TourSolver

Route planning for sales representatives

TourSolver is a add-on application for MapInfo Pro designed to optimize routes. Its main task is to minimize transport costs and significantly reduce the time needed for planning. The result is lower cost, optimizing the number of sales representatives, saving time and improving customer service.

TourSolver is primarily for users who need:

  • Schedule and optimize your salesman routes based on a variety of factors, such as the number of visits per chosen period, salesman business days, opening hours for customers, length of visits, cost per kilometer, fixed costs and lots of other parameters.
  • Opportunity to evaluate your existing routes and compare them with the proposed ones.
  • Optimize the number of sales persons based on real customer needs and their geographic localization.
  • Shorten route planning times.
  • Speed up and improve service to your customers.
TourSolver

The proposed routes can be clearly displayed on map within the MapInfo Pro geographic information system. Total scheduling statistics and itinerary for each salesman can be exported to common formats, such as MS Excel, Word, or a text file.

Together with MapInfo Pro®, TourSolver is an excellent tool for sales planning specialists, business executives or regional managers.

Usage

Salesman optimization

Current routes evaluation

Salesman optimization

Optimization of sales representatives usually consists of several sub-tasks. These include modelling of sales agents' regions, designing their optimal number, tracking performance and optimizing routes. Using TourSolver leads to cost savings, easier work for sales representatives, and better customer service.

TourSolver is often used in strategic planning, in addition to regular route planning. For example in situations of more extensive sales deployment, expansion of the company leading to an increase in the number of agents, or changes in basic parameters such as number of visits or their lengths.

The most frequently used optimization parameters include:

Time parameters for customers
  • Time windows where visits to customers can be made.
  • Length of visit to the customer.
  • Days in which the visit can be executed.
Frequency and number of visits
  • TourSolver allows you to schedule up to 64 consecutive days and multiple visits per customer within the planning period.
Multi-day trips
  • It is possible to specify whether a sales representative can stay overnight and under what conditions.
Time parameters for business representatives
  • Start time and end time.
  • Possible overtime hours.
  • Business days (when he can perform visits during the planning period).
  • Optimal time offset on first visit.
  • Breaks at work (eg. lunch break).
Cost parameters
  • Cost per unit of distance (eg cost per kilometer).
  • Cost per hour.
  • Price per overtime.
  • Fixed costs.
TourSolver

Optimal distribution and design of regions for sales representatives.

TourSolver

TourSolver scheduling window with overview of optimization statistics, detailed information for each sales representative and Gantt diagram.

Routes evaluation

The optimization parameters can be set for the TourSolver application so that the computational algorithm performs the route reconstruction exactly as the routes were actually implemented. This means that the visit will be carried out by the same sales agent and in the same order as in reality. The result can then be compared to real-world routes or optimized routes.

TourSolver

View total statistics in MS Excel.

TourSolver

View detailed itinerary in MS Excel.

Specification

Maps (road networks)

TourSolver license includes a navigational map of the Czech and Slovak Republics from Navteq (HERE). Users can perform both country-level optimization and cross-border optimization automatically and without having to buy another license to the second country's navigation map.

In addition to the road and street network, map layers include other layers, such as water, forests and greenery, railways and others that are already arranged in the so-called workspace, and the user no longer has to set anything. Everything is ready for immediate work in MapInfo Pro.

Road network contains information about real historical speeds obtained from GPS devices. TourSolver user can choose whether to use these historic speeds or their own speed settings for each class of road in the application settings.

Geocoding

For route optimization, it is essential that both the customer database and the sales representatives' databases contain geographical coordinates. Position accuracy is then important for the resulting quality of planning.

If a user has coordinates stored in their databases, MapInfo Pro will be able to use them to create point objects on the map. TourSolver will be able to perform optimization afterwards. If the XY geographical coordinates are not available to the user, it is necessary to complete them before the optimization process itself.

For the geocoding of Czech and Slovak addresses, we have developed a unique tool - GeoMarker Pro, that enables both automatic and manual geocoding. Our company provides geocoding as a service too.

Licenses

Unlimited (time) license
The program is licensed to a specific computer, based on the total number of business representatives (vehicles) and the range of map data. In this case, the license is granted to the user indefinitely.
Time limited license for 1 year
The program is licensed to a specific computer, based on the total number of business representatives (vehicles) and the range of map data. The license is provided to the user for one year.
Project license for 3 months
A special type of license designed to process a project for a third party or to develop a pilot project within a company. The program is licensed to a specific computer, based on the total number of business representatives (vehicles) and the range of map data. In this case, the license is valid for 3 months.

Technical requirements

TourSolver is an extension of MapInfo Pro application and can only run and operate in the environment of this application.
Supported operating systems
  • Windows 8
  • Windows 7
  • Windows Vista
  • Windows XP
  • Windows 2003 Server
  • Windows 2008 Server
MapInfo Pro requirements

MapInfo Pro version 7.5 and higher

Hardware requirements

CPU: powerful processor 3,0 Ghz

RAM: at least 4GB of RAM

Requirements for other applications

To export results, install MS Office XP and higher.