The Challenge:
Not every transportation need requires a full load. For those less-than-truckload (LTL) requests, it can be quite challenging to find a carrier in the right area, with the right about of space, and on the same schedule as the customers’ needs. Doing so has been a very manual process that requires phone calls or visits to each individual carrier’s website to find a match and fulfill the customer’s request.
BNSF Logistics relied on a third-party vendor to provide a more automated process, but wanted to simplify and automate this process so that it required less time and resources to fulfill an LTL order.
The Request:
Spinakr Solutions was brought on to determine the feasibility of automating this process with BNSF Logistics’ top 19 carriers, and architect a solution of what that automation might look like. The goal was to streamline the process to cut down on the amount of time it took to schedule and fulfill a customer’s request, and at the same time, free up human resources to work more efficiently.
The Approach:
Before we could jump into providing a solution, we first had to discover if our solution would work with their top carriers. We communicated with IT personnel from each carrier to know what solutions would be feasible.
Once a clear course was set, our crew proposed a solution design and got to work creating 57 individual API connections that would allow BNSF Logistics to connect to each carriers’ rating, tendering and tracking information.
Creating these API connections required a significant amount of testing and troubleshooting to ensure what we delivered functioned as expected.
The Result:
Creating 63 API connections that functioned effectively with various different systems was no small feat. It required a significant amount of testing and troubleshooting, which our team conducted to ensure the final product was delivered to the client’s expectation. In addition to creating the API connections that standardized the information formats, we also create a simple UI to manage the authentication information for each carrier API.
Our work also helped build confidence in our ability to consult, advice, and architect solutions that our client continues to leverage us for.
Spinakr Services Provided:
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