C.H. Robinson overcomes decades-old barriers to automate the logistics industry using Azure AI

C.H. Robinson receives tens of thousands of emails from customers daily, for routine tasks that had to wait hours before an employee could get to them.

C.H. Robinson used Microsoft Azure AI Studio and Azure OpenAI Service to build generative AI tools that automate emailed customer requests, improving employee productivity and customer service.

Incorporating Azure AI into C.H. Robinson’s proprietary technology is reducing speed to market from hours to seconds, creating better business outcomes for its shippers.

In an increasingly complex supply chain environment, C.H. Robinson—one of the world’s largest logistics platforms—relies on technology to accelerate the seamless delivery of goods that help drive the world’s economy. However, the company faced a challenge unique to its scale: harnessing technology to help employees manage the tens of thousands of requests it receives from shippers via email daily.

C.H. Robinson needed an email automation solution capable of speeding up time-intensive, repetitive manual work at every step in the lifecycle of a load of freight, but without sacrificing the personalized customer service its shippers rely on for their business success.

Pushing the boundaries of automation, efficiency, and productivity

What changed everything for C.H. Robinson was the arrival of large language models and generative AI, the ability to mimic human cognition, so the company could develop proprietary technology that replicates the tasks a person would do.

“We had already tapped the power of generative AI for corporate uses, but automating emailed requests from customers was especially complex because each singular step in a customer’s shipping lifecycle is unique to them,” explained Mark Albrecht, Vice President, Artificial Intelligence at C.H. Robinson. “Building a comprehensive knowledge base to coalesce tribal knowledge and accurately capture every customer variable was a major scaling unlock.”

Incorporating Azure AI in our tech has helped put us on pace to achieve another 15% increase in productivity this year, creating happier customers, from one-truck shippers to some of the largest companies in the world.

Mark Albrecht, Vice President, Artificial Intelligence, C.H. Robinson

Streamlining steps across freight shipping

“To make this happen, we looked to Microsoft and its Azure AI, data, app, and developer workspaces to create generative AI tools for our needs,” says Arun Rajan, Chief Strategy and Innovation Officer at C.H. Robinson. “The combination of Azure AI Studio, Azure OpenAI Service, GitHub, Azure SQL Database, and Azure Cosmos DB enabled us to build intelligent apps with high-performance, real-time data. For example, our AI model can differentiate between truckload, less-than-truckload, intermodal, and air freight requests—and includes a human feedback loop to ensure best customer outcomes.” Rajan adds, “By using Azure AI, we can better ensure data privacy and compliance while interoperating seamlessly with our existing systems.”

The solutions have been implemented over a 12-month period. Today, C.H. Robinson’s tech has been scaled across multiple stages in the shipping process. It classifies incoming email, pieces together the details in it, finds missing information, then performs the steps a person would take to fulfill the customer’s request.

“Big picture, our tech makes it possible to automate virtually any kind of email transaction and capture efficiencies in global supply chains that just couldn’t be achieved before using these Azure-based generative AI solutions,” says Albrecht.

The combination of Azure AI Studio, Azure OpenAI Service, GitHub, Azure SQL Database, and Azure Cosmos DB enabled us to build intelligent apps with high-performance, real-time data.

Arun Rajan, Chief Strategy and Innovation Officer, C.H. Robinson

Speeding pricing responses for improved outcomes

“Since going live this year, we’ve reduced the time required to provide email price quotes from hours to an average of 32 seconds per quote,” says Meghan Hughes, a Key Account Manager at C.H. Robinson. “Employees are now freed up to do higher-value work, solving greater challenges for 2,720 of C.H. Robinson’s customers so far.”

“The faster a shipper gets a price quote, the less likely they’ll need to pay a premium in the spot market,” explains Albrecht. “Prices go up as the availability of trucks goes down, so the speed of quote response is helping customers keep their supply chains moving and retain business that might have been lost due to delays.”

Big picture, our tech makes it possible to automate virtually any kind of email transaction and capture efficiencies in global supply chains that just couldn’t be achieved before using these Azure-based generative AI solutions.

Mark Albrecht, Vice President, Artificial Intelligence, C.H. Robinson

Tapping the power of generative AI for big productivity gains

“We’ve already supplied well over half a million price quotes using generative AI,” says Rajan. “In recent months, we’ve also been able to create proprietary tech for emailed shipment orders, emailed freight pickup and delivery appointments, and connecting with in-transit drivers on the status of customers’ freight.”

Concludes Albrecht, “Incorporating Azure AI in our tech has helped put us on pace to achieve another 15% increase in productivity this year, creating happier customers, from one-truck shippers to some of the largest companies in the world.”

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