Cartesian DataSciences

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the senior director of market planning and product development for APL Logistics. We’re a leading provider of supply chain services and we specialize in offering logistics solutions to four key industries, specifically the automotive, industrial, retail, and consumer verticals. We are headquartered in Scottsdale, Arizona, but we have operations in 60 countries across five continents.

What challenge were you trying to address with Cartesian DataSciences?

We were looking for someone to help us better understand and quantify the extent of a problem in our industry called per diem charges. We also wanted someone to help us identify the root cause where we can focus on actions to bring those charges down.

Per diem is a term for when we use a container for transportation that is owned by one of the railroads. When the container is in the customer’s or trucker’s possession beyond the allocated free time given by the railroads, we are charged an amount for every day the container is still out on the street. When it’s not managed properly, those charges can add up.

What was the scope of their involvement?

We engaged Cartesian DataSciences for a two-phase project. The first phase involved uncovering and understanding the key variables that matter for per diem through data analysis of over 12–18 months’ worth of raw data that we provided. They helped us confirm what were the key variable drivers of those charges.

The second phase was a deeper dive into those variables. We looked to quantify the impact of each variable and use the analysis to point us to where we could target actions to get at that problem.

There was a lot of collaboration between my company and Cartesian DataSciences. We shared data files with them and scrubbed that data to try to sanitize it. Our teams worked together to understand what the data was really saying and not depend on the quality of the data that was being provided.

What is the team composition?

We worked with a lead person, Jim (Americas Director), and I was the project lead on our end. Jim involved his team, there were 3–5 team members that were not only based in the US, but he had a very strong data scientist team in India that we also engaged.

On my side, we had 4–6 stakeholders who were involved in the actual operation of managing per diem that provided the business contacts and the understanding. Overall, between the two sides, there were upwards of a dozen individuals involved.

How did you come to work with Cartesian DataSciences?

I actually don’t recall how we came across Cartesian DataSciences. I probably came across them through my inbox, social media, or through reading publications.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve invested around $33,000 over the two phases.

What is the status of this engagement?

We worked with Cartesian DataSciences from May 2019–January 2020.

What evidence can you share that demonstrates the impact of the engagement? 

Cartesian DataSciences delivered a detailed PowerPoint report at the end of each phase that summarized the scope, methodology, data analysis, and findings. Based on each phase, this allowed us to take a look at the findings and implications for the organization and put an action plan together.

I was very satisfied with the quality of Cartesian DataSciences’ work. In order to make their output speak the same language as our industry, I did help them provide a relevant storyline as most companies have their own jargon or industry vocabulary that only insiders are familiar with.

How did Cartesian DataSciences perform from a project management standpoint?

There was a lot of back and forth that went into the work that led up to the final deliverable. The account lead, Jim was very responsive. They always had time even outside of normal business hours. His team supporting this in India was also available given the time zone differences between India and the US.

They employed the typical project management tools like Gantt charts, spreadsheets, and emails. From a project management standpoint, there was structure, but flexible enough that they easily accommodated process changes or additional requests, and still keep on track with it.

Overall, they were very quick up the learning curve. Once they got educated, they ran with it and for the most part, they became an extension of our team during the engagement. They were able to go deep into the data and presented them in such a way that it was meaningful and relevant to our stakeholders.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Overall, we’re very pleased and satisfied with our experience working with Cartesian DataSciences. They were responsive and easy to work with. 

Are there any areas they could improve?

In terms of the process working well, I think it’s part of the nature of being a consultant and working across various industry sectors, there’s a bit of a gap initially to understand the nuances unique to a particular industry. In our case, there was a bit of a learning curve, but we helped them get up to speed fairly quickly.

In some of their executive summaries, we helped them polish it up, so it resonated more directly and clearly with our senior management. In the end, it turned out fine.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

My advice is just to help them get up to speed as quickly as possible. The spirit of collaboration is important and the chemistry between their lead and the client is also important. Once Cartesian DataSciences understood the business and was able to articulate in their own terms, that helped the stakeholders realize that Cartesian DataSciences really gets it and that helped them to have confidence in their assistance.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the senior director of analytics for a beauty brand.

What challenge were you trying to address with Cartesian DataSciences?

We needed help with model building for one of our segments.

What was the scope of their involvement?

They provided forecasting, customer research, dashboards, and reporting. They’re also supporting data science.

What is the team composition?

We work with 8–9 people from their team.

How did you come to work with Cartesian DataSciences?

When I came on board they were already working with our team.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve spent $250,000–$500,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together in June 2019, and our work is ongoing.

What evidence can you share that demonstrates the impact of the engagement? 

They’re very reliable, accurate, and support our team well.  They have a big impact on us being able to provide communication to our customers, increase our ROIs, and improve our direct mail campaigns.

How did Cartesian DataSciences perform from a project management standpoint?

They’re very reliable and on time with delivering these aspects of the business. We’re very satisfied.

What did you find most impressive about them?

I’m really impressed with how they quickly drill into the data to the most granular element.

Are there any areas they could improve?

No, nothing comes to mind.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

My advice is to engage them a lot from different departments. The more they understand the business, the more they’re able to proactively do analysis to do analysis for you, even if you don’t ask them to.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I work for Bombas Socks as a senior analytics manager.

What challenge were you trying to address with Cartesian DataSciences?

We needed a partner for marketing attribution purposes.

What was the scope of their involvement?

Cartesian DataSciences gathered data from us and conducted exploratory analysis on our business. Based on that, they created a model, using Python, to analyze our efficiency trend at a channel level in order to help us forecast spend and expected return.

What is the team composition?

Jim (The Americas Director) was the main contact in the US. There was an IT team of four scholars and data scientists offshore as well.

How did you come to work with Cartesian DataSciences?

They were one of several companies we considered; Jim reached out to me on LinkedIn. They're a validated data science partner, known for being good at building a model, so we decided to move forward with them.

What is the status of this engagement?

We began working together around June 2020, and the engagement is ongoing.

What evidence can you share that demonstrates the impact of the engagement?

They did quality work, and it was easy collaborating with them. We’re satisfied with the complex solution they built and the insights we’ve gained. Our team is looking to make them a long-term data science partner.

How did Cartesian DataSciences perform from a project management standpoint?

They provide weekly updates and schedule alignments. We used Slack and email.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They’re flexible, collaborative, and willing to build a solution for the use case of the business.

Are there any areas they could improve?

No, nothing comes to mind.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Know your business and have your data available. Work with them as a partner for the best possible outcome.