To begin with, there were 2.5 million shipping addresses – from different sources and with some duplication. In cooperation with German logistics service provider MÜLLER | DIE LILA LOGISTIK, lbase developed a smart solution for cleansing the addresses stored for deliveries of white goods. And successfully so: The long-standing customer is reaping the benefits of high-quality, reliable data.
Shipping address ambiguities
The shipping of white goods – household appliances such as electric cookers and washing machines – has already been an established part of the MÜLLER | DIE LILA LOGISTIK service portfolio for many years. The products come from various manufacturers and are stored and delivered by the company. "The addresses provided in the delivery information were often ambiguous. This meant that the amount of addresses kept growing and we had a lot of duplicates in the system," explained Richard Matura, IT application administrator and business consultant with the logistics service provider.
The solution: Intelligent address matching
The challenge was to compare the address data in the EDI interface with the addresses saved in the transport management system. lbase worked with MÜLLER | DIE LILA LOGISTIK to develop a scalable solution for this: The address data transferred is automatically geocoded via addHelix the web service platform and is then compared with the existing data, taking into account different spellings. This involves applying the Levenshtein algorithm. The customer itself can control the degree of precision used for the comparison.
Facts
MÜLLER | DIE LILA LOGISTIK – with mind and heart
MÜLLER | DIE LILA LOGISTIK is a logistics service provider operating successfully in the international arena. The company's 1,500 employees work at more than 20 sites in Germany and Poland. It specializes in holistic logistics solutions, from consulting to implementation. The industries served range from the automotive, pharmaceutical, medical technology, consumer goods and industrial sectors through to the electronics segment.
The color purple, or "lila" in German, symbolizes the interaction of thought and action – or consulting and implementation, in other words. The listed company has received multiple awards for its work. lbase has been supporting MÜLLER | DIE LILA LOGISTIK with tailor-made software solutions since 2006. lila-logistik.com
The project at a glance
- Customer: MÜLLER | DIE LILA LOGISTIK
- Project partner: lbase
- Project: Scalable solution for cleansing addresses stored for deliveries of white goods
- Timeframe: December 2020 to March 2021
"The address matching solution developed with lbase has significantly increased the quality of our address data. It has proven itself in practice and we have already implemented it in other interfaces."