Optimizing address routes - web-based

Question

We are trying to better understand how to set up MapPoint (or another map application) to optimize delivery routes for us. We have the ability to push lists of delivery addresses from our .NET system but need some simple options for the drivers to select a starting point address and to be able to reorder the addresses visually if necessary. Please advise if there is sample code available for this, if we can do it through a hosted version of MapPoint or if we need to host a copy of MapPoint (or another application) on our server.

Answer 1

It's probably worth reading up on the travelling salesperson problem, and look into some of the algorithms used to give answers for that. You've not specified the type of transport (i.e. are you doing multi-drop, or are you following a model closer to shipping containers?).

As an aside, MapPoint might not have the best licensing model for you, and systems I've seen in the past that do this sort of thing use other routing engines, such as Clavis from AND.

There are a lot of specialist applications out there, and if you're writing this for internal use, I'd suggest evaluating those first.