Optimization strategies

An optimization strategy is a named ruleset that controls how your orders are batched and sequenced into routes, and when that optimization runs. You build the ruleset once and reuse it — run it directly against a set of orders, or let it run on its own schedule.

Note

Optimization strategies are available depending on your organization's setup. If you don't see them, reach out to Nash.

Find optimization strategies at Orchestrate ▸ Optimization Strategies. Each strategy is a list of Active/Inactive strategies on the left and an editor on the right. The sections below are the rules a strategy configures.

Optimization Timing

When and how often the strategy optimizes — this is the heart of the strategy. Set one or more schedules (every day, weekdays, weekends, or a custom pattern, with an optional active date range) that decide when optimization runs. You can also turn on Smart Frequency, which tightens the interval as a cutoff approaches — optimizing less often when there's time, and more often as the deadline nears.

Contract Selection

Choose the contracts the strategy may use to build routes — the fleets and vehicle profiles it can draw from. You must select at least one. Each contract can carry its own overrides (such as how many vehicles to use or a lead time), and you can set a separate shift contract for shift-based vehicles.

Store Location Selection

Optionally restrict the strategy to routes at specific store locations. This is locked once the strategy is created, so set it up front if you need it.

Route Restrictions

Attach route restrictions — geographic areas the optimizer must avoid — to keep routes out of zones you don't serve. Manage the restrictions themselves in your network settings; see route restrictions.

Service and route settings

Tune the timing the optimizer assumes: service times at pickup and dropoff (and per additional stop), the traffic source it plans against, and other route behaviors that shape how tightly orders are packed.

Order pickup time range

Set the window of orders eligible for this strategy — only orders whose pickup time falls in the range are pulled into its routes.

Dispatch options

Decide what happens once optimization finishes:

• Auto-Dispatch after Optimization — dispatch the routes automatically as soon as they're built, instead of waiting for a manual dispatch.
• Unassigned Orders Fallback — hand any orders the optimizer couldn't fit into a route to a dispatch strategy of your choice, so nothing is left stranded.

Optimization Engine

Some organizations can choose which optimization engine the strategy uses. If your editor shows an Optimization Engine section, pick the engine(s) you want; if it doesn't, Nash uses the right one for you.

Activate and deactivate a strategy

A strategy only takes effect once it's active. Activate a strategy to put it to work; deactivate it to pause it without deleting your configuration. To bring a paused strategy back, activate it again. You can also duplicate a strategy to build a variant without starting over.

How it's used

An optimization strategy runs on the schedule you set in Optimization Timing, and you can also run one directly against a set of orders. Unlike dispatch strategies, optimization strategies aren't applied by a workflow action — they run themselves on their schedule.

To learn how optimization strategies fit alongside dispatch strategies, see what strategies are.