Buckle up as we Go Back in Time to When our Company was Born
We at MyRouteOnline always aspire to grow, evolve and improve the route planning services that we offer. Regardless of how much we grew and developed over time, we will never forget how and where we started. As a family company, we owe our success to our founding father, literally.
The Story of Our Special Algorithm
Dr. Baruch Axelrod, has always been passionate about everything to do with travel and transport. As such, when pondering the thesis for his PhD in Computer Science, it was only natural for him to explore the subject of TSP – the Travelling Salesman Problem.
From there, Baruch made the leap to found his own company, with a focus on optimizing deliveries, distribution, warehouse arrangement and more.
All the while, he has remained a hardcore travel enthusiast. Baruch just loves to fly abroad, hop in a car and discover new countries, cultures and vacation spots off the beaten path. Globetrotting from the Far East to the U.S. to Europe, Baruch has had his passport stamped on nearly every continent.
In his travels he began to recognize a recurring problem which he encountered most everywhere he found himself; while it was easy enough to find spots on the map that he wanted to reach and navigate to when it was a short journey, travelling became quite a headache when his routes included multiple stops that were distant from one another.
Baruch didn’t waste time in devising a solution. Utilizing his knowledge in Computer Science, he invented the algorithm that we use to this day for the operation of our route planning software.
30 years ago, he started selling his route planning software to big corporations in the United States. Baruch and his staff would physically travel to each company’s headquarters and manually install the software on their servers. When the software required updates, they would make the journey back to each and every company (a good excuse for travelling).
Baruch’s daughter, Inbal, remembers her Father’s challenges very well. “I remember that when my dad started out, there weren’t even any Internet maps, it wasn’t as simple as it is today. My brother and I (he was seven, I was five) would stand in front of a map that my dad would hang on the living room wall and mark spots with pins. That was how we did geocoding. Of course today, you can just go to Google and it will do it for you in one simple click.”
What Got Us Started
14 years ago, Inbal was making deliveries for a flower shop during the holidays to earn extra income. She used Google Maps, struggling to plan out the most efficient delivery routes by herself. She had to insert each address separately, figure out which address should come first and which should be next. Every holiday, she was loaded with dozens of deliveries she had to distribute in a very short time. The time spent planning routes manually cut into her short time window and cost her employer extra labor hours. In frustration, Inbal phoned her father and asked if he could figure out a way to use his software to work around her challenges. Surprised he didn’t think of it himself, Baruch promised to return to her with a solution.
The solution came in late 2009. Baruch developed an online system that is ideal for small businesses. MyRouteOnline is simple, straightforward, and affordable, regardless of the size of your business. The service is very easy to use, and cuts down route planning time significantly. All the stops are visible on the map, so you can also get a visual idea of your route and make any adjustments to meet your needs. Getting started is simple. Merely go online, purchase credits and plan your route. Our subscriptions are very flexible; there are no cancellation fees, and no long term relationship required.
What We’re Doing Today
As the decades lapsed, our company has continued to grow. Today we can proudly boast of a staff that adds the finishing touches and helps Baruch and Inbal connect all the dots. From our dedicated Technical Team to our quick and attentive Customer Support, we are all here to ensure you enjoy the ride.
We are constantly improving our program and adding new features. We have added features such as time windows, vehicle capacity constraints, and telematics integration with TomTom. We also created a navigation assistance app for your Smartphone, making your routing output easier to use than ever before.
Our father and daughter team created this with you in mind. MyRouteOnline is a route-planning tool for everyone, whether your product is flowers, food, office supplies or people. As travel enthusiasts who know what it’s like to have to deliver on time, we hope you agree that MyRouteOnline offers you the ultimate routing experience.
Inbal Axelrod and Dr. Baruch Axelrod