Dynamic data is about to change your life forever.
Think we’re exaggerating? We’re not.
With dynamic data, you can literally calculate anything you want to know about your locations– and we mean anything. But these are no measly Excel formulas. Rather, dynamic data will make you an unrivaled master of data-driven decision making. Your peers will be begging to know how you did it.
The answer? You just clicked your mouse a few times.
Let’s dive in to how it works!
Dynamic Data gives you access to three main types of information and calculations:
The purpose of dynamic data is to generate new data, which is automatically added to your existing dataset.
From there, you’ll aggregate values, calculate distance, drive time, cell values, or gather meta information. For example, calculate which distribution centers are closest to the stores on your map.
Or, calculate how many technicians live within 10 miles of a location that needs to be serviced, or how many competitor stores exist within your store’s zip code.
There’s no limit to how many new insights you gain through calculations like these. Use your imagination and you’ll reveal a goldmine of vital details about your business.
Pro Tip: Not sure which dataset you’re accessing from your map? Reference which Layer Folder you clicked when you opened the Dyamic Data lightbox. The data tied to that layer is the dataset to which you’ll be adding.
Here, you can add dynamic data from your current dataset (or the dataset tied to your current visualization).
Click the drop-down menu to select from the following types of calculations:
These are powerful ways to auto-calculate information based on what’s already contained in your dataset!
Add dynamic data from another dataset you have saved in Mapline!
Click the drop-down menu and select the dataset from which you’d like to pull data for your calculations. Next, click the calculation drop-down menu and select from the same options that are listed above in this article.
So, not only can you run these calculations from your current dataset, but it’s quick and easy to run dynamic data calculations from any of your Mapline datasets, no matter where you currently are in Mapline. What a time-saver!
Do you have routes that change on a regular basis? How great would it be if your routes would optimize themselves?
We are thrilled to say that not only is this possible, but it’s available at your fingertips right now!
Route optimization doesn’t just organize your stops into the shortest routes. It takes into account literally anything and everything about your trips.
Do you have 1,000 different stops and you need to get them all taken care of in 2 days, without any drivers exceeding 10 hours on the road? No problem. Mapline’s Route Optimization automatically calculates exactly how many drivers it’ll take, the drive distance, and the number of hours driven, and anything else you need.
Even if you have hundreds of routes that change every single day, and hundreds of driver schedules to keep track of, we’ve got you covered.
This section tells Mapline which data to work with.
First, determine where you want your routes to begin. Do your drivers all show up to the yard first thing to pick up their vehicles? Or, if you’ve uploaded your drivers’ starting points as a dataset, reference that instead!
Next, determine whether drivers will visit all stop points in your dataset, or if you need to assign stops based on certain criteria, such as vehicle type or driver capability.
Finally, pinpoint where you need your drivers to end their day. Do they need to return to the office, or bring their vehicle to a maintenance facility?
These options give you control over all of your drivers’ touch points throughout the day.
MAX ROUTES: Assign a max number of routes for the stops listed in your dataset to ensure sufficient coverage.
If you select Group Stop Points By, you can assign a max number of routes per group.
GROUP STOP POINTS BY: Group your stop points based on column data such as delivery date. This is particularly useful if you have stores that need to receive products on a specific delivery date, or have a specialized type of delivery.
Just make sure your dataset includes the store’s preferred delivery days, then select Group Stop Points > and select the column that lists the delivery dates.
This way, Mapline will auto- calculate the most optimum delivery routes so you don’t have to puzzle out hundreds upon thousands of variations.
Or, maybe you want to build a bunch of routes, but you need a specific person to visit each location.
In your dataset, make sure there’s a column that lists your personnel assignments. Then, select Group Stop Points by > and select the column listing these assignments.
Then, all of your routes will be optimized based on personnel assignment.
VEHICLE CAPACITY: If you’re making deliveries or your vehicles are picking up passengers, set a vehicle capacity, and your routes’ totals will always stay within this limit.
VEHICLE REQUIREMENTS: This option only appears if you select a dataset for your start points. Configure specific vehicle requirements to ensure the correct assignments.
DELIVERY QUANTITIES: Include delivery quantities to ensure that each vehicle has the right amount of product onboard every single time.
DEPARTURE TIME: Determine the exact time the drivers begin their routes. If you want to calculate route end times, you’ll definitely want to set a departure time.
STOP DURATIONS: Do some stops take longer to restock than others? Or maybe you’re sending personnel to on-site visits with a specific duration? Set stop durations to ensure your routes allow enough time for your staff to do their jobs right.
BREAKS: Set driver break times to give drivers enough time to take their breaks. This also ensures driving regulation compliance.
TIME WINDOWS: Do you have locations that can only receive deliveries at a certain time? Or maybe you need to send personnel to each location for set training times? Add time windows for each location to your dataset, and optimize your routes to ensure your staff arrives at the exact times they’re needed. Never worry about rerouting missed locations again!
MAX STOP POINTS: Want to ensure that your routes never exceed a certain number of stops? Set a max number of stop points to limit the length of each route.
MAX TRIP TIMES: Limit the total length of each driver’s route, including stop durations.
CURBSIDE STOPS: If your vehicles have to make curbside stops, or if you have vehicles like motor coaches and semis that cannot turn around easily, this option is for you.
Optmize your routes so every stop is on the righthand side of the road. Just set and forget.
And if that’s not enough customization for you, we have more.
Under Route Details, you’ll configure the precise data outputs you need. This data will be added as new column(s) to your existing dataset when the routing process is complete.
(Not sure which dataset you’re accessing? Reference which Layer folder you clicked–the data tied to that layer is the dataset to which you’ll add new information).
Under Distance Units, toggle between Miles and Kilometers to get the correct units. This is particularly helpful if you have staff in multiple different countries.
Set your Refresh Schedule to Manual or Automate depending on how you would like to refresh your route calculations. If you have continuously changing data, the Automate function will save you tons of time!
Pull data from your existing territories, or from Mapline’s exclusive territory database.
This is a powerful way to factor territory data into your calculations!
Bring U.S. demographic data directly into your caclulations. Leverage Mapline’s private collection of demographic information to factor any of the following into your formulas:
U.S. Demographic Data is available for both datasets and territories, os you can use it anywhere! Add any desired filter criteria, then click OK to run your calculation.
I’m sorry–WHAT??. Did you catch that?
You can literally calculate the population inside a territory on your map in seconds!
Or, with 6 clicks of your mouse, you can plot the average household income surrounding each of your business locations.
Now that’s what we call data-driven decision-making.