Decoding Geocoding: its meaning, how it works and what it can do for you! 

Navigating through incorrect addresses can be a common challenge for delivery drivers, impacting success rates and increasing the number of failed deliveries. Address inaccuracies result in wasted time and resources, which is both inefficient and unprofitable. Milkman Technologies Platform has a comprehensive solution through its address quality process, ensuring the correctness of addresses for all current and future deliveries.

Geocoding Explained

Geocoding, the process of providing geographical coordinates corresponding to a location, is a pivotal component in solving this challenge. While the concept sounds straightforward, its effectiveness relies on meticulous application and careful consideration of steps before and after associating coordinates with an address. Milkman Technologies has developed a three-step process to guarantee accurate delivery addresses:

1. AI Normalisation:: A crucial initial step involving the ‘’cleanup’’ of addresses before applying coordinate matching.
2. Geocoding Call: The process of associating cleaned addresses with latitude and longitude coordinates.
3. Geocoding Verification: a safety check to verify that the provided coordinates indicate a serviceable address, and ensuring that this address is within the geographical radius covered by your drivers.
4. The “Know Your Customer” Cache:  the final part of the process where the system records the addresses of good quality, so to avoid that the same address goes through the whole verification process a second time, ultimately saving costs & effort.

Address validation: Tackling Traditional Addresses

This article focuses on the first step of the Geocoding Refiner: the AI Normalisation, which handles the challenges associated with traditional addresses used by drivers globally. While these addresses may seem fine on the surface, managing thousands of them worldwide can be tricky. A common example is the reliance on postcodes, where assumptions such as universal usage, fixed locations, and consistent meanings across countries can lead to inaccuracies.

Milkman’s Solution

Milkman Technologies addresses these challenges by applying an entire “Address Quality Process,” going beyond a simple location indicator. Also called the Geocoding Refiner, this process starts by ensuring  correctness through a cleanup phase. Unlike manual checks, Milkman’s AI capabilities perform a thorough assessment of address inputs, optimizing them for later geocoding calls.

Benefits of Geocoding Refiner

Implementing this address validation process proves critical in saving valuable time on each delivery route. For instance, a mere 20-second time savings at each of 100 stops accumulates to approximately 33.33 minutes, showcasing the immediate benefits. Valid and complete addresses lead to:

1. Efficient and automated Route Planning: Geocoded addresses enable automatic routes optimization, reducing manual work, and optimizing drivers’ time and vehicle usage.
2. Fewer Returns: Accurate addresses result in fewer undeliverable packages, minimizing costly returns.
3. Cost Savings: A streamlined process reduces the need for manual address corrections, saving both time and resources.

Milkman Technologies’ Geocoding Refiner sets the stage for a more efficient and accurate delivery process, demonstrating the power of advanced technologies in addressing the complexities of traditional addresses. In following articles, we will delve into the subsequent stages of Milkman’s address quality process, highlighting the comprehensive approach to geocoding and its transformative impact on the logistics industry.