Key Points
- The customer used our software to build a digital model of their street cleansing service
- Routes planned to rebalance work between vehicles and optimise the service delivery
- Feedback from crews has been overwhelmingly positive
Challenge
As part of the purchase of a new fleet of mechanical sweepers, Halton Borough Council wanted to review the efficiency and performance of their mechanical street cleansing service, and ensure they continued to make the best use of resources.
Without a digital service plan this would have been almost impossible, so the first step was to build a digital model of their street cleansing service. They would then be able to redesign and rebalance work across their fleet of mechanical sweepers to ensure they were achieving the best possible performance.
Solution
To digitise and redesign the routes for their mechanical street sweepers, Halton used the EasyRoute Streets optimisation software with support from our
consultancy team.
Using the software, the team were able to build a digital model of their street cleansing service. After establishing which streets and paths needed to be cleansed, along with the frequency and vehicle capable of servicing each street, Halton worked with us to identify how each street
was currently serviced.
We helped the council to identify data and mapping issues, such as road sections on the ITN layer that were missing from the current schedule, and also added additional locations, such as car parks, that were missing from the ITN layer. Using calculated cleanse rates based on GPS tracking, Halton were then able plan their routes such that they delivered the outcomes required, and rebalance the work between their vehicles in order to optimise the delivery of the service.
Benefits
Halton now have a digital service plan which tells them exactly what work should be done on each day by each vehicle. Following mobilisation, they have been able to confirm that the operations team are following the plan and feedback from the crews has been overwhelmingly positive. Crews are consistently completing their work within the planned time allocation.
By implementing a walk order, which records the sequence in which each section is cleansed, Halton have been able to gain further control of their service. As vehicles follow a sequenced route, supervisors know where they should be at any point in the day. This also acts to ensure that dead running is kept to a minimum.
One specific challenge at Halton was the need to build in flexible capacity to service landscape maintenance operations on sections of the Expressway network and approaches to the new Mersey Gateway Bridge Crossing.
To maximise efficiency Halton was able to make use of planned traffic management to coincide with their sweeping operations for a geographical area, building in the capacity needed to service the network. They could optimise the route for their vehicles at any point during the cleansing cycle, without significantly impacting the overall service efficiency.
About Routeware
Routeware is a leading technology company for the waste and environmental services sector. In the UK, our software and services have been used by over 200 local authorities and most of the leading waste and resource management companies, helping save an estimated £100M+ for UK local government.
