Ascend Transportation reduces manual data wrangling by 700% as they become a data-driven organization

In the journey of Ascend Transportation’s data-driven transformation, a strategic decision to reinforce a robust data culture and infrastructure became evident with the introduction of key hires. The goal was clear: establish a foundation that would facilitate self-service analytics, provide consistent responses to known queries, and create a seamless data pipeline to accommodate future acquisition data and operational systems. However, this structure was merely a vision on the horizon, not yet a reality.

Adding to the complexity, Ascend Transportation brought on board a lone data scientist tasked with crafting fundamental Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) related to metrics like rate per mile and identifying seated and unseated trucks. Unfortunately, this talented individual found themselves ensnared in a cycle of writing and rewriting logic, leaving decision-makers, including the COO and CFO, waiting longer than desired for basic insights. The appetite for data was growing, even if it meant receiving information in cumbersome Excel spreadsheets.

In the transportation industry, there’s a plethora of specialized software systems tailored for load management, warehousing, and acting as the Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) system for organizations. Following several acquisitions, a unified view of all company data emerged as a critical need to efficiently steer operations. Connecting these disparate systems and consolidating them into a single, reliable source of truth became paramount for initiating forecasting and other essential operational analyses.

Lastly, a prevalent practice within the organization involved manual data wrangling. Despite serving as the basis for daily reports, this process relied heavily on one individual waking up at 4 am every morning to compile various spreadsheets and system outputs into a comprehensive report distributed via email by 8 am. This represented a staggering four hours each day, five days a week—an invaluable resource’s time that could have been redirected toward higher-value initiatives harnessing their expertise and domain knowledge.