Working with the Spatial Analytics toolset in Alteryx is always a great way to spend a day.After overcoming a moderate learning curve the tools and their applications become second nature, and you can find yourself really getting into a groove. Unlike other forms of analytics, the mapped outputs of spatial analytics are also instantly visible and relate-able.Last year, while working on a data school project for a major merchant banking group, I was fortunate enough to tackle on one of the more interesting requests:
to re-draw the bank’s existing sales territories to ensure fair opportunity among their 9 sales representatives.
This provided a great use-case for leveraging the spatial analytics toolset. We needed to find a way to split the UK into geographical segments that evened up sales opportunity while maintaining manageable, navigable territories.The problem proved to be a real head-scratcher, and on several occasions myself and colleague Will Griffiths had to step away from the computer to work through the logic with pen and paper. It became apparent that no single ideal solution existed……however we eventually managed to crack the crux of the problem.I’ve previously blogged about the problem and the process here. Now I’ve distilled the process into a 5-minute video: