QA leadership for this organization wanted to eliminate a potential breach of sensitive customer information, such as social security and credit card account numbers, during their testing process. For this reason, they decided to evaluate the use of synthetic test data. They needed test data in a variety of formats for testing multiple systems and databases, including ASCII, EBCDIC, Parquet, JSON, and AVRO. The database environments include DB2, Oracle, SQL Server, Postgres, MySQL and Snowflake.\n\nPreviously, the QA team pulled data from production and manually scrubbed it to remove sensitive information and to create appropriate data combinations for testing. Now their goal is to automate the process of provisioning secure, synthetic test data with full control over data volume and variation with an ability to output the data in the multiple file formats described above. The QA team was introduced to GenRocket by one of the company’s system integration partners and decided to evaluate GenRocket’s Test Data Automation capabilities as part of a formal Proof of Concept (POC).

To provision its test data, the QA team would mine data from the production database based on the results of functional testing to access merchant and authorization data and then manually add personal data (e.g., usernames and addresses) to avoid the possibility of exposing private information. The test data was then populated in an excel spreadsheet to be used by the automation framework for inputs and validation assertions. Using this process, data preparation was taking approximately 6 hours and was repeated every 2 weeks. The QA team was looking to replace this inefficient process with a fully automated solution for provisioning the test data required by their test automation framework.

In the telecom industry, data is everything. To keep customers happy and onboard, companies need to stay on top of trends and determine the next best actions accurately. Analytics, just like AI, can only be as good as the data that is used for extracting insights. However, as much as 80-85% of customer data is locked away due to lack of customer consent, keeping a large portion of customer behavior in the dark. To complicate matters further, this consent can be withdrawn at any time, and systems need to be able to accommodate such changes. Consequently, analytics projects often fail to even take off for lack of compliance.

Home insurance pricing was a risky business for our client. The insurance company catered to homes across the United States in areas with vastly different climate features and risk profiles. CCPA and HIPPA forbade the data science team to use the customers’ personal data, such as their addresses, in their modeling, so they could not assess risk and reflect that in their pricing.

A Fortune 100 bank needs to evaluate 1,000+ vendors and start-ups annually. In 80% of these evaluations, the process involves handing over sensitive datasets to external organizations. This step takes 3.5 months per PoC since the data needs to be manually selected, sanitized, anonymized, and individually approved in each specific case. Due to this labor-intensive procedure $25,000 of internal costs are generated per PoC, resulting in $25 million of annual costs for external data sharing.

A large telecommunications company wanted to find new ways to reduce employee turnover and improve talent retention. Over 90,000 people’s sensitive data needed to be collected and analyzed to identify patterns in employee churn. However, legal regulations locked up the data, and manual anonymization of datasets for each analytics project took 6 weeks on average.

One of the largest retail banks in Europe developed a mobile banking app that aims to be a true alternative to in-person banking. To provide a high-quality user experience, extensive testing of the app with clients’ transaction data was crucial. However, the bank’s IT department had to heavily mask transaction data due to privacy policies, and the resulting test data failed to provide realism in transaction amounts, dates, and so on. Dummy data could never match the smart synthetic dataset’s granularity and realism, failing to provide the complexity necessary for testing a product so important to work flawlessly. Imagine you could create realistic customers at the push of a button!

Preparing and sharing data sets with partner organisations has long been an operational hurdle for large multinational insurers. A staggering amount of manpower is required to make it happen, with hundreds of scientists spending months on just a handful of data sets. In this way, compounding the expense and delay of data processing in an already unwieldy compliance process. Key challenges include costly man-hour requirements, with an average of 5 to 7 people required to assist with data sharing and provisioning. Additionally, there is no consolidated environment for test and training data, leading to up to 48 hours spent on refreshing test datasets shared with a partner organisation. Limited data available for tests negatively impacts model accuracy and performance. Furthermore, the long and cumbersome compliance process takes between 2 and 4 months to go through compliance approvals and data sharing agreements (DSA).

Keystone Foods faced challenges with decentralized transportation management, leading to high costs and lack of visibility. The company used both asset-based carriers and brokers, managing freight across multiple facilities without a centralized system. This decentralized approach resulted in inefficiencies, missed opportunities for backhauls, and difficulties in decision-making regarding carrier selection. Keystone Foods needed a solution that would provide real-time transportation information, enable collaboration with the freight network, and centralize data on a common platform.

As a rapidly expanding company, Republic Plastics was quickly outgrowing its spreadsheet and fax-based transportation tracking. In addition to expanding business challenges, Republic Plastics was seeing a shift in freight transportation to a more regionalized approach. The company traditionally shipped freight in long distances of about 1,500 miles until retailers began opening more regional distribution centers, allowing product into the stores more quickly. The average shipping distance decreased to 500 miles, which adds time and complexity to the transportation planning process. Republic Plastics wanted a transportation management system that could reduce time devoted to logistics planning and decrease transportation costs while the company continues to grow and evolve. The company values all employees and wanted the right technology to increase the efficiencies of the transportation team. Republic Plastics created a list of goals for a transportation management system: eliminate high start-up costs with SaaS platform, provide full management of transportation functions, maximize efficiency of staff and improve customer service, and lower freight spend.

A complex company like Rich’s needs centralized control, scalability, and visibility into processes to better manage and measure transportation execution. Some network locations are involved in the daily transportation planning and execution, while other locations are managed by third-party companies leading to significant process and procedure inconsistencies. Furthermore, while carrier usage within lanes is defined periodically through corporate routing guides, the usage isn’t controlled or measured. Additionally, procurement (contracts and carrier negotiation) is performed by corporate management and a third-party company handles freight payment. One of the company’s requirements is to retain strategic control of carrier relationships. Rich’s knew that carriers prefer a direct relationship to the shipper (not mediated by a broker or a third party). In an effort to gain greater control and reduce costs, Rich’s desires to outsource the daily management of transportation and standardize processes. Rich’s defined a list of business imperatives for transportation management: Implemented a single source for transportation management and a single-platform database, Became a leader in carrier-friendly business practices, Monitored and reduced distribution cost and performance-to-plan.

Quorn’s on-premise EDI solution lacked the agility to scale with the company’s future project plans. The company wanted to outsource the management of EDI integration to decrease the number of support calls reported to their IT department. Quorn was also looking for a solution that could be implemented fast. They wanted their customers onboarded in the shortest timeframe possible to avoid any disruption to their day-to-day business processes. Along with speed and expertise, company leaders also wanted greater visibility into EDI messaging to ensure orders were arriving on time.

Ferrara Candy Company faced a significant challenge when it needed to manage a projected 70 percent volume growth within 24 months due to an acquisition, while simultaneously dealing with a 50 percent reduction in its transportation department staff. The company had already implemented BluJay’s Transportation Management System (TMS) and Procurement Tool to streamline its transportation processes, but the sudden increase in volume and decrease in staff created a critical need for a more efficient and scalable solution. The transportation team, which had dwindled to just four people, was under immense pressure to meet the logistics demands of the growing business. Ferrara needed to find a way to manage this growth without compromising on efficiency or customer satisfaction.

Colony Brands, the first mail-order cheese business in the U.S., faced a significant challenge in managing its shipping operations, especially during its peak season. The company, which now includes 10 brands and offers both food and non-food catalogs, needed a solution to handle over 1,500,000 shipments in an eight-week period. This peak period accounts for approximately 80% of its annual shipping volume. The challenge was to manage throughput, ensure carrier compliance, and customize labeling to streamline the shipping process during this critical time.

ARYZTA, a global foodservice and retail company with 57 bakeries in 29 countries, faced significant challenges in managing its transportation logistics. The company was using BluJay’s Transportation Management System (TMS) primarily for tendering freight but was not fully leveraging the data and functionality it provided. With the combination of new business significantly increasing volume and severe winter weather impacting the transport industry, ARYZTA needed a more robust solution to manage its logistics operations effectively. The fragmented nature of their business and the need for better data utilization and functionality prompted ARYZTA to seek a more comprehensive solution.

Unprecedented market transport conditions led to higher spot market utilization and ultimately higher transportation spend. IFCO needed analysis and solutions to reduce spend, improve primary carrier tender acceptance, decrease use of spot market, increase intermodal conversions, and shorten order lead times.

Lightweight Containers, Inc. faced challenges in managing their supply chain across North America due to working with multiple logistics providers. This resulted in a fragmented view of their supply chain and required additional work to ensure orders were processed and inventory levels were satisfactory. The company needed a more streamlined and efficient logistics solution to maintain their commitment to quality service and optimize their supply chain operations.

Harvest Time Int’l’s goal to increase donations and serve more people could not be accomplished without an expanded distribution program. The organization needed to optimize donations by contracting with individual transportation providers and geographically favorable warehouse space, which was often time-consuming and expensive. Load flexibility was also crucial, as donors had varying quantities of products to donate. To satisfy donors’ demands for load flexibility and quick response times, Harvest Time Int’l needed a strategy for collecting LTLs within hours of being notified, requiring cost-efficient warehousing and transportation.

Rapid growth added supply chain complexities, costs, and administrative work for online retailer. Blue Ridge Product Solutions works with several factories in China to design and manufacture its products. Originally, each vendor arranged the transportation for the products at their facility. As Blue Ridge Product Solutions’ business grew, so did the complexity of their supply chain. Like many fast-growing organizations, Blue Ridge Product Solutions required new, scalable supply chain processes to keep pace with its continued success. Blue Ridge Product Solutions worked with different brokers, forwarders, and drayage companies for each of their manufacturing vendors. Within a few years, their volume increased approximately 400%. This growth made it nearly impossible for existing staff to maintain clear visibility to all shipments statuses—especially when vendors in China made their own shipping arrangements. As processes became more inconsistent, supply chain costs rose and transit times became more unpredictable. Additionally, the company changed warehouses to accommodate their increased volume—a move that came with standardized workflows and required an updated supply chain strategy. The team at Blue Ridge Product Solutions saw that if unaddressed, their ongoing supply chain inefficiencies could hamper company growth. To combat this risk, James Addison, president of Blue Ridge Product Solutions, set out to find a global third party logistics provider (3PL). One that could add efficiency and effortlessly meet their many shipping needs.

Armstrong World Industries, Inc. faced the challenge of ensuring compliance with new customs legislation that placed the burden of compliance on importers rather than brokers. As a top 5000 U.S. importer, Armstrong needed to avoid fines, penalties, criminal complaints, and the loss of import licenses. The company sought a new provider to perform a customs compliance audit to identify areas for improvement and ensure adherence to regulations. Armstrong chose C.H. Robinson, which had already provided domestic and global freight services to the company for five years. C.H. Robinson's expertise in customs compliance was seen as a key differentiator, and Armstrong believed the company could help strengthen their compliance program.

In 2011, Associated Grocers wanted to strengthen compliance with the recently signed Food Safety Modernization Act.

After the acquisition of several businesses, Energizer Holdings experienced swift growth across the globe. As the company expanded, it was common for individual products to have a unique ordering and transportation process when shipping from Asia to the United States. As new companies and their procedures were integrated, two primary processes evolved — one for household goods and another for personal care products. Historically, shipments of Energizer household products from China were sent to one warehouse in Memphis, TN. From there, orders were broken down and shipped via full truckload to distribution centers (DCs) throughout the United States. Personal care products were ordered from vendors in Southern China. Depending on the order size, single SKU loads were shipped in full 40’ containers, less than container loads (LCL), or 20’ containers. Once in the United States, products were transported to one of four DCs to be combined with other items for transportation to retailers around the country. The separate transportation arrangements of household and personal care items resulted in missed opportunities to optimize freight. There were frequent situations where multiple 20’ containers or LCL shipments were in transit at the same time. These types of circumstances resulted in additional costs, obscured total landed costs, diminished efficiency of container utilization, and unnecessarily long transit times. According to Josh Wright, senior manager of international warehousing and transportation at Energizer Holdings, “We needed a more holistic transportation strategy. Our company had expanded and with that expansion came opportunities to move goods more efficiently.” Energizer Holdings recognized the growth of the company as an opportunity to improve their global supply chain.

Generac experienced a period of rapid growth post-IPO, acquiring companies around the world. They needed to revamp their global supply chain and integrate operations as rapidly as possible. When Alan Rowlett Jr. joined Generac as director of logistics in early 2016, the company had selected SAP to be its new Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) system. Connecting the newly acquired companies to SAP was underway, but current transportation management system (TMS) functionality needed a boost to support the company’s growing logistical demand. Generac had a goal of better understanding their overall transportation spend across a multitude of transportation providers and identifying potential efficiencies.

Jel Sert sought reliable transportation service and consistent freight costs and service levels for its seasonal, high-volume shipments. The company faced challenges with a diversified group of core transportation providers, leading to accountability issues and inconsistent freight rates and service levels. Jel Sert needed more consistent pricing, reliable transportation, improved customer service, increased shipping options, and dependable on-time delivery performance.

Meyers aimed to alleviate labor-intensive processes while reducing costs across the board and maintaining a high level of quality. The company was looking for transportation efficiencies and cost savings when they became a C.H. Robinson customer in 2009. Meyers needed to ensure that their high-value items arrived at their destinations without damage, maintaining the quality that countless consumers see around North America. Efficient transportation was crucial, but quality was equally important. Meyers also valued strong customer service and a collaborative relationship with their logistics provider to drive strategic solutions and continuous improvements.

SolidSurface.com faced high claims rates when moving their solid surface countertops across the country. As a new organization, the requirements of shipping freight were unfamiliar territory. Ensuring the safe arrival of countertops that are 12 feet long and weigh 150 pounds each takes a lot of know-how. In the beginning, SolidSurface.com experienced damage on nearly 8% of their shipments. Reoccurring damage linked to a specific carrier was also a significant issue.

With a global footprint and production system extending from Japan to China and Vietnam to Texas, the Motor Business Unit (MBU) of Toshiba International Corporation’s (Toshiba’s) Industrial Division depends on flawless logistics processes. In 2010, Toshiba moved some manufacturing for premium industrial motors from Houston to a factory strategically located near Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam’s international port. With plans for the new Vietnam plant to ship up to 1.2 million motors a year to the global market, Toshiba needed a highly efficient, collaborative supply chain relationship to support their aggressive growth goals and maintain service and quality standards.\n\nToshiba’s MBU in Houston searched for a solution to resolve cost and service failures with the incumbent logistics provider. With limited tracking and traceability, poorly defined and followed standard operating procedures (SOPs), a narrow focus on inbound transportation, and no visibility to freight costs, leadership felt the lack of internal supply chain expertise hindered their ability to grow. They needed creative solutions.

When the consolidation of retail and foodservice companies escalated in 2005, the process for transporting fresh produce changed significantly. Shippers were required to provide transportation services due to the shift from customary FOB terms to delivered pricing. This change increased the involvement of shippers in transportation and logistics. Additionally, retailers began requesting year-round availability of produce and local sourcing to reduce food transport miles and increase product vitality. Small and medium-sized shippers struggled to negotiate competitively priced refrigerated services consistently, especially those with less than truckload (LTL) volumes. These challenges were exacerbated during peak shipping periods, such as holidays, when even large shippers faced difficulties in finding transportation capacity.

Shoreline Metro's paratransit division, Metro Connection, had been running archaic transit software from RouteMatch that created internal barriers and cumbersome processes. The software made it nearly impossible to update or change these processes due to its lack of flexibility. Metro Connection realized that its existing transit software was hindering its growth and expansion opportunities. At that point, the agency became compelled to seek out an alternative software solution that better scaled and supported its goals.

TransNet was utilizing an 11-year-old version of their previous software, which had been operating without any maintenance for the majority of that time frame. As upgrades were happening, functionality and reliability steadily declined. Additionally, all of TransNet’s processes were manual due to the lack of automation capabilities in their previous software.