Modern Data Platform Gives Operational Insights & Saves Millions

Overview

There are a lot of moving parts in the transportation industry (pun intended). In all seriousness, there are many things that can go wrong, and those mistakes can become very costly. U.S. companies spent a whopping $1.5 trillion in 2017 on transportation costs. With such a massive market, there is much to gain or lose. Success in the transportation industry is highly dependent on tailored solutions that leverage maximum efficiency, and that requires accurate, easily accessible data.

As one of the world’s largest public and private transportation providers, more than 60,000 vehicles comprise this company’s North American fleet. Each of those buses are equipped with a GPS-like system that continuously generates and captures not only location data, but also voluminous amounts other information including fuel consumption, speed and engine temperature.

The Challenge

Encumbered with poor data retrieval capabilities and slow turnaround time due to a third-party data storage vendor, one of the largest transportation providers in North America enlisted our help to migrate its on-premises data warehouse to an Azure environment. The client’s third-party data storage outlet ran on an archaic system, which often created more questions than answers, and was quite expensive in terms of storage cost.

While the data was there, the transportation provider’s ability to access it was ‘less than satisfactory’. Analysts had to request detailed information from a third party, specifying the data needed per vehicle! The turnaround took weeks, and when analysts did receive the information, they often found it led to more questions, requiring a repeat of the entire process. To top it off, much of the third party’s information had to be discarded because our client did not have an economical way to store it.

The challenges were clear: historical data was inaccessible, preventing the company from analyzing trends and accordingly modifying their operations. Additionally, their previous platform lacked visual reporting capabilities, which facilitate analysis. This transportation titan needed a viable platform for storing data; one that would allow for easy archival and access. With the help of BlueGranite, the solutions were imminent. Modern reporting gave insight to the issue, helped the corporation institute consistency and allowed it to realize a multimillion-dollar annual payroll cost savings.

The Solution

Our state-of-the-art Azure-based solution helped to streamline the company’s data collection and retrieval procedures, fostering actionable insights. By partnering with BlueGranite, this transportation giant was able to:

Generate millions in savings annually

Efficiently forecast safety hazards

Eliminate the need for hiring extra personnel

After consulting with its stakeholders, BlueGranite transferred the company’s system to Microsoft’s Azure data platform. Azure boasts impressive processing capabilities with maximum efficiency. Azure gave the organization ownership over its data for the first time, giving it almost immediate data access and saving the company hundreds of thousands of dollars annually in storage fees.
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The Results

Implementing Azure allowed the company to analyze its compilation of data and extrapolate valuable information. The new insights have helped to predict vehicle maintenance, optimize driver routes, and forecast any challenges the company may face.

Perhaps the biggest benefit from the new system is streamlined driver scheduling. Prior to intelligence upgrades, certain locations paid drivers based on scheduled drive time, rather than actual hours worked. Modern reporting gave insight to the issue, helped the corporation institute consistency and allowed it to realize a multimillion-dollar annual payroll cost savings.

The reinvention of the company’s data management system has led to a complete overhaul; the previous system was costly, inefficient, and ineffective. With BlueGranite’s partnership and technology, the transportation provider now has a viable system for analysis which translates into actionable data. Queries that previously required weeks to resolve are now being completed within hours. The new efficiency has been capitalized, saving the company millions in annual man hours and data storage fees. The insight gained has also facilitated forecasting of any issues in the foreseeable future, further adding to the savings.

Are you having trouble accessing data to make informed decisions, while spending more than you think you should in order to store your data? Contact us today! Our experts are ready to assist you and determine how we can help you streamline your operations, gain valuable insight, and translate that information into a larger bottom line.