Don’t Let Your Data Just Sit There. Apply AI and Analytics to Put It to Work.

Have you noticed that big data just keeps getting bigger? Digitalizing the supply chain has provided companies with enormous volumes of data from across every function and every network mode, as well as every trading partner. In addition, businesses are increasingly collecting third-party data — including news, weather, and social media highlights — that directly impacts the end-to-end supply chain.   

There’s no doubt that all this data represents incredible value. By applying analytics and data science to all this internal and external information, logistics teams can optimize routes, consolidate loads, prioritize orders, navigate disruptions, and otherwise keep the supply chain on track to achieve critical cost and service goals. 

While big data represents an opportunity, it also represents a challenge. Companies simply don’t know how to gather it, centralize it, access it, share it, and apply it to their most important decisions. They also don’t know how to secure sensitive data and clean up any errors it might contain. Unsure if they can trust their information — and equally unsure how to manage it — most companies leverage only a small percentage of the data that’s available to them. In today’s digital world, that means they’re seriously shortchanging their supply chain results.  

That’s where Redwood Logistics can help. 

Spanning Physical and Digital: The Value of a 4PL Approach 

Depending on your specific relationship with Redwood, you might think of us as a freight broker, managed transportation provider, or cross-border specialist. But, as a modern, full-service 4PL, Redwood is so much more than that. While third-party logistics providers, or 3PLs, are good at managing the physical supply chain, 4PLs add another dimension. They also manage the digital supply chain, bringing technology expertise and advanced software to bear on every supply chain challenge. 

Redwood’s hands-on, execution experience and its mastery of supply chain digitalization position your business for industry leadership. By seamlessly blending the right physical supply chain infrastructure with best-in-class digital solutions, Redwood creates an open, connected, and collaborative supply chain ecosystem for every customer.  

Where does big data come in? It’s simple. By centralizing, cleaning, and sharing data across your supply chain — making it simultaneously accessible and secure — you can ensure that all the systems and assets in your supply chain are aligned around a single version of the truth. They share the same insights and objectives.   

Imagine the power of being able to trust your data — and share it across all functions, business units, facilities, carriers and other suppliers, and customers. Imagine being able to seamlessly integrate data from companies acquired by mergers and acquisitions as well. The result is a well-orchestrated data pipeline that delivers real-time, end-to-end visibility across the entire value chain.  

Your planners can leverage this data to identify potential disruptions at any supply chain node, then apply leading-edge artificial intelligence (AI), machine learning (ML), and predictive analytics to resolve them. Planners can run strategic scenarios that predict the likely outcomes of any resolution plan for every performance metric. Informed by data, you’ll never again blindly sacrifice profits for a rushed, on-the-fly resolution. You’ll know the results before putting the plan into action.  

Redwood Delivers the Specialized Expertise You Need  

It’s not easy to build an advanced technology infrastructure, integrate multiple internal systems like warehouse and transportation management, connect to external partners, then— on top of all that — ensure the digital supply chain has access to accurate, real-time, clean data. While you might think of Redwood as an execution partner, that’s the real value we deliver for customer teams every day as an advanced technology partner. 

Why should you choose Redwood as your technology and data partner? Because you simply can’t afford to invest in all the specialized IT and digital expertise that’s required. Outsourcing supply chain digitalization means you can not only minimize new investments, but also elevate your IT staff’s role to decision making and issues prioritization. But you can’t trust a software provider, or their implementation partner, to bring an unbiased perspective. Technology consultants? They don’t get the unique processes, workflows, challenges, and risks of logistics. 

Redwood lives and breathes supply chain every day. We also live and breathe advanced technology every day. That makes Redwood the ideal partner for supply chain digitalization, systems integration, and maximizing the value of your big, and growing, data volumes. Redwood has aggressively invested in building all the resources you need to maximize the performance and return on investment for your digital supply chain.  

We have industry-leading expertise in logistics software, data management, transactional systems, cybersecurity, and other relevant disciplines. And we’ve also developed proprietary solutions like RedwoodConnect — our integration platform that brings all your systems, solutions, data, and partners together in a tightly integrated, secure environment.  

RedwoodConnect has prebuilt firewalls that enable shippers to control what data they share, and with whom. Because we respect the sensitivity and critical importance of data sharing, Redwood puts customers squarely in the driver’s seat when it comes to data management, control, and cybersecurity. Backed by hundreds of successful customer implementations, we know the industry’s best data security practices and protocols, and we’ll apply them to transform your digital supply chain quickly and seamlessly — but also safely.  

If you’re using Redwood as a physical logistics partner, you already trust us with your precious inventory and your even more valuable customer relationships. You can also trust us to build a connected physical and digital infrastructure that maximizes you investments in both areas — and leverages your volumes of data to solve real-world issues, every single day.  

You Have All the Strategic Insights You Need. Now Use Them. 

When we talk to customers, we typically hear two things: They feel overwhelmed with data. And they want to capitalize on AI, ML, and other advancements — but they don’t know where to start. These two concerns are closely related, because AI depends on real-time, accurate data to autonomously make the best decisions. Another thing these concerns have in common? Redwood has industry-leading expertise, and hands-on experience, in both areas.  

But don’t take our word for it. Contact Redwood today and ask us for proof points — including customer success stories, typical benefits, and references. Why wait to start putting all that valuable data to work for your business?