Three hundred farms, and no tanker turned back

The challenge

Every morning, eighteen tankers collect milk from three hundred farms. When a road is closed, the driver finds out at the barrier, in the dark. He turns back, the round runs late, and Lena spends her morning on the phone, redrawing routes.

How the flow works

With xMap Flows, Lena built Pathfinder. Pathfinder is an AI employee: a flow of 5 blocks.

1. Every morning at three,

   Every day at 3 am (Schedule)

2. Pathfinder takes the farms on today’s round,

   Farms on today’s round (My data)

3. checks every closure and roadworks near each one,

   Closures near each farm (Traffic incidents)

4. plans each tanker’s round,

   Each tanker’s round (Route planner)

5. and sends each driver the route, with the closures marked.

   Route to each driver (WhatsApp Business)

What it solves

• Closures found at dawn: solved by Traffic incidents
• Rounds running late: solved by Route planner
• Mornings on the phone: solved by Route planner and WhatsApp Business

The result

At three, Pathfinder spots a closed bridge near Freising and roadworks outside Erding. The drivers have their routes before they start the engine. Not one tanker turns back, and every farm is collected on time.

The roads still close. Lena’s tankers just stopped finding out the hard way.

An illustrative scenario: the figures are modelled to show what the flow produces, not a customer's results.

The flow, block by block

1. 1

   Every day at 3 am

   Schedule

   Starts the flow on a timetable.

2. 2

   Farms on today’s round

   My data

   Brings in a table you uploaded or a list you saved on the My data page: your stores, customers, target accounts or sites.

3. 3

   Closures near each farm

   Traffic incidents

   Road closures, roadworks and other incidents on online maps right now, with where they are.

4. 4

   Each tanker’s round

   Route planner

   Puts the places that reach it in the best order to visit them in a day, from a start you pick: one route, one for each rep (by a field such as owner), or shared out between a number of reps.

5. 5

   Route to each driver

   WhatsApp Business · WhatsApp

   Send text, media and template messages from your WhatsApp Business number.

Templates to build it

Ready-made flows with the same blocks. Open one, change the city and the kind of place, and run it.

• Merchandiser visit plan for the weekEach merchandiser’s stores for the week, in the best order from the depot, around road closures.
• Road closures near my schools before the buses leaveRoad closures near your schools sent to bus drivers before each run.
• Road closures near the courts before hearingsClosures and roadworks around every court you attend, on WhatsApp at 6:30.
• Road closures around our warehouses after a stormBlocked roads around every aid warehouse, every hour after a storm.
• Road incidents near schools before the bellIncidents near schools each morning, for the traffic police.
• Closures near substations for field crewsClosures near substations every morning, for crews.

Industries

Learn how it works

• Reverse geocodingTurning coordinates into a street, district or address.
• Territory planningDividing a market into areas for reps or teams.
• Route planningPutting a day's visits into a good order, for one rep or several.
• Plan the day’s routes for your repsPut the stops in the best order, one route or one for each rep, with directions links.
• Traffic incidents and road closuresClosures and roadworks in an area or near each of your places.
• Your own tables and lists (My data)Upload a CSV, save lists of results, and use them in flows.

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