Clean It Up
UK Window Cleaning Forum => Window Cleaning Forum => Topic started by: Moderator David@stives on December 06, 2009, 09:51:02 pm
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We have got a couple of hundred jobs due this week and my head is in bits, I have tried to map them in google the best way I can but it has taken me 2 days nearly.
Apart from George and WCPro is there an easier way, I know Service CEO is supposed to plot them by postcode for you, but I dont want to pay £2k to see if its any good.
Is there an easier way ?
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i spect u know already .that rac n aa .etc do this stuff for members .but mayb for extra payment they may sort u out .no harm in trying if u havnt already . good luck anyway
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Can't you get a free demo of service CEO?
Or maybe as Kev Red if you can have a peek at his,...
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How did you do them before ? do the same planning
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bang em into your satnav ?
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these must be regulars dave???? werent they already in order.
been doing all mine in an exel spreadsheet, put them in the best possible order once and let the sat nav do the rest.
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lee
We have weeklys, monthlys, fornightlys, outs, in and outs, covering every town in Cornwall every week, Added to that we have just picked up loads of shops, even if i print a list, i need to put them into job order for the staff, If they were just on estates it would be easy.
It is a case of drive 3 miles do 2 jobs, drive 5 miles do 4 jobs etc, I have to sort that for 3 vans making sure nothing gets missed, every week the routes need changing to make the most efficient use of the vans.
Dave
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Dave,
My weeks work is planned, just about.
This youtube clip may help you in a round-about sort of way:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Eg9wMXRt5ck
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Ken
Your'e right, job centre tommorrow for a manager and secratery.
Sorted, thanks, just needed reminding
Dave
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But a more helpful approach could be this:
I have a big excell spreadsheet and in the first column I assign a code that equals a given area.
So, for example, in Llangym (a rural villaige) I do about 10 properties and the code in that column is '5'. I'll copy the document to a working file and I highlight the whole spreadsheet (Ctrl A) and do a sort on the first column and everything will change from alaphabetical order to area order.
I just delete everything I don't want and print off what I do want. It takes a minute.
You could add another column showing frequency and do another sort on that. Does WCP not sort by area?
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i hear you dave
we also run 3 vans with similar frequencies to those you mentioned. because we offer a 12 week choice we have 12 separate sheets for each round that run as a continuas list. if something is weekly they simply apear in every week list for that team. those lists are put in the best possible order and we just work through them start to finish and so on.
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Yes it sorts by area, the trouble is if i plan a route from say penzance to st austell and i want to take a slightly different route to take in some monthlys etc, it throws the program order out if you know what i mean, if it had drag and drop on the main round screen and i knew where the jobs were then it might be different.
Some of my jobs, i havent got a clue where they are, so i cant visualise them in my head, maybe some kind of pinboard might be useful.
Lee
Added to my woes is some banks i have picked up, they have to be done in specified weeks, which are sent to me at the beginning of each month.
I would love to come and see how other people do it
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Dave, computers are great at manipulating information and displaying it in a format you want it.
I'm no whizz at Excell Spreadsheets, but I reckon that would do what you require.
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Dave, If you have 3 vans, can't you split the round into 3 areas and letting the staff sort out their own work. As long as they have the frequency rate they should be able to manage this, even if they only have 3 days work in their own section, you could pull them all together for the bigger jobs on the remaining 2 days. Just a thought Dai
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dave i think you need to have a custom programme written to suite your business, i did just that and it was great untill i fell out with the programmer, still lessons learnt, i plan to have another desiged later.
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dave i do loads of shops witch covers the northwest area i find the best way was to get your map book out ring all the areas just to get basic idea where they r all and then you r not going backwards and forwards cheers laurie
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http://www.whatsatnav.co.uk/systems/garmin_quest2.html
http://thefastway.net/
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lee roughly how much do these computer programmers charge to build a software program?? i could do with one building for my new business rof coating??? i understand it will probly depend on how you want ur programme designed
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i paid £3000 for mine and i have also been quoted around that for the new one.
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dave if the driver know the custmors well.
then just put then in town order ie hayle-newquay-lands end then let the driver sort out which is best way todo them when he gets to the town.
doing by post codes dont mean to say they be in order either so what for that one,
trust the driver abit if hes the regular man.he know best
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I remember trevor knight giving me a lecture on this after he had gotten service ceo, i notice now though that he does a plug on wcp site, so for all his big talk telling me how little i knew in being so impressed with george it turns out that he must have wasted the £1500 it cost him.
I have this, but with one van not to the same degree.The easiest maths answer is to seperated the rounds area1, area 2, etc, and then develope these rounds into runs that make sence. You will end up with lots os different bits of paper but the programme will do most of the work and you will just have to assign it to a route.
Quite an interesting subject in an academic sense, and there may be someone (uni etc) interested in solving it because of the huge commercial applications.
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Dai
I do have rounds and a lot of them overlap, on certain days i will send the van so far, turn right then follow a route back, depending on how long I think the work will take, on the next day, the next driver might go the same direction slighly North then loop around the top of where the other driver got to, turn left and follow another route back, most days my vans are doing 100 - 180 miles and missing a town is a pain,
I have to set off in a while to cover a job which got missed last week and needs doing, it is 50 miles away, only a 10 min job, Saving grace is i hve about 6 small shops on the way back
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I have similar and it is a bit of a nightmare co-ordinating it but this is what I do.
1. Create a work sheet for each job
2. devide them into the regions / vans areas
3. devide them into the days on which they are due
4. recieve back signed worksheets
I only think weekly as to think too far ahead tends to get me really muddled. My drivers are alway trying to anticipate their work and it is difficult to get them to think of the work based on what worksheets the are given rather than whats a weekly job and what a monthly job.
Although these contracts are varying frequency I always look at the week as a single period of work.
I have looked into service ceo and it looks like a decent bit of kit but I am abit afraid of the disruption that will be involved in the change over.
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Sub all the work that is more than 1hr drive from base
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Try autoroute. You can add all the postcodes. A start point and an end point, then ask the system to optimise the route.
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Looks like microsoft autoroue has a 60 day trial on right now
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Looks like microsoft autoroue has a 60 day trial on right now
Have used this for route scheduling for years. Remember thought that you will have to set the average speeds and whether you require motorway routes or back road routes :)
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He didn't ask for directions round cornwall, he asked how to assign the jobs and plan the routes this implied in a logical way without taking up too much time.
Again, numbers on the map corresponding to areas, and areas corresponding to work sheets, probably higher nos as you get further out.Pair of scissors and sellotape to give the work out.
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Dave, the local delivery firms must have the software to do this, do you know any of the drivers?
Maybe you could contact one and ask them to run your round though their software.
A brown envelope with a few crisp £20 notes is always welcome at this time of year.