Shipware rolls out proprietary machine-learning software

San Diego-based parcel consultancy Shipware LLC said this week it has introduced proprietary machine-learning software, Krystal AI.

The company said this offering will augment operations and optimize carrier pricing by providing its customers with insights and data points culled through a combination of factors.

“Krystal AI is the culmination of tens of thousands of data points and hundreds of years of carrier pricing expertise,” said Rob Martinez, Shipware president and CEO, in an interview. “Driven by ‘next generation’ needs of high volume shippers, the tool has been many years in the making.”   

In terms of the benefits Krystal AI provides shippers, Martinez said it dynamically rates actual shipping data given theoretical inputs – like a specific improvement in a series of accessorial charges, or an improve dimensional divisor, lower minimum charge, rate cap to GRI’s, etc. And he added that the tool provides insight to modal optimization opportunities by dynamically selecting shipments at varying services levels, weights and zones and rerouting those shipments with alternative carriers for reduction in time-in-transit as well as cost. Those are just some of the ways Krystal AI will transform parcel procurement and distribution optimization, according to the company.

Krystal AI is the next generation iteration of historical insights and value Shipware has been producing for its clients for years, by bringing together previously disparate systems, data points, and expertise through software development, artificial intelligence and machine learning, it added.

“Shippers often tell us their biggest handicap in negotiating small parcel agreements is their inability to know how good – or bad – their baseline contracts are,” he said. “Imagine a powerful tool that uses artificial intelligence and machine learning to quickly identify pricing improvement opportunities and strategies. These are not high-water marks to strive for, but actual results based on advanced logic, shipping characteristics, likelihood estimation, benchmarking, market and other critical pricing factors.” 

Krystal AI is currently only available as a SaaS model, but Martinez noted that certain aspects of the tool will be client facing, and accessible from the Cloud through the Shipware website.

When asked what the biggest competitive advantages of Krystal AI are for Shipware, Martinez said that Shipware does not know of any other company that has developed anything “even close” to Krystal AI.

“It’s a transformative tool that has been years in the making that will be a competitive differentiator for years to come,” he said. “Krystal AI was designed for those organizations seeking to proactively reduce transportation costs while promoting faster delivery times. Krystal AI takes pricing negotiations to the next level through facts-based procurement and optimization processes with dynamic modeling analytics.  Apart from upfront cost reduction through contract optimization, users will experience ongoing savings over time by identifying routing and compliance errors, modal optimization opportunities, key performance indicators, and new contract improvement points. It’s a game changer that can turn transportation in a competitive differentiator.”