Shippers and logistics providers are confronting the challenge of acquiring the right data and using it to optimize the supply chain, says Nate Endicott, senior vice president of growth with Enveyo.

Shippers and third-party logistics providers today are confronted with the challenge of getting all their critical data to reside in one place, Endicott says. Unfortunately, many are still struggling with multiple functional siloes and IT applications, leading to a decentralization of data. In addition, they might be working with independent freight auditors, bringing another entity into the mix and further spreading the data around.

Making matters even more complicated is the unprecedented volume of data available to shippers and 3PLs today. “It’s one thing to collect the data,” Endicott says. “Then you’ve got to use it — integrate it and apply data quality.”

The first challenge, therefore, is to figure out how to collect the right data, separate it from the irrelevant “noise,” and trust it to serve as the basis for key decision-making. A solution, says Endicott, is to work with a data-management provider that can deploy a single platform for normalizing, cleansing and standardizing the data.

Companies today don’t have the time to wait for a return on investment from new and complex systems. “Internal organizations are spending millions,” Endicott says, “and it’s taking way too long.”

Instead, he says, companies should acknowledge that data management isn’t a core competency for the internal organization, and secure an outside expert. They simply can’t afford to spend two or three years trying to collect and aggregate their data. The process “shouldn’t take more than 60 to 90 days,” after which shippers will be in a position to determine the opportunities for optimization of their spend and transportation programs.