtimizer is a resource optimisation feature part of the inspection management platform Canalix. Now it is offered independently as a stand-alone product. Read more about Jobtimizer and schedule a meeting here.

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