Procure Iq: Reimagining How You Purchase Transportation

Tim Gagnon,Vice President Of Analytics And Data Science, C.H. Robinson

Tim Gagnon,Vice President Of Analytics And Data Science, C.H. Robinson

Companies want and expect innovation from 3PLs, and as one of the world’s largest logistics platforms, C.H. Robinson is focused on continuing to deliver new and innovative technology built by and for supply chain experts.

In September, we announced our latest innovation, Procure IQ™, which reimagines the way shippers purchase transportation. Developed inside our innovation incubator Robinson Labs, Procure IQ uses predictive analytics, artificial intelligence and C.H. Robinson’s unmatched dataset with billions of transactions from a community of 200,000 unique carriers and shippers, to provide our customers with a roadmap of the most optimal procurement and capacity strategies. As a result, shippers can analyze each specific freight lane through a comparative pricing, volume and service analysis. This uncovers where they could capture increased savings and service reliability by purchasing that transportation outside of the traditional annual bidding process and confirms where the annual RFP is the optimal choice.

Procure IQ was developed in coordination with our customers as the historic market volatility and emerging challenges from COVID-19 pressured transportation plans and fiscal commitments. We engaged dozens of customers in Robinson Labs and identified opportunities through the insights from the supply chain experts, data scientists and engineers engaged in the cross functional effort. Our work together has led to a product and approach that will enhance the way transportation is purchased.

One of the early users of Procure IQ was IPC, the purchasing cooperative for Subway® Franchisees. Through the innovative tool, they’ve been able to leverage custom data visualizations and tailored recommendations for optimal procurement and capacity strategies on each shipment from fresh food to kitchen equipment. Since inception, 130+ customers have followed IPC’s lead and leveraged Procure IQ for data analysis to uncover transportation saving and service opportunities..

Over $1 billion (and counting) in freight spend has been analyzed through the tool with many large shippers learning that up to 60 percent of their routes coulp potentially capture increased savings and/or service reliability by purchasing that transportation outside of the traditional RFP process.
And we know there is a hunger for this type of advanced technology. A customer research study in June, conducted with over 1,000 of C.H. Robinson’s largest customers, revealed that more than 50 percent are looking for tools just like this to help them in the areas of predictive analytics, reporting and dashboard development.

Only two months in, Procure IQ has transformed the traditional RFP process with a smarter way for shippers to buy. We look forward to continuing to provide innovative tech solutions across our global suite of service offerings.