*This article brought to you in partnership with DAT Freight & Analytics*
In a feat we would’ve surely considered inconceivable not long ago, data is mined from huge swaths of consumer goods – thermostats, electric bikes, phones, speakers, software services for music and podcast streaming, social media, where you got dinner reservations last week – the whole nine yards. Why? The simple reason is that more information is the foundation of better decisions. The more information a product gathers, the better it can serve its purpose.
But all of that data is just that – data. On its own, data is just a set of numbers. It’s not worth anything until you begin to sort, organize, and analyze it. To do that, you need the right tools.
At first, it was only huge, multi-national shippers armed with robust data analysis tools. Now, that power is attainable to any transportation manager. All you need is the willingness to adopt new methods and technologies.
To say it plainly: Smart shippers need actionable insights from unbiased, quality data to succeed. Status quo won’t do the trick anymore.
We see this especially with food and beverage shippers requiring tight schedules for time-sensitive cargo. Late delivery? Now it can’t be sold. The goods are bad and customer relationships are compromised. When the margin of error is small, it’s more expensive to get it wrong than it is to pay upfront for data and analytics tools.
Data, transparency, and informed decision-making – these are the new bread and butter of successful shipping operations.
Let’s break it down. How does data help modern shippers excel?
Tactical analysis
Comprehensive, unbiased data sources paired with powerful analytics capabilities reveal the hidden worlds of your logistics operation. That data becomes wind in your sail as you explore deep, deep analysis of underperforming carriers and lanes. Conversely, you can drill down on successful carriers and lanes to understand that success and carry it over to underperformers.
Smart shippers also use data to:
- Monitor real-time market and capacity conditions to quickly adapt to demand shifts
- Uncover opportunities to address under-performing lanes or carriers
- Benchmark their performance against other shippers to understand how their performance stacks up
Executive insights
Pressure on logistics costs means transportation professionals have a serious boardroom and C-suite sway. Executives are keen to shave costs and are looking to you to make it happen. That means you’re squarely in their spotlight and have their attention. Data can equip you to leverage that visibility wisely to confidently give reliable insights that get everyone on the same page.
High-level reporting provides a pulse on performance and helps you explain the nuances of the freight market and current trends. In the C-suite, you can prove the impact of your strategy and help get executive buy-in on decisions or investments. It never hurts to be on their good side.
Visibility into both past and real-time data is invaluable for contextualizing performance–but it doesn't stop there. Advanced data solutions can also offer a glimpse into the future. Let's talk about forecasting.
The power of forecasting
Why wouldn’t you love to build accurate budgets? Forecast data helps create accurate budgets and informs how transportation managers fine-tune their strategies. The magic of forecasting, though – and this will certainly help you convince your managers you need it – happens when it's leveraged cross-functionally. A common source of truth drives stronger alignment, and different teams can use the data to do their jobs better. Sales teams can better plan supply to meet demand, finance teams can build the appropriate flexibility into budgets to meet future needs, and much more. Everyone wins with a little bit of information about the future.
Think about all the things that affect the supply chain: severe weather, fluctuating economic conditions, geopolitical conflicts, etc. Predicting market conditions coming down the line is a tall order. Forecasting lends a hand here and mitigates the impact of those events.
Within the DAT suite of tools, Ratecast is a shipper’s best friend. It displays future rate predictions based on data from thousands of brokers and shippers. That competitive intelligence shows you how fair and competitive your rates are, lock-in internal pricing strategies, bid confidently, build strong routing guides, and sail through RFP processes. Ratecast uses machine learning to account for short-term market effects, seasonal considerations, and long-term trends, cobbles all that together, and sports a 95% prediction accuracy for a given lane’s future market rate.
Market data and business intelligence can transform your shipping operation from one that’s built on spreadsheets, good intentions, best guesses, and a few hunches, to one that’s built on dashboards, data-backed decisions, competitive insight, and precision.
Why wait? Get started with benchmarking by downloading our free guide, Benchmarking 101.
