Comparative Analysis: NextBillion.ai Route Optimization Outperforms Market Leader

At NextBillion.ai, route optimization is our bread and butter — and we’re good at it. How good? Let us show you.

We recently received the results of a benchmarking test that pit NextBillion.ai’s Route Optimization API against that of a major competitor. Arguably the biggest player in the market. You’ve definitely heard of them. If you’re evaluating routing solutions for your fleet, you’ve almost certainly considered them.

We beat them. Decisively.

The benchmarking was run and verified by multiple prospective customers. First, let’s understand how it was done.

The Benchmarking Conditions

The route optimization algorithms were tested in three separate scenarios of mock last-mile delivery jobs and vehicles generated for the city of Los Angeles. Each scenario had four variables:

1. Vehicles Available – The number of fleet vehicles available to solve the routing problem
2. No. of Jobs – The total number of jobs or deliveries to be completed; this is synonymous with the l number of locations to be visited
3. No. of Packages – The total number of packages to be delivered; this is where vehicle capacity comes into play
4. Max. Capacity per Vehicle – The maximum number of packages each vehicle is permitted to carry

The solutions would be evaluated on the basis of three key performance metrics:

• Vehicles Utilized – The number of vehicles utilized in the output route. Fewer vehicles utilized translates to less activation cost.
• Total Distance Traveled – The cumulative distance covered by all utilized vehicles, in meters. Less distance means less vehicle wear and tear and lower fuel consumption.
• Total Duration – The total time taken to complete the assigned jobs, in hours. Faster completion results in lower labor costs and happier customers.

Both routing solutions were fed the same set of problems and tasked with finding the most efficient routes for each scenario. Upon completion of the optimization process, the results were as follows:

Test Run Data

Benchmarking Conclusion

As you can see, in each scenario, NextBillion.ai’s Route Optimization API outperforms the competitor in the crucial metrics of total route distance and duration — often by a large margin.

Behind NextBillion.ai’s Superior Performance

Such ineffective route optimization can have serious implications for organizations that use the competitor’s solution to optimize their business operations. Extra miles driven would negatively impact their operational efficiency, operating margins, eco-friendly initiatives, vehicle condition, customer satisfaction, driver sentiment and so much more. It’s a costly proposition in many ways — and that’s before even taking the cost of the solution itself into consideration!

Speaking of costs, that’s another area in which NextBillion.ai offers better value; ours is a more cost-effective solution by a healthy margin. Also, unlike other players in the market, we give customers the choice of asset-based or usage-based pricing, so they can pick the pricing model that best suits their business.

That’s not all, though. Arguably the biggest differentiator of NextBillion.ai’s routing solution is the level of flexibility made possible through the variety of routing constraints available. With over 50 constraints to choose from, our customers can configure the routing algorithm to account for their unique operational requirements, such as custom road restrictions and closures, turn permissions, speed limits, time-based restrictions, equal task distribution and more.

Some other features and constraints that set us apart from the competition include truck-specific routing that accounts for truck type, dimensions and weight; re-optimization for on-the-fly routing changes; custom cost matrices to keep travel costs in check and relations to specify associations between different tasks.

All of this means that NextBillion.ai is well positioned to meet complex customer needs in ways our competitors simply cannot. Here are a few case studies that show how we solve our customers’ problems with our Route Optimization API:

• Time-Critical Logistics Provider Powers Shipping Operations with NextBillion.ai’s Route Optimization API
• Canada’s Top TMS Provider Enhances Fleet Management With NextBillion.ai’s Route Optimization and Navigation Systems
• Leading TMS Provider Improves ETA Accuracy and Saves Up to 40% on API Expenses

As we’ve seen, NextBillion.ai’s Route Optimization API brings a lot of value to the table. Value that cannot be found elsewhere. If you’re looking for a high-performance, cost-effective, customizable routing solution, your search ends here. Find out firsthand how NextBillion.ai can transform your business — see our Route Optimization API in action.