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JOBLOGIC + MULTI-DEPOT OPTIMIZATION

Joblogic multi-depot routing

Joblogic’s scheduler treats depot as a per-engineer starting point. That works for single-depot operations and for small networks where the planner can hold the cross-depot picture in their head. Regional contractors with three or four depots, distribution arms with branch networks, and recurring programs across regions need something different: an optimizer that treats all depots as one problem and rebalances work between them under skill, capacity, time-window and SLA constraints. eLogii adds that layer on top, custom-integrated against Joblogic’s API surface.

Joblogic depot model
Per-engineer
Engineers and vehicles associate with a home depot; routes start and end there. Cross-depot rebalancing is operator work.
eLogii depot model
First-class input
Multiple depots in one run. Routes can start at one depot, end at another, pick up at a third. Engineers can be reassigned across depots when constraints allow.
Plan output
One plan
A single optimization across all depots, not the sum of per-depot optimizations. Skills, capacity and SLAs are shared inputs.
Integration
Custom
Integration over Joblogic’s API surface. 3 to 5 weeks typical.
From Joblogic’s features page

Schedule, manage and optimise the daily routes of your field engineers.

From joblogic.com/features. The route calculation runs per-engineer once the planner has placed the jobs. Cross-depot rebalancing as a first-class input is not described on Joblogic’s scheduling pages. Verified June 2026.

What Joblogic documents about depots

Joblogic’s product pages cover the per-engineer depot model clearly: engineers have a base depot, vehicles are tracked from that base, the calendar shows the day’s assigned work, and the scheduler calculates the fastest route between the jobs the planner has placed for that engineer. What the pages do not describe is cross-depot optimization as a first-class input: a single run that takes all depots as inputs, rebalances jobs across them under shared constraints, and outputs assignments that may move work between depots. That layer is a different shape of product, and Joblogic’s scheduler is not it.

Joblogic’s reported planning outcomes (11% less drive time, 10% time saved per job, 10% less fuel) reflect the workflow product as designed. For operations whose planning problem is dominated by cross-depot rebalancing, the optimization layer underneath the scheduler is where the next step change lives.

What cross-depot optimization looks like in practice

Three concrete patterns make the case for multi-depot as a single optimization input:

  • Regional contractors with multiple depots. Plumbing, HVAC, electrical or facilities maintenance with three or four service centres across a region. Jobs come in to a central dispatch. The right depot for a given job is usually the closest with the right skill and available capacity, but not always: a depot running hot needs work taken off it; a depot underused needs work brought to it; a SLA-locked job may need a less-obvious depot to hit the window.
  • Distribution arms with branch networks. Building materials, wholesale food, bathroom and kitchen distribution. Routes start and end at different depots in the same plan; consolidation across branches drops drive time. Brymec runs M&E supply across multiple depots; ATS Building Products improved deliveries per route by ~98% on eLogii after introducing cross-depot optimization to the planning loop.
  • Hub-and-spoke programs. Engineers can start from one depot, pick up parts at another, then continue to jobs. The optimizer needs to plan across the depot graph, not within one depot at a time.

In each case, the right answer is decided by the optimizer, not the planner. The planner steers the rules and signs off on the run.

At a glance: a 70-engineer four-depot M&E supply network

A mechanical and electrical supply distributor with four depots across a UK region. Seventy engineers and drivers in the field. Daily delivery routes for trade counters; service and installation routes for accounts; parts pickup between depots when a route needs a SKU from elsewhere in the network. Joblogic handles the workflow cleanly: orders, Joblogic mobile on the van, vehicle tracking, daily reporting.

The friction sits at the depot interface. Depot A runs hot most weeks while depot D runs underused; capacity drift accumulates because no one has time to look across depots in real time. Routes that should start at depot A, pick up at depot B, then continue to customers run as two separate trips because the planner can only see one depot view at a time. Drive time creeps. The operations director can see the problem on the BI dashboard at end-of-week, but no one is solving it on Tuesday morning. A cross-depot optimization run takes all four depots as one input, drops drive time around 15–20% across the network, and rebalances capacity within roughly +/- 5%. Joblogic continues to own the workflow; what changes is which depot does which job.

The workaround in Joblogic and where it breaks

The workaround is the planner. The planner assigns work to depots based on rules of thumb (closest, skill match, current capacity), then Joblogic calculates routes within each depot. At small numbers of depots and stable work mix, this is fine. The friction shows up at scale: capacity at one depot stays underused while another runs hot; drive time grows because work isn’t reassigned to the depot that should actually do it; SLA hits depend on the planner spotting the constraint in time. The longer the operation runs without a cross-depot optimization step, the more drift accumulates.

How eLogii handles multi-depot routing

Multi-depot is a first-class input. Each depot has a location, opening hours, vehicle pool, skill mix, capacity and (where it matters) shift patterns. Engineers are associated with home depots but the optimizer can reassign work between depots when constraints allow. A single run produces one consistent plan.

  • Single optimization across depots. Both the Default engine (high-throughput daily planning) and the Advanced engine (constraint-heavy, long-horizon) take multi-depot as input. The output is one plan, not the sum of per-depot plans.
  • Routes that cross depots. A route can start at one depot, end at another, or pick up at a third (parts collection, vehicle changeover, hand-off to a colleague). Modeled directly, not bolted on.
  • Capacity balancing across depots. If one depot is over capacity for the day, the optimizer reassigns work to a depot with headroom – respecting skill, drive time and SLA constraints.
  • Multi-depot recurring patterns. Quarterly compliance, monthly PPM, weekly commercial maintenance running across depots is modeled as recurring inputs, not as schedule generation reconciled by hand.
  • Rule-based protection. The planner can protect specific assignments, lock customer-confirmed slots, exclude depots from a given run. Visible rules, not buried defaults.

How the integration sits with Joblogic

Joblogic stays in place as the system of record. The connector is custom-built against both products’ REST APIs; there is no published eLogii-Joblogic integration on either side.

  1. Read from Joblogic. eLogii reads jobs, customers, engineers, vehicles, depots, skill sets and capacity from Joblogic’s API surface.
  2. Optimize across depots in eLogii. A single run produces assignments and routes across all depots with skills, capacity, time windows, SLAs and recurring cadences honored.
  3. Write back to Joblogic. Routes and ETAs are written back to Joblogic, mapped to the right depot and engineer. Joblogic mobile picks up the assignments. Completion data flows back to Joblogic.
  4. Engineer experience unchanged. The engineer opens the Joblogic mobile app. The cross-depot decisions are already baked into the assignments.

Most teams complete the connector build in 3 to 5 weeks. Typical first wave: the regional book where cross-depot rebalancing is the dominant planning task, or a distribution arm running parallel to the field service business.

See multi-depot optimization on your real Joblogic jobs

30-minute custom simulation with your actual depots, engineers, vehicles and recurring programs. Projected savings in drive time, capacity utilization and SLA hit rate.

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Frequently asked questions

Does Joblogic support multi-depot routing?

Joblogic supports multi-depot operations at the workflow level: engineers can be associated with home depots, vehicles can be tied to specific depots, and the scheduler shows assigned work on the calendar. What Joblogic’s published docs do not describe is cross-depot optimization as a first-class input: a single optimization run that considers all depots together, rebalances jobs across depots under skill and capacity constraints, and produces assignments that may move jobs between depots when the math says they should move. That is the layer eLogii adds on top.

What does cross-depot optimization mean in practice?

Three concrete patterns. First, regional contractors with three or four depots: the optimizer needs to decide which depot a job goes to based on skill availability, drive time, current capacity and SLA, not just which depot is closest. Second, distribution arms with branch networks: routes start and end at different depots in the same plan, and consolidation across branches drops drive time materially. Third, hub-and-spoke programs where engineers can start from one depot, pick up parts at another, then continue to jobs. None of these are solvable as the sum of single-depot optimizations.

What is the workaround in Joblogic and where does it break?

The workaround is operator-driven: the planner assigns work to each depot based on rules of thumb, then Joblogic calculates routes within each depot. At small numbers of depots and stable work mix, this is fine. At more depots, fluctuating work mix, or interacting skills and SLAs, the planner has to hold the cross-depot picture in their head. Capacity at one depot stays underused while another runs hot. Drive time grows because work isn’t reassigned to the depot that should actually do it. The longer the operation runs, the more this drift accumulates.

How does eLogii handle multi-depot routing?

Multi-depot is a first-class input to the optimizer. Each depot has a location, opening hours, vehicle pool, skill mix and capacity. Engineers are associated with home depots but the optimizer can reassign work between depots when constraints allow. A single optimization run produces routes that may start at one depot, end at another, or pick up at a third. The output is one consistent plan, not the sum of per-depot plans. Both the Default engine and the Advanced engine handle multi-depot inputs.

How does the multi-depot integration with Joblogic work?

Custom integration against Joblogic’s API surface and eLogii’s REST API. eLogii reads jobs, customers, engineers, vehicles and depots from Joblogic. The optimization run treats all depots as a single problem. Routes and ETAs are written back to Joblogic, mapped to the appropriate depots and engineers; Joblogic mobile picks up the assignments unchanged. Completion data flows back to Joblogic for invoicing and BI. Typical connector build: 3 to 5 weeks.

Last updated: June 2026. Joblogic scope is taken verbatim from joblogic.com/features/ and joblogic.com/features/. eLogii capabilities documented at elogiiapidocs.apidog.io.

Custom simulation

Run the numbers on your own routes

A 30-minute working session with our solutions team. We take a sample of your real jobs, depots, vehicles and SLAs, run them through the eLogii engine, and show you the projected delta against how you plan today. No slides, no generic benchmarks.

What you’ll walk away with
  • Projected drive-time & mileage savingsModeled on a representative sample of your real routes
  • SLA & on-time impact estimateWhere the engine could take pressure off your planners today
  • Planner-hours & call-center load forecastHow much manual work eLogii would remove from your team
  • Implementation & integration shapeConcrete answer on what a 3–5 week rollout looks like, with or without keeping your FSM
30 minutes Your historical data No commitment