What solutions can improve the use of route optimization tools?
- May 15, 2025
- 4 mins
Delivery route optimization has become a major issue for logistics companies, promising significant gains in operational efficiency, cost reduction, and improved customer satisfaction. However, despite the obvious potential of these technologies, their adoption and actual usage often fall short of expectations.
This article explores the gap between the promises of optimization tools and their operational reality, identifying the main obstacles encountered in the field. It then presents the innovative approach of Kardinal, a company specializing in route optimization, offering concrete solutions to overcome these challenges.
Finally, we will discuss the crucial importance of change management in the success of such logistics transformation projects. Because beyond the purely technical aspects, it is the adoption by teams and integration into daily processes that will determine the long-term success of these optimization tools.
The gap between the need and actual usage of route optimization tools
Despite the initial promises, the adoption and effective use of route optimization tools often fall short of expectations. This gap between theoretical potential and operational reality can be explained by several key factors:
- Data quality issues: Data quality is essential for the effectiveness of route optimization. Unfortunately, errors in addresses, geocoding, cargo weights, and working hours can compromise results, requiring tedious manual corrections.
- Information only known to the operators: Optimization algorithms struggle to integrate constraints that are only known to the operators, such as interpersonal relationships and last-minute changes, which are often not formalized in information systems.
- Real-time disruptions: Unforeseen events, such as customer absences or changes in requests, disrupt the established plans, requiring real-time adjustments that are difficult to manage for current optimization tools.
- Industry-specific constraints: The specific needs of different sectors (e.g., managing tank washings for bulk transport, handling multiple waves for retailers, etc.) make the use of standard optimization tools complex and often impractical.
- Poor traffic consideration: The lack of traffic data integration in optimization algorithms leads to two major problems: firstly, route calculations do not account for traffic variations depending on the time of day, and secondly, they ignore real-time traffic conditions that can significantly impact travel times. This results in inaccurate estimated arrival times, unsuitable route choices, and illogical routes for experienced operators.
Optimization tools, which are meant to simplify planning, often become an additional burden due to the numerous manual corrections needed. This paradox explains the low adoption rate of these technologies, despite their obvious potential to reduce costs and environmental impact. A more field-adapted approach, integrating flexible solutions and accounting for human and organizational factors, is essential to overcoming these obstacles and fully realizing the potential of route optimization.
Route optimization: Kardinal’s innovative approach
The key pillars of Kardinal’s route optimization solution
Kardinal offers a fresh take on solving the common challenges of planning and executing delivery routes. Our solution stands out through several key features:
1. Always-On optimization
Kardinal has developed a continuous optimization system—Always-On. This approach allows for route adjustments at any moment, even while vehicles are already on the road. As a result, disruptions and last-minute changes can be handled in real time, without requiring a full re-computation of the route plan.
2. On-the-fly data correction
One of the major advantages of this continuous approach is the ability to correct inaccurate data or add new information at any time. The algorithm instantly adapts to these changes without restarting the entire calculation process. This gives planners the flexibility to fine-tune routes as needed, with minimal disruption.
3. Custom modeling
Kardinal uses a proprietary solver that has been developed and maintained in-house for nearly a decade. This deep technological control allows us to model any specific constraint—even the most complex ones. As a result, we can tailor the solution to match the unique operational requirements of each client.
4. Traffic forecasting
Our solution incorporates predictive traffic models into route calculations. This provides an accurate and realistic view of travel times between stops, factoring in time-of-day variations and route-specific traffic patterns. Anticipating traffic conditions makes routes more reliable and relevant.
5. Driver assistance
Once on the road, drivers benefit from smart decision support. The system can guide them in real time, offering route adjustments based on disruptions or unexpected events.
6. Continuous improvement
Kardinal’s solution continuously learns and improves over time. By collecting field data, it can refine assumptions—such as actual delivery durations—leading to increasingly precise optimizations.
This comprehensive approach addresses common route optimization challenges: inaccurate data, last-minute changes, and real-time disruptions. By offering a flexible, reactive, and continuously adaptive solution, Kardinal aims to bring route optimization closer to the realities of everyday operations.
Continuous route optimization solution
Illustrating a solution designed for real-world operations
Kardinal’s route optimization solution provides an intuitive and flexible user interface, illustrated through three concrete examples:
1.Delivery priority
A dispatcher identifies a delivery point that must be completed first—due to client priority, time window requirements, etc. With just a few clicks, they can define this constraint, and the algorithm instantly recalculates the route accordingly.
2. Changing delivery order
If a dispatcher needs to add a delivery stop or move one to the end of the route, they can simply use the drag-and-drop feature. The system then instantly re-optimizes the sequence to integrate the new constraint efficiently.
3.Time window correction
A dispatcher notices a delivery is scheduled for 12:50 p.m., but it actually needs to happen before 12:00 p.m. They can quickly correct the time constraint in the interface, and the algorithm will re-optimize the route to meet the updated requirement.
In all situations, the algorithm performs multiple iterations if needed to find the best possible solution—balancing new constraints with overall route optimization.
These examples highlight the key benefits of Kardinal’s solution:
An intuitive interface enabling fast adjustments
Continuous, real-time optimization
Easy correction of data errors
A balance between automation (95% of the work) and manual control (5% fine-tuning by the dispatcher)
This approach is designed to create a smooth, efficient process that significantly reduces the time required for planning and optimizing routes—while still allowing dispatchers to apply their expertise to refine results.
However, the successful implementation of such a tool goes far beyond technical features. It requires a comprehensive, strategic approach to logistics transformation. Effective change management is crucial to get teams on board and ensure the tool is truly adopted and integrated into daily operations.
What kind of change management ensures a successful optimization project?
When budgeting for a project, we’re often already annoyed by the software cost, genuinely irritated by the integration costs and timelines… so when the ‘change management’ line appears — with its cost and especially the time required for proper adoption — it’s often trimmed down and stripped of substance, reduced to mere ‘training’.
1. Prepare
Preparation is crucial to the success of the project. It is essential to:
Clearly define the company’s strategic objectives in terms of productivity gains, cost savings, and service quality improvement.
Communicate early on about the expected impacts and benefits, especially to planners and dispatchers whose daily work will be significantly affected.
Align management around the long-term vision of the company’s transformation, as route optimization should be seen as a strategic initiative—not just a software purchase.
2. Support
Team support is essential for successful adoption:
Actively involve field experts and planners in the process, valuing their knowledge and expertise. It’s important to work hand in hand with them to validate the proposed routes.
Start with concrete cases and limited scopes (geographically or by sub-segments) to quickly achieve visible wins and keep teams motivated.
Provide in-depth training that goes beyond basic tool usage, helping users understand the broader changes in their workflows.
3. Ajust
Continuous adjustment is key to sustaining change:
Regularly gather feedback from team members to identify areas for improvement (through one-on-one discussions, group workshops, or surveys).
Embed the transformation over time by tracking KPIs and acknowledging individual contributions.
Stay flexible and open to revisiting aspects of the project along the way—inefficiencies or new opportunities may surface mid-course.
💡 Discover more practical insights on route optimization in our article: “The 3 stages of successful change management: a case study on route optimization”.
Kardinal positions itself as a long-term partner, supporting clients beyond simply providing technology, to help them progress toward their strategic objectives.
One example is Vente-unique, an e-commerce site specializing in furniture and home décor, which chose to internalize its fleet after previously relying solely on subcontractors for deliveries.
Thanks to a management team aligned on the transformation goal, the optimization project with Kardinal was implemented in just a few months, leading to a significant improvement in customer satisfaction (+20 points in NPS) and a reduction in costs.
Looking to implement a route optimization solution? Contact us to talk about your project!
