 From planning to execution – MapMechanics’ supply-chain solutions can help fleet operators identify strategies to streamline their operations, and then put those strategies into practice. In this respect the company stands apart not only from pure software developers, who tend concentrate on the detail of their applications, but also from consultants, who traditionally offer advice, but have to harness the products of third-party developers for implementation. MapMechanics can take on the whole process in-house.
This is one of the twin themes of the MapMechanics stand No. 70 at the Logistics Event 2007, the CILT Conference and Exhibition, which runs at the Hilton Metropole, National Exhibition Centre Birmingham from 26 to 27 June.
The other theme on the stand is the emergence of MapMechanics as a software developer in its own right, offering modules for leading packages such as the GeoConcept geographic information system, as well as stand-alone applications for specific requirements.
The Logistics Event 2007 sees the first major showing of several such solutions, with particular emphasis on operations involving dense patterns of calls in concentrated areas – ideal for activities such as urban distribution, sales prospecting, waste collection and door-drop deliveries of directories and similar products.
Field force optimisation also comes under the spotlight in MapMechanics Territories , a redistricting tool which works with GeoConcept to calculate the value of each selected area in terms of the user’s criteria; and MapMechanics Street Territories , which builds territories on the basis of the number of people living in each street.
Another MapMechanics product Frequency Scheduler, allows users to plan journeys where calls arise on a regular basis say, every week; once a fortnight or once a month. The system uses a genetic algorithm mimicking natural selection to find the least-cost routes.
Field force planning, scheduling and communication are all tackled in a major new suite from MapMechanics that was given its formal launch this spring. MapMechanics Mobile pulls together a range of technologies to provide an integrated field service package. Users plan vehicle movements and pass job details wirelessly to mobile teams, while integrated satellite navigation guides drivers automatically between calls. The system can also capture job completion data (even digital photos of products or locations), and can track the position of mobile units as they progress through their working day.
A range of enhancements to MapMechanics Mobile, due for launch later in the year, are given a preview at the CILT event, including improved messaging that allows information to be delivered simultaneously to all or selected mobile units. There is also an auto-detect feature that alerts the control centre when drivers proceed with their schedule, even if they don’t have time or opportunity to fill in all the application’s data fields on the spot.
MapMechanics’ ability to combine strategic review and practical implementation is proving particularly attractive in the present climate of corporate acquisitions and mergers throughout the transport and logistics field – which frequently prompts wide-ranging exercises in network realignment, depot closures or relocation and operational rationalisation. “Operators want a single supplier that can help them decide what to do, and provide the means to do it,” says managing director Mary Short . “That’s our forte.”
Two of the key software packages offered by the company advance this process, she says. TruckStops, the routing and scheduling system, is used widely for strategic network modelling and optimisation, yet is equally at home scheduling complex multi-depot delivery requirements from day to day. Similarly the GeoConcept GIS is popular for planning and analysis, yet is also used widely for dynamic activities such as providing online maps for real-time vehicle tracking, and underlying maps for routing and scheduling systems.
This dual role is proving particularly appealing for logistics businesses during the tendering process, MapMechanics has found. In Mary Short ’s words: “Operators tell us that in the past, some tenders were too complex for them to cost properly. They knew they could handle the work, but they couldn’t necessarily prove it. Analytical tools such as GeoConcept enable them to come up with the figures they need to underpin their bids.”
Alongside its packaged and bespoke logistics applications, MapMechanics remains one of the leading suppliers of digital map data and business and demographic data, much of which is used with its application software to achieve comprehensive solutions.
The company has just published the latest edition of its Data Catalogue, the only printed work of its kind still in regular production. With 88 packed pages, this is the biggest edition so far, and includes a whole section of case studies showing how users have benefited from the combination of its software, digital data and solutions. The same data is also listed in the online version at www.mapmechanics.com. |
