Distribution overview
Distribution is a type of routing problem that’s applicable to use cases such as food service, package distribution, and home goods delivery. In typical distribution scenarios:
Requests or stops only include dropoffs
Routes are often scheduled in advance and fixed
Vehicles start and end at the same location (e.g., warehouse, depot, etc.)
Vehicles can end anywhere
This tutorial provides a sample JSON input file to serve as a starting point. You can use it directly in the Nextmv Cloud console or with the Nextmv Cloud API.
Distribution defaults
The defaults for a distribution scenario often include defining start location, shift start and end, speed, and stop duration. Specific properties applied to the stops and vehicles override default settings. Learn more about input schema defaults.
Field name | Notes |
---|---|
start | Starting position representing a depot or warehouse |
shift_start | Time that a vehicle shift begins |
shift_end | Time that a vehicle shift ends |
speed | Average speed in meters per second |
stop_duration | Estimated amount of time in seconds to service a stop |
Distribution vehicles
Most distribution scenarios typically start with values defined for vehicle id
and capacity
. Latitude and longitude can be defined for an end
location. If one isn’t provided, the vehicle ends its route at the last stop.
Field name | Notes |
---|---|
id | Name or identifier for a given vehicle |
capacity | Available vehicle space for arbitrary entities (e.g., maximum weight, volume, etc. of a given vehicle) |
Distribution stops
Most distribution scenarios typically start with values for stop id
, position
, and quantity
. The quantity
value in this case is always negative, in that it will reduce the capacity of a vehicle when a stop is assigned.
Field name | Notes |
---|---|
id | Name or identifier for a given stop |
position | Coordinates for a given stop |
quantity | Arbitrary entities (e.g., the weight, volume, etc. of a given stop) for transport |
Distribution next steps
The Nextmv Cloud API is extremely flexible. There are many ways you can configure the input file to represent more complex business logic using penalties, time windows, and compatibility attributes.
Sample distribution input data
The following is a complete sample of input data you can use with the Nextmv Cloud console or Nextmv Cloud API to get started with a basic distribution scenario.