The Challenge
As part of a national initiative, Australia Post is always evaluating the benefits of making changes to its fleet and delivery network. For Australia Post, analysing the benefits is essential since it enables them to look at possibilities and calculate potential operational benefits. Their biggest challenge was accurately assessing the results based on the received geospatial data.
The difficulty of managing time and workload came along with the challenge of accurately analysing the results of modifications to their fleet and delivery network. Australia Post spent much time on ensuring the data was analysed and assessed correctly. Due to the increased workload and normalisation of working overtime, this had an impact on their day-to-day operations.
Australia Post sought a solution that would enable them to access the most recent and reliable geospatial data, easing their workload and cutting down on the time required to analyse and evaluate changes from the data. In order to optimise the geospatial data, a solution was needed.
The Solution
Bestrane was engaged by Australia Post to support them with the challenges they were facing. The latest address-level data from Australia Post and street-level data from HERE were used by Bestrane to build geospatial models with RouteSmart for ArcGIS.
RouteSmart for ArcGIS solves everyday routing needs with a comprehensive suite of vehicle routing tools that model the unique constraints of routing high-density residential and commercial service workloads. It is a powerful route optimisation solution that provides the tools to balance routes and minimise travel time with address-specific, side-of-street level detail.
With the RouteSmart solution, locations can be geocoded to in excess of 99.5% confidence and street data can be modified to include recent changes to all public and private accessways. This was a high requirement for Australia Post delivery agents to meet their customer service levels.
The Results
Since the deployment of Bestrane, Australia Post now has optimised their fleet and delivery network with the more in-depth and accurate geospatial data provided. The high-quality geospatial models are capable of simulating myriad routing scenarios such as transition to low emissions fleet, address point growth, volume fluctuations and Distribution Centre consolidation.
In order to provide an accurate baseline for any future scenarios to be compared against, routes are now sequenced, and parameters are applied to match existing route performance metrics. The geospatial models have given Australia Post a powerful sandbox to investigate opportunities and quantify potential operational benefits without impacting existing operations.
“Bestrane’s team of skilled consultants are able to provide Australia Post with highly accurate geospatial data models generated in RouteSmart, allowing us to assess the benefits of changes to our fleet and delivery network in a timely manner with no impact to ongoing operations”
Michael Thadani, Head of Last Mile Optimisation, Australia Post
Australia Post will continue to utilise Bestrane and RouteSmart as they grow and adapt their extensive network now and into the future.
