The information in the survey that follows was provided by the vendors in response to a questionnaire developed by Randolph W. Hall. The survey should not be considered as comprehensive, but rather as a representation of available vehicle routing packages. Questionnaires were sent to vendors drawn from previous survey participants, the OR/MS Today database and other sources. It includes the products of those vendors who responded by the deadline. If you know of a vehicle routing package that is not in this survey, please contact Patton McGinley at (770) 431-0867, ext. 214 or e-mail them to [email protected]. They will be included in an online version.
The survey is divided into 17 separate pages and a vendor directory. Following is an index of the pages and the information they contain:
Page 1
•Vendor
•Year Introduced
•Platforms Supported: Windows, iOS, Android, Application as Service, Parallel Machines, Other (specify)
Page 2
•Maximum size of problem solvable by the system: Number of Stops, Number of Vehicles, Number of Terminals
Page 3
•Maximum size of problem solvable by the system (continued):Recommended Hardware, Processor Speed, Memory, Hard Disk Space
Page 4
•Performance: Computation time to solve problem with 50 routes, 1,000 stops, two-hour hard-time windows (specify platform for calculations and any other assumptions); What types of algorithms are employed (open-ended)?
Page 5
•Routing Functions: Node Routing, Arc Routing, Same day re-routing, Daily Routing, Weekly Routing, Route Planning & Analysis, Ability to create territories, Utilizes real-time traffic information to reassign stops among drivers, Utilizes real-time traffic information to re-sequence stops for drivers, Provides dynamic turn-by-turn instructions to drivers based on real-time traffic information, Utilizes historical travel time and stop time collected from mobile devices for use in route planning?
Page 6
•Price Information: Single Site License (50 routes), Does license fee include map for one region?, What brand of map is provided?, Installation support cost ($/hour), Typical support hours needed for installation (50 routes)
Page 7
•Solution Algorithm: Does routing consider driver skills and specialties?, Does the routing consider geographic restrictions?, Does the routing account for driver hours of service rules (e.g.,rest breaks, 11-hour rule, etc.)?
Page 8
•Mapping: Do you utilize real-time travel times from external sources (e.g., Google maps, Waze)?, If yes, what is the source?, Do you display crowd-sourced information to drivers?, If yes, what type of information?, Are map street views available?
Page 9
•Product is available as part of a suite that provides: RFID Scanner, Supply chain management software (e.g. inventory mangement), Customer order processing, Computer aided dispatch for police, fire or emergency vehicles
Page 10
•Features: Assigns individual drivers to routes, Turn-by-turn route instructions, Load manifests, Loading plan for truckload, ETA automatically sent to the customer if there is a delay
Page 11
•Types of fleets that currently use the product: Local pick-up and delivery, Long-haul less-than truckload, Long-haul truckload, Courier, Buses, Taxis, Service fleets, Emergency services (police, fire, etc.)
Page 12
•Other special features
•24 by 7 live customer service
Page 13
•Recent innovations in system
•Do you support smartphones or tablets? iOS, Android, Windows
Page 14
•Do you support smartphones or tablets (continued)? Android, Windows
•Do you support drivers using tablets?
•Do you utilize an app store for software distribution?
•Do you support management using tablets or smartphones to monitor drivers?
Page 15
•How has economic downturn affected market
•Number of companies using software
Page 16
•Most significant installations
•What is the largest change in the industry over the last two years?
Page 17
•What do you expect to be the biggest change in the next two years?
•Looking further ahead, what impact will drones and/or driverless vehicles have on VR software vendors?
Vendor List
The survey appeared in the February 2018 issue of OR/MS Today. To order a copy of this issue, contact Customer Service at 770-431-0867, ext. 224 or send e-mail to: [email protected].
Be sure to take a read the companion article to this survey: "Innovation powers dynamic VR sector" by Peter Horner.