Latest Contributions by WallyKempf

Where do you work and what is your role?  Hi! I'm Wally Kempf. I work for WCA, which is a nationwide waste and recyclables collection and hauling company. I've worked for 2 other much larger corporate waste haulers in the past. My title is Corporate Routing Analyst and my primary job is to use a program called RouteSmart (an ESRI partner) to route our customer database based on the type of waste we are collecting. I also use the program to overlay potential acquisition customers on top of our current database for a particular geography to see what type of synergies may be available if we buy them and if so, incorporate those new customers into existing or new routes. I have been in the waste industry since 1987 utilizing the old paper map and stickpin method and finally in 2003 being able to graduate to computerized mapping/routing.  What GIS success have you had this year and what product did you use? (big or small - no win is out of bounds) This year I used RouteSmart on over a dozen projects and optimized over 300 route days of customers and have eliminated some routes, eliminated 100s of hours, miles and hours and balanced the workload of many routes, caused by the ebb and flow of new and cancelled customers. What is your expertise (GIS related or not), and how can that help the community? I am primarily self taught, but early on (2003-2016) worked in a team environment with the companies I was working at and we learned from each other's success (and failures). Currently I am a department of one, but anxiously glean whatever new ideas and tips I can from the ESRI forums. I wish I had more time available to take advantage of the ESRI classes. I would be most interested in hearing from and helping others in the waste hauling industry that use computerized route optimization programs. ... View more

Thanks Blake. I don't have an online account, just the desktop version. I'll have to get the extension. ... View more

Thanks Dan. Looks like having the Network Analyst extension is exactly what's needed. ... View more

I will do that. Thank you! ... View more

Richard- it works now, even with all of the service points displayed and by using the CASE function. The only change I made was I copied the field that I was using for case that was either a string or a double into a new field that was formatted as a short integer. I tested one, then of 2 of them, then finally all of them used the new field for the case and it created all of the boundaries. For some reason, I thought I had to check the box for null values. When left unchecked, the process ran through all the routes. Thank you for your help. This is a really nice tool that I’ve been waiting a long time to discover. ... View more

Thanks. None of my data has null values in the case field. The current test batch has worked its way from k=20 to k=22 and still going (I know it will be fine at k=30, as that’s been proven). I will then re-try the data with all of the routes turned on in hopes that it successfully complete creating the polygons based on case. ... View more

Yes, I like the way your results looked (tighter). I aborted mine as it was up to 18, then re-ran it at 30. It did complete and did a fairly good job, but as you said, it did generalize in some spots. I am going to re-run it starting at 20 to see if it looks better. Then I will have to try running it again, using the all of the points desired (case), hoping that it breaks on the particular field data (demand_6). I can make the field another format, if you want me to try something else for a format. ... View more

Yes, I’m running it now on a only one of the sets of points. I started with a k factor of 10 and it wasn’t enough(Hull does not enclose data) as it is now working its way through the numbers, currently at k=17. So at least this much is working properly. I would imagine, in a denser series of service points, the k number could be lower. I will keep you posted and appreciate your help. ... View more

Actually the lower screen shot was before the tool was run and the upper screen shot was the error that resulted. The demand_6 is a “double” and I’ve also tried it on another field called route which is formatted as a string. I will follow your suggestions and let you know the results. Thanks ... View more

Richard- I appreciate your time and hoping not to become a burden. After your message below, I realized that I was running improperly as a script instead of a tool as I initially wasn’t getting the popup window as shown in your screen shot. Anyway, I got past that, but I’m still having trouble. I think I’m really close to making this work, but still “so far”. Attached are screen shots of the settings that I used and then the error. The program I use is RouteSmart, which has ArcGIS 10.2.2 as the engine. What I’m hoping to accomplish is to programmatically draw the polygon around each set of colored “dots” which is categorized on a field called Demand_6, which is the route number. Wally Kempf Routing Specialist Progressive Waste Solutions, USA & Canada 219.405.5688 ... View more

Is a particular ArcGIS level of licensing needed to run this (like Advanced)?  I tried to run as is, but it rejected. I'm not sure if it was because the script needs to be modified or if I have a license restriction issue. Otherwise, it looks like it would do exactly what I've been searching for, for years. ... View more