This article will cover the following topics;
First, let's understand the difference between a task and a mission.
➡A task is one simple unit of work. It can take the form of a pick-up in a warehouse, or it could be a drop-off at a customer's destination.
➡A mission is a group of tasks that can be combined together. Some call these routes, but we call them missions!
Creating a mission
Now for the good part!
To create a mission simply multi-select your tasks either by holding down control and selecting the task individually or by holding down control+shift and selecting all tasks at the same time.
Here are the various options you can perform;
Right-click and Create Mission. The selected tasks will be combined and become a mission. The mission will show in the unassigned section
Right-click and Assign to Agent. The selected tasks will be combined and become a mission and you will be able to assign the mission immediately to an agent. The mission will show in the assigned section.
Your mission is now created!
However, the route is not yet optimal, as we still need to get the best possible route. See below for mission optimization.
Important: At all times, one or multiple task(s) can be added to your mission simply by dragging and dropping the task in your mission.
Mission Optimize and Re-optimize
Gomove's route optimization algorithm considers many things.
We look at hubs, delivery locations, time windows, vehicle capacities, task duration time, real-time traffic data, and weather.
From your sidebar, Right-click on a mission and select Optimize.
Optimization Menu
When clicking on 'Optimize' the optimization menu opens up in the right sidebar. Here you will be able to create your perfect route depending on your needs.
We will cover each one of these options below the image.
Mission Date
Choose a date for when the mission needs to be done.
By default, the current date is set.
Start & End location
Here you must define the start and the endpoint of the mission. Where your delivery team will start their day and where they should finish it.
Here are all the options available;
A hub (your warehouse or boutique see article)
Driver's home address
Driver's current location
Custom location
Optimization mode
Select between the time optimization mode or the distance optimization mode.
Time mode: The tasks will be ordered in a way that strictly adheres to the Completed After and Completed Before time. It will put a priority on tasks with specific delivery times. If the delivery time window is respected, only then it will order the task to cover the minimum distance.
Distance mode: The tasks will be ordered in a way that minimizes the total distance driven by the agent without considering the time constraint of the tasks.
Optimization options
Here are additional criteria you can enter to get the best out of the optimization.
Max mission duration: If you want your mission to be under 8 hours, for example, enter 8 hours. If left blank, there is no duration limit.
Max mission tasks: If you want your mission to be under 10 tasks, for example, enter 10 tasks. If left blank, there is no tasks limit.
Max mission capacity: If you know the capacity of your vehicles, you can enter it here and the optimization will let you know if the tasks can be done. If left blank, there is no capacity limit.
Agent Assignation
Lastly, we will ask you to assign an agent to this mission.
Congratz! You have created a mission and optimized it!
Notes: During the optimization, if there is a constraint that is impossible to meet, it will be indicated. A pop-up message will be displayed with a reason and a solution!
➡See this article covering various solutions when your criteria can't be met.
You can accept the optimization result, or try changing the constraints.
The*ETA calculations for all customers, total time of the mission, total distance, and total capacity will be displayed on the mission card once optimized.
Mission cards information
By now, we know that when combining tasks together, a mission is created.
A mission card is shown in your right sidebar to help you see at a glance very useful information you may need.
The information available on these mission cards informs you on various points.
What is the status of the mission (Started, Late, Failed, Successful)
Which driver is assigned to the mission
Which team is assigned to the mission
How many tasks there are in the mission
How much time it is estimated to complete the mission
What is the capacity of this mission (to choose the right vehicle)
What is the total distance to complete this mission
If you click on a mission card, it will display all the tasks that make up the mission.
Mission Progress Status:
It's very simple to know at a glance how your various mission is performing on what their progress statuses are.
Grey Status: A mission has a Grey Status only when it is unassigned.
Purple Status: A mission with a Purple Status refers to an assigned mission.
Blue Status: A mission with a Blue Status refers to an assigned mission and the assigned team has started the route. It will remain blue all the way to its completion.
If you open the mission, you will see exactly the progress of the team. Here we see that the team has done the 3 first tasks and that only 2 are left.
Orange Status: A mission with an Orange status contains at least ONE task that will be delayed from the original completed time. When the ETA is calculated to be above 1hour (configurable in the settings) from the original completed before time, a task is deemed to be delayed.
The Orange Flags indicate which task will be delayed.
Green Status: A mission has a Green Status when a mission is completed and has no failed task or delayed task by the driver or by the user.
Red Status: A mission with a Red status contains at least ONE task that is failed by the driver or by the user.
The Red Flags indicate which task has been canceled. You may want to check out the cause in the completion notes of the task.
Alright, you now know how to create and optimize your routes!
Don't stop there, have a look at these related articles and keep on going!
Have a little more time?
Here's just a small collection of task-related articles from our colleagues at Gomove.