Data has been a hot topic across the logistics industry for the past several years. Historically, the majority of conversations have revolved around capturing data. In today’s world, however, companies need to move beyond simply collecting information and begin leveraging it to make better business decisions.
Leveraging data hinges on understanding data. That is where third-party partners like Körber Supply Chain can make all the difference.
“When a company receives data from multiple carriers in different ways, getting it all aggregated into one spot is the starting point,” Brett Hamrick, director of Business Intelligence and Analytics at Körber Supply Chain, said. “From there, that data needs to be normalized and turned into a language that makes sense to the organization. The final hurdle is democratizing the data for the end user.”
Until data is democratized, it is unusable for the vast majority of individuals – including decision-makers – at any given organization. Hamrick compared having unusable data to having a Lamborghini sitting in a garage, with no key to turn it on.
At Körber, the company’s goal is to ensure that each customer’s data is presented to their users in such a way that it is both easy to understand and adaptable to their organization’s needs.
When data becomes actionable in this way, it can be used to drive business intelligence initiatives across an organization.
“Building business intelligence starts by understanding your data and turning it into actionable insights,” according to a recent Körber white paper. “By taking a proactive approach and setting clear goals you can drive down transportation costs and improve operational efficiencies.”
Körber’s white paper highlighted a handful of areas where transportation data and business intelligence can come together to create efficiencies.
• Carrier performance tracking
• Accounting and financial reporting
• Accrual reporting
• Open/unpaid invoice reporting
• Payment cycle time reporting
• Track audit provider performance
• Carbon emissions and sustainability reporting
When companies capture these kinds of efficiencies, they can skyrocket their profitability and customer service acumen. Körber sets itself apart from the crowd by making this level of data-informed decision making accessible to business leaders with no formal data analytics training.
“The unique element of Körber is our democratized approach to data. We do not offer a platform that requires keyholders to understand data on a highly technical level,” Hamrick said. “By making actionable data, like KPIs, as easily accessible as possible, we offer complete flexibility while eliminating intimidation”
Korber continues the conversation on February 27th as it hosts Optimize freight spend with advanced analytics from a transportation business intelligence (BI) tool webinar with FreightWaves. Click below to register.
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