Route planning software and route optimization
PLANTOUR – the cross-industry route scheduling
Discover PLANTOUR 23, the best route planning tool we have ever developed.
PLANTOUR integrates seamlessly and easily into your system landscape and supports you in the execution of all scheduling business processes from strategic, tactical and operational planning to execution and subsequent controlling.
Safe in the hybrid cloud
PLANTOUR relies on the full scope of MAPSERVICES and provides all functions as a hybrid cloud installation, i.e. all storage-intensive calculations take place in the ISO-certified PASS Cloud, but your data remains in-house. No sensitive customer data is transferred to the cloud for planning and optimization. So you get the best of both worlds: Your data secure on your network, and powerful route optimization with minimal local hardware requirements.
Cloud is a no-go for you? Of course, there are also complete on-premise installation options.
May we introduce - your digital dispatcher 4.0
Thanks to the interaction of PLANTOUR and MAPSERVICES, we deliver an optimization approach that is unique on the market. Using artificial intelligence methods, our PASS Optimization Services (POS) replicates the procedures and strategies of a human dispatcher, combines them into different variants, takes into account the planning preferences and wishes of the human dispatcher, and performs countless planning operations in the millisecond range to produce the best result for you.
Tell POS your preferences on how you want your result to look like, and POS tries to take this into account. Interrupt the optimization at any time and continue it at a later time, even with changed parameters. POS remembers the previous good results and builds on them. This way, POS permanently learns what your preferences are and will generate disposition suggestions based on this.
And the best thing is: we can usually teach POS new strategies or individual rules with little effort, in order to precisely map your individual planning preferences. While classical route planning methods work with specialized algorithms or heuristics, which have different strengths or weaknesses depending on the task, POS enables a very broad approach, which solves your requirements PASS-exactly.
Different planning options
Free route optimization, framework route planning or manual planning via drag & drop - or all together. You plan, we deliver the tool.
Individual & current road network
Benefit from the automatic updates of the road data and edit the road attributes according to your needs and requirements.
Multiday planning
Whether single or multiple use of vehicles over one or several days with and without overnight stay. Just as your business needs.
Modern design
Our complete design was revised according to modern UX aspects and new visualization elements were created to provide an even better overview.
Key figure-based planning
Define when planning is good with your own quality criteria. Our tour planning software allows you to model individual KPIs.
Live tour handling
Use your existing or one of our telematics systems to track live scheduled tours and respond to schedule deviations.
Customizing
Our scheduling software adapts to your workflow without programming - and not the other way around.
Hybrid Cloud
Sensitive data on your premises, compute-intensive operations anonymously in the ISO-certified PASS Cloud. This keeps your local hardware requirements to a minimum.
- Automatic set-up and expansion planning
- Can be integrated into terminal server environments
- Simulation of various planning variants
- Planning on the map, the grid or both at the same time
- Detailed authorization management
- Multi-user and multi-organization through client server
- Individual KPIs for measurement of planning quality
- Quick help via remote support
- Multilingual - more than 10 languages
dispatcher
- Expert system saves time and frees up space for other activities
- Quick overview of planning-relevant key figures and on the map
- Simple digital interface to drivers via apps
company
- Cost optimization through route planning
- Transparency through complete digitalization of the supply chain
- Professional tools simplify complex route planning
customers
- Increased customer loyalty through adherence to schedules
- Fast response to schedule changes
- Digital integration into the delivery process
environment
- Reduction of CO2 emissions by:
- Saving kilometers and
- Conservation of resources
Start page
All objects in the route planning software PLANTOUR can be found via the Navigator. Frequently used functions or individual workflows can be saved in the favorites bar. The Navigator as expert view is mostly hidden and operated only via favorites.
One object – three views
Every object can be displayed and edited in three different ways: in a table, in a detailed view or directly on the map. The individual partial views are synchronized and can be grouped into favorites as desired.
Dispatch view
The typical planning view combines tours and unscheduled orders. In addition to the tabular view, these are also displayed in the map. In a work place with multiple screens, the map can also be displayed on the second screen. The tours can be displayed as routes or bee-lines.
Score tour planning
Orders can automatically be merged by the system as completed tours for specified customers or assignments. Depending on the specification, the system takes into account the order sequence, time windows, restriction violations and much more, which should then be resolved by the dispatcher.
Free route optimization
With the unrestricted route optimization, any selection of orders can be entered into the automatic calculation. The algorithm takes into account all parameters such as departure times, maximum duration, breaks, etc. KPIs visualize individual quality criteria by means of numbers or symbols.
KPI-based planning
With PLANTOUR, several planning scenarios can be simulated in parallel. Using relevant KPIs, alternative route plans can be compared - regardless of whether they are generated from score tours, free optimization or manual scheduling.
Long distance traffic
PLANTOUR also supports optimization in long-distance traffic throughout Europe. By combined use of MAPSERVICES from the cloud, the application is also possible for small server systems.
Geocoding using POIs
Use the names of your customers, such as "FRA" for Frankfurt Airport or "Schwanenapotheke" as POIs for even more precise automatic geocoding.
Operational plan
Gain a quick overview of your fleet as well as the planned tours and their execution. See trip and standing times at a glance and identify deviations in the execution, endangered time slots, etc.
Live Tour Tracking
Send the planned tours to your drivers and track live the processing. Track the vehicles on the map, the tour and shipment status in the detailed tabular overview or get a quick overview of the deployment plan, which shows tour progress and delays for the entire fleet.
Cross-industry route planning software and route optimization
Our customers come from more than 20 different industries. Is your industry not included? Contact us, we can certainly help you and check your individual requirements.
Food and non-food retail
- Orders up to colli level
- Support of multi-day tours
- Empties and pallet management
Furniture trade
- Planning of 2-man crew and rendezvous transports
- Consideration of work values
- Collection in external warehouse
Forwarding and transport
- Different delivery addresses and one-time customers
- Direct transports (pickup & delivery)
- Planning according to postal code areas
Beverage wholesalers and breweries
- Consideration of complicating factors and special vehicles (side loaders)
- Driver-customer loyalty through frame tours
- Empties management
Building materials and construction industry
- Planning in bulk or general cargo
- Consideration of hazardous material points (ADR)
- Alternative loading points
Money and value transport
- Cash in / Cash out / Pickup / Delivery
- Special personnel / vehicle group restriction
- Rendezvous orders, e.g. for ATM special filling
CEP services
- Consideration of standard delivery areas
- Special planning mode for areas / neighborhoods
- Collection and distribution
Pharmaceutical and pharmacy delivery
- Cut-off times for individual orders
- Consideration of fine-granular time windows
- Strategic planning for outsourcing
Lightweight web app and integration of route planning into your in-house systems
Do you only plan sporadically or do you only have a very small fleet, so that a tour planning system is supposedly not worthwhile? Or are you looking for a solution that you can transparently integrate directly into your own ERP or TMS systems? Then find out more about our MAPSERVICES.
for more than 30 years
more than 100 installations
mor than 500 users
in 7 European countries
Supplemental add-ons
In addition to the integration of further logistics software, our route planning software can be extended with further components to add functionality.
Packaging materials management
No more lost pallets
Do you want transparency with regard to your loading equipment in circulation? The loss due to lost loading equipment quickly amounts to several thousand euros, even for small businesses.
Forget about the use of paper-pallet notes. With the loading equipment management in PLANTOUR and the connected telematics, you automatically manage the loading equipment account towards your customers during order processing with the mobile terminal. You are now able to evaluate the account balance in the planning center. The module can be used for any type of loading equipment as well as for empties.
Delivery notification
Inform your customers directly from the planning stage
Offer top service and avoid waiting times by using the notification module. After completion of the planning process, the planned arrival time is communicated directly from PLANTOUR via mouse click.
If you use our route planning software together with the telematics solution, planning deviations can be transmitted automatically or automatic reminders can be sent by using geofencing such as: “Your order will be delivered to your location in approximately 60 minutes”.
Tour number matrix
Complex score tours without ERP system
You have complex distributed branch deliveries throughout the week, and would like to display these in score tours? Usually, score tours are specified by the ERP system in which the route number for an order has already been specified before the route scheduling.
With the Tour Number Matrix Module, you can also model complex score tours in PLANTOUR without an ERP system by simply specifying the number per weekday with the customer. You work independently from the ERP system and control the scheduling from where it belongs: directly in the route planning software.
PLANTOUR Business Intelligence
Informed at a glance
Our standard route planning software already offers comprehensive reporting options, both with pre-defined standard reports and with the option of integrating individual customer reports.
We have created the PLANTOUR BI interface for those who would like to gain a deeper insight into the data. The module allows you to integrate the PLANTOUR database into your existing business intelligence tool or you can entrust us with the implementation of your individual analysis requirements in a BI tool.
Packaging materials management
The customer’s packaging materials account is automatically filled via the mobile device. The account status can of course be adjusted in PLANTOUR with central chargebacks, such as additional balance bookings or cost allocation.
Delivery notification
Once you have completed planning, you can inform customers about the planned time of arrival. Simply control the recipient of the notification via the customer master data. You can do this by e-mail, fax or SMS. *) Depending on the channel, additional costs are incurred
Tour numbers matrix
Using a complex control matrix, you can plan customers in score tours without the need for an ERP.
PLANTOUR BI
The PLANTOUR module gives you unrestricted access to the database for individual BI evaluations. The ready-made business model allows for quick implementation of your individual requirements into the dashboard.
Of course, the actual savings potential always depends on the size of the company or the number of planned tours. As a rule, time savings are realized in both route scheduling and duration. This leads in a cost reduction. This results in a below-the-line cost reduction. In our experience, savings of approximately 15 percent can be achieved in an ideal situation. However, planning should not only be based on the aspect of cost savings, but should also be software-supported with a focus on increasing quality and facilitating work.
Route planning does not always have to be fully automated. Even though algorithmic optimization of supply routes usually produces very good and better results than manual scheduling, there are also situations in which the manual planning approach with software support makes sense. For example, if restrictions such as business hours exist only in the dispatcher's header or if there is insufficient order information. But even then, a software-supported planning tool such as PLANTOUR can help to simplify the daily work of the dispatcher, e. g. by simply visualizing the planning or automatically calculating customer arrival times.
Our route planning software is particularly suitable for small and medium-sized companies, but also works in large corporations with several hundred tours per day. We will be happy to help you find out whether a route planning software is worthwhile for you. Simply contact us for a free initial check. Here we carry out a route optimization on your own data and present the result to you. You can then decide on the basis of facts. Often, the support of our software is worthwhile for as little as three to four trucks.
We only want to recalculate our score tours once a year. For such project requirements we recommend the use of our consulting approach. You provide us with your data, we load it into our route planning software and work out your new tour plans with you. With such one-off analysis, the correct data basis is very important to achieve sustainable good results. Here we help you to create the right data basis for new useful tour plans.
Theoretically you can be up and running within two weeks after initial contact. In practice, the implementation period varies depending on the project scope and testing effort, especially if existing systems are to be connected or if telematics and/or telemetry hardware has to be installed in the trucks. After an initial consultation, we can usually provide you with a good indication.
Our route planning software offers the possibility of a seamless connection to your ERP system, your enterprise resource planning, your AMS or any other order management system via a very flexible integration technology. The route planning software requires at least customer and order data from your system. In principle, however, all data objects such as fleet, drivers, locations, costs, etc. can be loaded or unloaded via the interface to PLANTOUR. Of course, you can also create orders and new customers directly in our route planning software - even if you don't use any other system - and thus plan completely without further systems.
Yes, for new installations we always recommend the telematics solution of our preferred partner, as a ready-made real-time integration exists and can be used immediately. Of course, we can also connect your existing telematics solution to PLANTOUR as part of the implementation project. Whether this enables real-time communication or not, and whether all the functions available withour preferred partner can be used depends on the respective telematics solution. We would be happy to consult with your telematics service provider.
The software can be used both on premise and as Software as a Service (SaaS). It doesn't matter whether the installation is done in-house or in the PASS Cloud - in one of our ISO-certified data centers in Germany. Our pricing model is based on the size of your fleet, as this is the decisive factor for potential savings. In most cases, the introduction of tour planning software pays off in less than a year. Contact us for a detailed analysis of your potentials.
PLANTOUR is a client server system which runs on any commercial Windows server with a Microsoft SQL Server or Oracle database. A Java runtime environment is required for the client. The sizing depends on several parameters such as the number of orders, number of tours, number of planners etc. Please do not hesitate to contact us, we will then determine your hardware setup for you. Of course, you can also use the software from the PASS Cloud, so you only need a powerful Internet connection.