Routing & transportation
Better routes. Better use of every vehicle
4colors plans routes around service commitments, capacity, cost and timing. Its algorithms make better use of every vehicle and resource you have.
Airbus x BMW challenge winner for integrated production and transportation planning.
Shortest doesn't always mean best
Two customers may be close together but have incompatible delivery windows. A vehicle may save distance on a proposed route yet exceed its carrying capacity. A route may look efficient until a loading constraint makes the trip impossible.
Transportation optimization finds useful combinations of assignments, routes and schedules under the rules that make a plan operational.
The example plans the same vans and stops twice: in the order received, then optimized. Only the sequence changes.
Two vans, twelve stops, one depot.
Distance driven412 km
Longest route5.2 h
Illustrative example, not customer data.
Vehicle choices, stop order and delivery commitments
Which vehicle serves which work
Allocate deliveries, collections or movements among resources with different sizes, capabilities, operating limits and availability.
In what order, and when
Choose stop sequences while respecting service windows, journey times, loading and unloading requirements, and schedules that may affect the rest of the operation.
How transportation connects to other decisions
Coordinate routes with load composition, inventory readiness and production timing. A cheaper route can be expensive if the right goods aren't available or arrive too late.
How to use 4colors
From the solver engine to ready-made planning apps, pick the level that suits your team.
4colors Optimizer
The solver engine behind every 4colors product. A portfolio of search methods for hard planning decisions in routing, loading, scheduling and allocation, from Python or the API.
Optimizer for Scheduling
Advanced scheduling algorithms for the software you build to manage jobs, machines, people and resources. Due dates, setups and shared resources sit in one model.
Planning Applications
Takt, Roster and Stride bring optimization to production, shift and project planning. When a rush order lands or someone calls in sick, each re-plans within your rules.
Custom Optimization
Original models and algorithms built around your own resources, rules and objectives. We work with your team from the first prototype to a planner that runs in your systems.
Evidence from difficult logistics problems
| Winner
Airbus x BMW Quantum Computing Challenge
Our Quantum-Powered Logistics entry addressed integrated production and transportation optimization.
In the ROADEF/EURO Renault challenge, an earlier generation of algorithms reached the final on an integrated loading and logistics problem.
Routes are only part of the plan
Explore more use cases- Use case
The Shortest Route Is Not Always the Best Route
The map tells us how to get somewhere. The delivery plan has to decide how the whole day will work.
Explore the use case - Use case
Everything Fits on Paper. Will It Fit in the Truck?
A loading plan is easy to judge badly. Add up the volume of the items, compare it with the volume of the vehicle and declare that there is enough room.
Explore the use case - Use case
Keeping Traffic Moving While a Network Changes
A route that works for one flow may not work when everybody takes it.
Explore the use case - Insight
The Value of Asking What If
One useful schedule is an answer. Several carefully chosen alternatives can be a way to understand the business.
Read the insight
The journey starts with the decisions
Discuss your transportation problemExplore Custom Optimization