Smart routing
Smart routing with genetic algorithms. Optimising sales teams scheduling.
COMPANY
NORS Group S.A.
RESEARCH CENTRE
LEMA and Universidade do Porto (Faculdade de Ciências)
PRODUCTIVE SECTOR
Logistics and Transport
Problem description
Nors Construction Equipment Canada ST, one of the Nors companies with clients spread all around the Canadian territory, needed to develop a model in order to coordinate and plan the commercial teams’ agenda in an efficient manner.
This would imply to optimize the schedules and the commercial teams’ agenda for several weeks subject to client-specific frequencies, time constraints, and geographic dispersion.
Challenges and goals
- Efficient optimization of sales routes over extended periods.
- Handling complex client visit and time constraints.
- Balancing daily workload while minimizing total travel time.
Mathematical and computational methods
In this project, we developed and implemented a smart route optimisation system based on genetic algorithms to plan sales team visits over several months.
The method works by simulating evolution constrained by natural selection: it generates many possible schedules and keeps improving them through selection, crossover, and mutation. Each schedule is scored based on travel time, workload balance, and how well it meets client visit rules.
To improve the route further, we apply two other optimisation methods: 2-opt, which reshuffles visits to shorten travel, and simulated annealing that mimics the process of annealing in metallurgy. The solution runs efficiently on standard computers, making it practical for real-world sales planning.
Results and Benefits
We developed a smart route optimization software using genetic algorithms that efficiently plans multi-week sales visits while respecting real-world constraints like client frequencies and time windows.
Even without benchmark datasets, the model showed strong results, cutting travel time per client by up to 69% compared to the commonly used Nearest Neighbour method, which mimics the intuition of the salesperson.
This highlights its ability to generate highly efficient, constraint-compliant routes, delivering clear logistical and operational benefits for sales teams working across diverse regions.
