An interesting question came up regarding our ArcLogistics routing. The question has to do with the RoutingDetailID that was printed on a prior routing. I should take the time to explain that routings through my office are not based on a daily inflow of orders. Our use of ArcLogistics is based on a large number of 'orders' (usually well over 1,000) in a folder, and then routing them out using the maximum number of vehicles at our disposal until all of the orders are complete once or twice a year. The question also ties in to other questions that I have received in the past regarding routes crossing over other routes by large margins, or drivers returning to the same area that was driven the day before.
To my understanding, ArcLogistics takes and routes all stops from the Unassigned folder based on location, number of vehicles available, and the most economical route between each stop. The area covered by our drivers includes several cities, and a rural area that covers hundreds of square miles. If my understanding of ArcLogistics is correct, the program would route stops within a given area, such as a City boundary, in a single routing. What I have experienced, is that several of our drivers will cross the same city boundary multiple times. This in itself does not seem to be the most economical approach.
The reason for the explanation, is that in the routing that had the RoutingDetailID printed on the Routing with Map and Directions, each slip had a sequential number. If the numbering was 1 to ## on each routing package, this would be understandable that it would designate stops 1 through ## in the package itself. The way that our database and the Routing package shows the RoutingDetailID starting at 31 through ## for day one, driver one. The following package continues where the previous left off, so if day one driver one stopped at 106, the following package for driver two would start at 107.
This is where my confusion begins. Given the examples above, does ArcLogistics pull the maximum number of 'orders' from the first record in the database, and route those before moving on? Or does ArcLogistics attempt to route the stops as best it can from the ENTIRE database?
As always, any insight or input is sincerely appreciated
