Convert any data and fix every address
By Nathan ColeUpdated
The assistant reads a supplier file, a PDF, an email, or a screenshot and writes Routing24 orders from it. It also repairs the addresses the geocoder could not place. This page covers the conversion prompt, saving a mapping for the next file, the direct path that skips the file, and address repair.
The file import, the saved mappings, and the reviewed address repair below belong to the assistant in the app: each one takes a file you attach to the pane. A connected assistant reads a file already stored on your computer or in your mail, writes the orders through the plan-data tools, and searches the web for an address the geocoder could not place. It gets no review step.
Turn any format into Routing24 orders
Attach the file and state what each field means. The assistant writes the orders into the plan, or produces a workbook the importer accepts.
A daily WMS export whose columns do not match the template:
DOC_NO;CONSIGNEE;ADDR1;ADDR2;PCS;WGT_KG;WINDOW;NOTE
88431;Cafe Mirabel;12 rue des Lilas;75011 Paris;4;38;08-12;ring bell
88432;Bistro Nord;;Paris 18e, 4 av. de Saint-Ouen;2;11;;back door
Ask for the conversion:
Here is today's WMS export. Convert it into Routing24 orders: DOC_NO is the
order id, CONSIGNEE plus ADDR1 and ADDR2 make the address, WGT_KG is the load
in kg, WINDOW is a delivery time window in hours (08-12 means 8:00 to 12:00),
and NOTE goes to the driver note. Every order needs 10 minutes of service
time. Rows with an empty WINDOW have no time window at all. List any row you
had to guess about.
State two things explicitly in the prompt:
- Where the column names come from. Point the assistant at the spreadsheet column reference or at More > Download template, so it writes headers the importer accepts rather than headers from the model's memory.
- Ask for the guesses. "List any row you had to guess about" returns a
short review list instead of a silent transformation. In the file above,
88432has noADDR1and no window.
The same conversion works from a PDF manifest, a pasted email, a screenshot of an order list, or a Google Sheet. The result is imported by the same importer described in Import from Excel or CSV.
Save the mapping for next week
A supplier export keeps the same layout from week to week. Ask the assistant to save the converter it wrote:
Save that mapping as "Bruxelles WMS daily".
Next week's file then takes one line:
Run the Bruxelles WMS daily mapping on this file.
Saved mappings belong to your account, not to the plan. The assistant lists them on request.
Skip the file entirely
The assistant also takes the orders from the message itself, with no file and no import dialog:
Take the 34 deliveries from this email thread, use our depot at
14 Chaussee de Mons, Brussels, plan them on 3 vans with a 20 pallet
capacity each, 8:00 to 17:00, and show me the routes.
The assistant creates a new plan, geocodes everything, optimizes, and draws the routes on the map in your tab. See Describe constraints in plain language for the rules you can state this way.
Repair the addresses the geocoder could not place
Routing24 geocodes every address as it enters the plan. An address that resolves to nothing blocks the optimization, and an address that resolves far from the rest of the plan is usually a wrong match. The assistant reports the counts and offers to repair them.
Accept the offer, or ask for the pass directly:
Fix the addresses that did not resolve.
Some stops landed far outside the delivery area. Check those.
The assistant cleans the address text, tries the geocoder again on the
candidates it derives, and presents the result as a review: the original
address, what it resolved to, and the row it belongs to. Nothing is written
until you confirm. A repaired order or depot is renamed with a * suffix,
and its address text is replaced by the cleaned form, so the repaired rows
stay visible in the list afterward.
An address the geocoder cannot place from its text alone needs a source outside Routing24. A connected assistant can access one:
Geocode all the stops first. For anything that fails, or that resolves to a
different city or a house number that does not exist, search the web and
Google Maps™ for the business name plus the postcode, tell me the address you
think is right and why, and only then use it.
What that catches:
| What is wrong in your file | What the assistant does |
|---|---|
Bistro Nord, Paris 18e with no street number | Finds the business and proposes 4 avenue de Saint-Ouen, 75018 Paris |
A misspelled street (Chausee de Mons) | Matches the real street and shows you the corrected spelling |
| A postcode that belongs to another town | Flags the conflict instead of silently trusting one of the two |
| An address that resolves to a field 8 km out | Reports the suspicious match so you can check it on the map |
The assistant writes the corrected address and Routing24 geocodes it. The tools have no latitude and longitude fields, so every location in the plan comes from the geocoder. On a small batch, Routing24 returns the address the geocoder matched, and the assistant states that text back to you before it continues. A site with no usable address at all takes coordinates you place on the map yourself. See Fix unrecognized or mislocated addresses.
Cross-check a whole file before you plan
Address repair runs as its own pass, before any optimization:
Geocode every address in this file but do not optimize. Give me a table with
three groups: matched cleanly, matched but suspicious, and not found. For the
suspicious ones say what looks wrong.
The result is a review list. Correct the file at the source before you build a plan on it.
Next step
Describe constraints in plain language covers stating operating rules as optimizer constraints. Query, edit, and export a plan with AI covers everything after the optimizer finishes.
FAQ
Can the assistant import a file the importer does not accept?
Yes. Attach the file and state what each field means. The assistant reads a supplier file, a PDF, a pasted email, or a screenshot, and writes Routing24 orders from it, or produces a workbook the importer accepts. Ask it to list any row it had to guess about.
Do I have to describe the file layout again next week?
No. A supplier export keeps the same layout from week to week, so ask the assistant to save the converter it wrote, for example as Bruxelles WMS daily. Next week's file then takes one line: run that mapping on this file. Saved mappings belong to your account, not to the plan.
How does the assistant fix addresses the geocoder could not place?
The assistant cleans the address text, tries the geocoder again on the candidates it derives, and presents the result as a review with the original address, what it resolved to, and the row it belongs to. Nothing is written until you confirm. A repaired row is renamed with a star suffix.
Can the assistant check addresses before I build a plan?
Yes. Ask it to geocode every address in the file without optimizing and return three groups: matched cleanly, matched but suspicious, and not found, with a note on what looks wrong in the suspicious ones. The result is a review list, so the file is corrected at the source first.