customer story

Global MedTech Manufacturer

A global medical technology manufacturer turned a fragmented outsourced logistics network into one trusted data set, and found savings it never thought were feasible.

Gloved hand placing a slide under a microscope in a lab.

Results at a Glance

IFS.ai Logistics gave the company a standardized view of its European transport spend across three third-party logistics providers and more than thirty freight and last-mile accounts. Automated invoice auditing and network simulation turned that visibility into measurable, repeatable savings. 

  • Return on Investment

    x

    Delivered in the first year and sustained since

  • Ongoing Savings

    %

    Continuing savings across European transport spend

  • Ongoing Audit Findings

    %

    Invoice discrepancies identified automatically by freight audit

No Clear View of a Fragmented Logistics Network
 

A global MedTech manufacturer was struggling to manage logistics operations across a network of outsourced providers. Every provider relationship generates data, but that data was fragmented and unstructured, spread across inconsistent formats and systems.

 

Without a common standard, the company could not see what it was actually paying for. Costs could be reviewed at a high level, but not at the level of detail where decisions are made and savings are found.

 

The result was a logistics operation running on trust rather than evidence.

A Single Trusted Source of Logistics Data

The company chose IFS.ai Logistics because it works with the provider network already in place. Rather than asking each provider to report in the same way, the solution brings their data to a common standard as it arrives, so that everything downstream rests on one trusted source. Nothing needed to be integrated first, which meant the logistics team could begin without waiting on a technology project.

  • “Before IFS.ai Logistics, we had no transparency down to the accessorial level. Having access to detail gives us confidence on how we utilize our outsource partners. We never thought savings at this level were feasible.”

    Logistics Manager, Europe

A Network Built for Reach, Not for Visibility

 

The company moves medical technology products across Europe through an outsourced logistics network. Three European third-party logistics providers sit at the center of it, alongside more than thirty freight and last-mile provider accounts.

 

That structure delivers reach. What it did not deliver was a single view. Data arrived fragmented and unstructured, spread across inconsistent formats and systems, and none of it lined up. The logistics team had plenty of data and very little insight.

 

 

Where the Detail Was Getting Lost

 

The gap was sharpest at the accessorial level, where the individual charges that sit alongside base transport rates accumulate across a network of this size. Without standardized data, those charges could not be examined, questioned, or compared.

 

The same blind spot applied to account usage. With more than thirty accounts in play, the choice of account for a given movement has a direct cost consequence, but the company had no reliable way to see whether those choices were the right ones.

 


Twelve Weeks to a Clean Data Set

 

Within three months of kick-off, IFS.ai Logistics onboarding was complete. In the span of twelve weeks, all three third-party logistics providers and their thirty-plus accounts were mapped out, configured, and enabled the audit capability.

 

The logistics team was not dependent on extensive IT integrations to get started. The first audit credit was received in that same period, worth 0.5% of transport spend — early, tangible proof that the detail now being captured translated into money returned.


 

From Visibility to Measurable Savings

 

With a clean data set in place, attention moved from finding errors to improving the network. At six months, an initial optimized network simulation identified a potential 7% saving through optimized account usage, and 2% annual savings had been achieved.

 

After one year, a further simulation identified an additional 1.8% opportunity through operational change, and a further 2% saving opportunity was identified by reviewing the company's dangerous goods strategy with its supplier. Each of these came from the same source: details the company simply could not see before.

 

 

Confidence in How Partners Are Used

 

The change is as much about assurance as it is about cost. Invoices are audited automatically, provider performance is visible, and network optimization opportunities surface from the data rather than from guesswork.

 

That supports stronger cost control and better operational decisions, because the logistics team can evaluate how its outsourced partners are used on evidence rather than assumption.

 

 

A Foundation for the Wider Network
 

The software continues to deliver 5x ROI, with ongoing audit findings running at 1% and ongoing savings at 11%. The company now possesses a single, standardized, and clean data set for all transport logistics spend.

 

On that basis, the company is now evaluating deployment across both its North American operations and European inbound transport.

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