Route Optimization is an optional feature. To find out more, or add this to your vWork account, please contact support@vworkapp.com.  A member of the vWork Team will be in touch to discuss your requirements.

Alternatively, you can read all about it in the article What is Route Optimization?

In this article

This article explains how to review unpublished optimizations in View after you have configured and run them in the Create function. Read the article How do I create a route optimization? to find out how to configure your optimization. 

Reviewing the optimization you have created is the second step in the route optimization process - the process you follow to create, review, and publish route optimizations in vWork. You can learn more about this process in the article: Overview: what you can do from the Route Optimization page.

There is a lot of information here. If you want to read one topic in these instructions you can use the links below to take you directly to the topic you are interested in. 

Return to this menu at any time by clicking this icon. You will find it at the end of each topic:

Topics covered in this article are:

• What can I do in View?
• Optimization summary
• View a single optimization 
• Move jobs between routes
• Add a new job to an optimized route
• Assign workers when you have used the Infinite Workers option

What can I do in View?

View is where you:

• See the Optimization summary of all your optimizations: published and completed, published and not started or partially complete, or unstarted and unpublished. You can filter this view by time and the state of the optimizations. You can also publish and delete optimizations from this overview.
  
  
• See the detailed view of a single optimization. This is where you can make changes to the assignment of jobs to routes and the assignment of workers to routes, delete some routes or delete the optimization completely, or publish the optimization or some routes in it.

This article explains the modifications you can make to optimizations. Deleting and publishing are explained in more detail in the article: How do I publish or delete my optimization?

Optimization summary

When you first click View in it opens the optimization summary view.

This is where all optimizations, both published and unpublished, are listed. 

You can filter the optimizations that are listed in the optimization summary by both time and state.

Filter the optimization summary by time

By default, the summary shows optimizations for this week. 

Click the drop-down list in the Over field to select a different time frame to display. You can choose from:

• Any Time
• Today
• Tomorrow
• This Week, or
• Next week.

Filter the optimization summary by the state of the optimization

You can also filter the summary to show optimizations in different states including:

• All optimizations - the default.
  This shows all optimizations including completed, unpublished, and partially published optimizations. 
  
• Unassigned - This shows optimizations that are unpublished, including those where workers are assigned to routes.
  
• Assigned - This shows published but not completed optimizations. 
  
• Partially Assigned - Shows partially published optimizations. 
  
• Completed - This shows completed optimizations. 

The optimization summary table

The optimization summary table displays important information about each optimization:

 

ID	A unique identification number for the optimization. Our support team can use this to audit an optimization if needed.
From and To	Together these two columns show you the complete time period the optimization is run over including the start and finish time and date.
Progress	This shows you how far through calculating the optimization our GeoServer is. Before the optimization begins calculating this shows Pending. Pending tells you the optimization is in the queue to be processed. When the optimization begins processing this shows a green and grey progress bar. The green represents how far we are through processing the optimization. When the optimization is ready for you to review this shows Done. You can only open the detailed view of the optimization once it has completed processing.
Warnings	If there is something that needs attention for the optimization to fully work you will get a warning here. The total number of warnings for all optimizations is also listed above the table.
Jobs	The total number of jobs scheduled into the optimization.
Distance	The total distance all vehicles in the fleet will travel to complete all jobs.
Duration	The total hours required by all workers to complete all jobs in the optimization including travel time between jobs.
Workers	The number of workers required to complete all routes in the optimization against the workers available to do the optimization. E.g., 4/6 means of 6 workers available only 4 are needed to complete all jobs in the optimization.
Capacity	This shows you the capacity required for all jobs against the capacity of all workers assigned to the optimization. If the capacity of the jobs exceeds the capacity of the available workers a warning displays with this optimization. You will only see a number here if a capacity value is saved with your jobs
Group	The Group the jobs and workers in the optimization belong to.
State	The state of the optimization. It can be: Optimizing (the GeoServers are calculating the optimization routes), Unpublished, Partially Published, or Published.
Created	The date and time the optimization began processing and became visible here.
	These are the Red delete button and the Yellow publish button: Delete removes the optimization.  Note: Where jobs are published and you select the option to unpublish jobs as you delete the optimization, they are made available to reselect in another optimization. If you don’t choose to unpublish the jobs you may need to change the status of the jobs to select them in another optimization.  Publish publishes the optimization to the schedule and to mobile app users’ devices.

View a single optimization 

To view a single optimization:

1. Click anywhere in the line information for that optimization from the optimization summary table. This opens the detailed view of the optimization selected.

 

• The map shows the optimized routes. These are color-coded and match the workers assigned to the route.
  
  
• The lower section of the screen shows the optimization’s details. This includes the routes assigned to each worker, the timeline for each route and the order jobs are to be completed for each route.
  
  
• At any time you can return to the optimization overview by clicking Back found on the left of the page above the optimization’s details.
  
  

What do routes look like in view

Routes on the map

On the map routes are represented by colored lines.

• Each route is a different color.
  
• Dotted lines show a route is unpublished.
  
• Lines become solid once a route is published.

Here the orange route is published and all other routes are yet to be published.

Routes in the optimization’s details section

In the lower section of the page, each route is assigned to a worker. 

• In the Name column, each worker is identified by their name and a colored dot. This identifies their route and corresponds to the same colored route on the map.
  
  
• The number of jobs in a route is listed in the Jobs column.
  
  
• The Capacity column shows the percentage of the worker’s capacity that is already allocated by all jobs scheduled on the route. You won’t see a percentage in this column if you don’t have a capacity value saved with your jobs or you select the Infinite Workers option in the configuration.
  
  
• The Progress column shows if a route is Unpublished or Published. This is also shown by the color of the jobs on the route which corresponds with the colors used to show the status of jobs on the schedule: purple - unpublished, blue - published

Here all routes are unpublished except for the Orange route assigned to Truck 4. You can also see the capacity used by each worker to complete the route. Truck 5 has only 10% of its Capacity used and a single job scheduled on its route. In contrast, Truck 3 is 87% full and has 9 jobs.

What do Jobs look like in View

Jobs on the map

On the map each job is represented by a triangle that is the same color as the route it is on.

• All jobs are numbered in the order they are to be completed.
  
  
• Hover your mouse over a job to see the job’s details including the customer, template, and job number.

 

Jobs in the optimization’s details section

In the lower section of the page, each job is represented by a colored box on a timeline for a route. 

• The color shows the state of the job. The same colors are used as on the schedule. In the example below all jobs are colored purple showing that they aren’t yet published. 
  
  
• You can hover your cursor over a job to see the job number and when it is scheduled for.
  
  
• The length of the box for each job shows the job duration relative to the timeline. In this example jobs have a duration of 30 minutes. 
  
  
• Gaps before and in between the jobs represent the estimated drive time. The drive time begins at the start of the optimization time period, or the working hours of the worker if their shift begins later than the start of the optimization.
  
  
• Click on a job to open the detailed view of a specific route. Double click to open the job editor for the job.

Move jobs between routes

You may decide that one route has too many jobs or not enough jobs. Before publishing, you can move jobs from one route to another. To do this you must be in the detailed view of the optimization.

In this example, I don’t want to pay the driver of Truck 5 for a full shift when they only have one job to complete. Truck 6 has the capacity so I can add the job from Truck 5 to their route and give the Truck 5 driver the day off. It will make Truck 6's route longer but I think it adds minimal extra distance to the total fleet for these optimized deliveries. I will drag the job from Truck 5 to Truck 6 to move it and reoptimize both routes.

To move a job:

1. Click a job to select it.
2. Drag the job to the new route and release it anywhere on the timeline.
   
   
   
   
3. A message displays asking if you want to reassign the job. Click Reassign.
   
   
   
   
4. Both the route the job came from and the route it is dragged to are re-optimized.
   In this example, Truck 5 is removed from the optimization as it has no jobs once the job is moved to Truck 6’s route.
   
   
   
   

Add a new job to an optimized route

If you run an optimization and then realize you left a job out, you can still add the job. To do this you must be in the detailed view of the optimization.

To add a job to an optimization:

1. First, ensure that you pick a route that has room to include the new job if there are capacity or time constraints. It is best to choose a route that is geographically close to the missed job.
   
2. Click next to the route you want to add and optimize the job into.
   In this example, a job is to be added to Truck 5’s route (Purple on the map) as it has the capacity and no time constraints. It is also geographically close to the job we want to add.
   
   
   
   This opens a detailed view of the route you selected.
   
   ●  The map view changes to show the route and any jobs left out of the optimization.
   ●  The Lasso tool is highlighted ready for you to select the job or jobs you want to add. (You will only need to lasso the jobs you need to add, you don’t need to include the jobs already optimized.)
   
   In this example, on the map we see the route for Truck 5 (purple) and the job that was left out. We also see the detailed view of Truck 5 in the lower section. All other routes are greyed out.
   
   
   
   
3. Use the Lasso tool to make a polygon around the job or jobs you want to add. When you double click to complete the polygon the yellow  Add X Job to “Worker Name” button is displayed. In this example, 1 job will be added to Truck 5.
   
   Tip: If you can’t see the job you want to add to the route on the map, click the Bin button from the Map Tools to turn the Lasso tool off. You can then zoom and pan the map until you find the job or jobs you want to add. Then click the lasso tool to re-select it, and make a polygon around the jobs you want.
   
   
   
   
4. Click Add X Job to Worker Name to add the job to the route.
   
   
5. A message shows asking you to confirm that you want to re-optimize the route including the extra job or jobs. 
   Click the blue Add X Job to “Worker Name” button to confirm you want to proceed.
   
   Caution: Before clicking Add X Job to “Worker Name”, you can select the checkbox for Assign all jobs regardless of capacity or time available? This ignores time and capacity constraints to add the job or jobs.  It may create an optimization that your fleet does not have the time or capacity resources to manage. Use this option with caution.
   
   
   
   The route that you add the job to is reoptimized to incorporate the new job. In this example, Truck 5 now has 30% capacity used and a second job added to their route.
   
   
   

Remove a job from the optimization

To remove jobs from an optimization you can:

• delete the full optimization, or 
• delete the route that you want to remove a job from. 
  

Once you delete an optimization or a route you can recreate the optimization configuration leaving out the jobs or jobs you want to exclude. 

Note: When you recreate the optimization configuration the jobs and workers you select are added to a new optimization in View even if the configuration is the same. You can’t add to an existing optimization.

The process for deleting optimizations, and routes within optimizations, is described in the article: How do I publish or delete my optimization?

Assign workers when you have used the Infinite Workers option

Infinite workers lets you optimize routes without knowing which of your workers you will use. Your worker pool is ignored while the optimization runs and works out routes without assigning workers to them. Once the optimization is run you assign workers to the routes in View from your worker pool.

This is what an Optimization looks like when you have used the Infinite Workers option. 

All workers that are on shift during the optimization time period can be assigned to routes in the optimization.

To assign a worker to a route:

1. Click the drop-down list for a route.
   This displays a list of all available workers and a designation of unassigned.
2. Select the worker you want to assign to the route from the list.
   In this example, we select Truck 1.
   
   
   
   
3. Once the route is assigned to the worker you see the route highlighted on the map and the worker’s names next to the route in the optimization's details.
   
   
   
   
4. Continue assigning workers to the routes until all routes have a worker.

Caution: 

• Once you have assigned a route to a worker you can’t reassign it to another worker unless that worker hasn’t yet been assigned to a route. 
  
• If you choose Unassigned you no longer have the option to assign the route to a worker. The drop-down list is disabled.
• You must delete routes that you select as unassigned from the optimization to reoptimize the jobs in these routes. Alternatively, you can delete the full optimization and configure a new optimization that includes the unassigned jobs.

Notes: 

• When you have assigned routes to workers you can move jobs between the routes if you want to. The affected routes are re-optimized each time a job is moved between them. You can’t move jobs to or from unassigned routes.
• If you don’t have enough workers you can delete the remaining routes and reoptimize these jobs for a different time.

The next step is to publish the optimization or, if you were not happy with the outcome of your configuration, delete it and rerun. Please read the article: How do I publish or delete my optimization? to find out more about publishing and deleting your optimizations.