Information Builders Case Studies Maverick Transportation Moves Into the Passing Lane With Real-Time Analytics

Edit This Case Study Record

	Maverick Transportation Moves Into the Passing Lane With Real-Time Analytics Information Builders

Maverick Transportation Moves Into the Passing Lane With Real-Time Analytics

Information Builders

Technology Category	Analytics & Modeling - Real Time Analytics Application Infrastructure & Middleware - Data Exchange & Integration Application Infrastructure & Middleware - Data Visualization
Applicable Industries	Transportation
Applicable Functions	Human Resources Logistics & Transportation Maintenance
Use Cases	Fleet Management Personnel Tracking & Monitoring Predictive Maintenance
Services	Software Design & Engineering Services System Integration
Challenge	Maverick Transportation, one of the largest flatbed transportation companies in the U.S., was seeking more efficient ways to distribute current information, reports, and metrics throughout the enterprise. The company faced challenges such as compliance with government regulations, safety concerns, ongoing fleet maintenance requirements, and a notoriously high driver turnover rate. In an industry where margins are slim, the ability to carefully scrutinize all aspects of its business was crucial to Maverick’s success. However, Maverick’s existing reporting tools made it difficult to combine operational and financial data, hindering the company’s ability to closely monitor key activities. The company embarked on an initiative to expand its financial reporting package and evaluated several reporting and business intelligence (BI) vendors. Read More
About Customer	Maverick Transportation is one of the largest flatbed transportation companies in the U.S. With corporate offices in Little Rock, Arkansas, Maverick operates more than 1,200 vehicles that specialize in hauling steel, glass, machinery, and building materials throughout the U.S and Canada. The privately held company has been in business for 30 years and is always on the move, as evidenced by the recent addition of a temperature-controlled division. With safety and technology leading the way, its new temp-control trailers are equipped with two-way communications, door sensors, fuel sensors, and the capability to load 47,000 pounds. Compliance with government regulations, safety concerns, ongoing fleet maintenance requirements, and a notoriously high driver turnover rate are just a few of the challenges that market leaders in the transportation sector must contend with. In an industry where margins are slim, the ability to carefully scrutinize all aspects of its business is crucial to Maverick’s success. Read More
Solution	Maverick chose the Information Builders WebFOCUS BI platform. Workers at headquarters and on the road now depend on WebFOCUS scorecards and dashboards to track critical business functions such as safety, accounting, and human resources. With WebFOCUS, Maverick can more precisely measure performance, track progress towards corporate goals, and achieve strict growth and profitability objectives. Maverick’s first big accomplishment with WebFOCUS involved replacing all financials and margin statements with WebFOCUS reports. Brown and his team used WebFOCUS to develop financial dashboards that consolidate data from IBM DB2, Microsoft SQL Server, and other databases into integrated reports. Then they created dashboards that let people visualize and drill down into the data. WebFOCUS runs on an IBM iSeries computer. Some reports are drawn from a data warehouse and others from production DB2 databases associated with particular business applications, all through high-performance WebFOCUS adapters, which make native connections to these databases. Read More Log in to view content
Contents

Technology Category

Analytics & Modeling - Real Time Analytics

Application Infrastructure & Middleware - Data Exchange & Integration

Application Infrastructure & Middleware - Data Visualization

Applicable Industries

Transportation

Applicable Functions

Human Resources

Logistics & Transportation

Maintenance

Use Cases

Fleet Management

Personnel Tracking & Monitoring

Predictive Maintenance

Services

Software Design & Engineering Services

System Integration

Challenge

Maverick Transportation, one of the largest flatbed transportation companies in the U.S., was seeking more efficient ways to distribute current information, reports, and metrics throughout the enterprise. The company faced challenges such as compliance with government regulations, safety concerns, ongoing fleet maintenance requirements, and a notoriously high driver turnover rate. In an industry where margins are slim, the ability to carefully scrutinize all aspects of its business was crucial to Maverick’s success. However, Maverick’s existing reporting tools made it difficult to combine operational and financial data, hindering the company’s ability to closely monitor key activities. The company embarked on an initiative to expand its financial reporting package and evaluated several reporting and business intelligence (BI) vendors.

About Customer

Maverick Transportation is one of the largest flatbed transportation companies in the U.S. With corporate offices in Little Rock, Arkansas, Maverick operates more than 1,200 vehicles that specialize in hauling steel, glass, machinery, and building materials throughout the U.S and Canada. The privately held company has been in business for 30 years and is always on the move, as evidenced by the recent addition of a temperature-controlled division. With safety and technology leading the way, its new temp-control trailers are equipped with two-way communications, door sensors, fuel sensors, and the capability to load 47,000 pounds. Compliance with government regulations, safety concerns, ongoing fleet maintenance requirements, and a notoriously high driver turnover rate are just a few of the challenges that market leaders in the transportation sector must contend with. In an industry where margins are slim, the ability to carefully scrutinize all aspects of its business is crucial to Maverick’s success.

Solution

Maverick chose the Information Builders WebFOCUS BI platform. Workers at headquarters and on the road now depend on WebFOCUS scorecards and dashboards to track critical business functions such as safety, accounting, and human resources. With WebFOCUS, Maverick can more precisely measure performance, track progress towards corporate goals, and achieve strict growth and profitability objectives. Maverick’s first big accomplishment with WebFOCUS involved replacing all financials and margin statements with WebFOCUS reports. Brown and his team used WebFOCUS to develop financial dashboards that consolidate data from IBM DB2, Microsoft SQL Server, and other databases into integrated reports. Then they created dashboards that let people visualize and drill down into the data. WebFOCUS runs on an IBM iSeries computer. Some reports are drawn from a data warehouse and others from production DB2 databases associated with particular business applications, all through high-performance WebFOCUS adapters, which make native connections to these databases.

Impact #1	More than 400 people depend on WebFOCUS reports and dashboards. The information helps company leaders manage costs, improve margins, and maximize profitability.
Impact #2	Fleet managers use a dashboard to supervise about 50 drivers. The dashboard has multiple tabs to help managers monitor a tremendous influx of information, continually transmitted from the drivers and their vehicles – everything from vehicle breakdowns to hardbraking incidents to route and location updates.
Impact #3	In the finance department, WebFOCUS scorecards help managers track profitability and manage costs by presenting a series of important key performance indicators (KPIs). Users can personalize their dashboards by deciding what reports they see and how they see them.

Impact #1

More than 400 people depend on WebFOCUS reports and dashboards. The information helps company leaders manage costs, improve margins, and maximize profitability.

Impact #2

Fleet managers use a dashboard to supervise about 50 drivers. The dashboard has multiple tabs to help managers monitor a tremendous influx of information, continually transmitted from the drivers and their vehicles – everything from vehicle breakdowns to hardbraking incidents to route and location updates.

Impact #3

In the finance department, WebFOCUS scorecards help managers track profitability and manage costs by presenting a series of important key performance indicators (KPIs). Users can personalize their dashboards by deciding what reports they see and how they see them.

Benefit #1	In an industry that suffers a turnover rate as high as 140 percent, Maverick averages a 60 percent turnover rate.

Benefit #1

In an industry that suffers a turnover rate as high as 140 percent, Maverick averages a 60 percent turnover rate.

Download PDF Version

Overview

Maverick Transportation Moves Into the Passing Lane With Real-Time Analytics

Operational Impact

Quantitative Benefit