Deutsche Post DHL has chosen Quintiq, the supplier of planning & scheduling systems,to take part in its SmartTruck pilot project. Other project partners include the German Federal Ministry of Economics and Technology, the German Aerospace Agency, the German Research Centre for Artificial Intelligence and Motorola.
Quintiq’s Pick-up & Delivery planning system optimises routes and ensures that available vehicle capacity is used to the maximum. It has a dynamic planning capability, enabling it to relay ad hoc pick-ups to vehicles in real time while they are in transit. In doing so, the system takes journey times, customer service, workloads, cargo capacities and processing time into account. Unutilised capacities can be identified at a glance and can be used immediately.
DHL’s upcoming SmartTruck pilot project in Berlin will initially involve eight delivery vehicles, two of which will be fully electronically integrated with the system.
Dynamic route planning not only calculates the best route in advance, it is also the first system to take into account real-time traffic information in inner city areas, for example traffic jams or construction sites, and adapt routes accordingly. This is achieved by monitoring DHL vehicles and almost 500 Berlin taxis using GPS, making it possible for the first time to effectively measure traffic flows in inner city areas and generate suitable responses.
Dr Keith Ulrich, head of technology & innovation management at Deutsche Post DHL, said: “Dynamic route planning not only calculates the best route in advance, it is also the first system to take into account real-time traffic information in inner city areas, for example traffic jams or construction sites, and adapt routes accordingly.”
