Mastery Logistics Systems develops an innovative, cloud-based transportation management system with Microsoft Azure

The logistics industry faces a labyrinth of challenges, varying from optimizing complex supply chains to making and implementing real-time decisions amid constantly changing variables. Mastery Logistics Systems (Mastery) is a visionary transportation management technology company that has risen to solve these problems by building a modern, cloud-based platform from the ground up. Using Microsoft Azure, the company has designed a scalable and adaptable transportation management system (TMS) that improves efficiency and reduces costs for its clients. Mastery’s new technology solution helps its clients improve customer experiences while driving growth and automation.

Streamlining operations, boosting connectivity, and enhancing automation with Azure

Mastery’s innovation is led by industry pioneer Jeff Silver and cofounder Marianne Silver, who have brought together top technology and industry talent. In 2019, Jeff Silver founded Mastery with the goal of creating a solution to address the industry’s fragmented and aging systems, manual planning, ad hoc decision-making, and the complexities inherent in disconnected supply chain enterprises.

The company set out to develop a software as a service (SaaS) solution that would be available in the cloud with real-time updates and analytics and that could be configured to integrate with other systems. Mastery’s core mission is to create “the world’s first lovable TMS.”

Mastery understood the need to build robust, scalable, and accessible technology, leading the company to explore solutions from Microsoft. The result was Mastery’s flagship product, MasterMind, a cloud-based TMS engineered to streamline operations, enhance connectivity, and automate cumbersome processes.

MasterMind provides solutions for multiple aspects of transportation management, from automating procurement to simplifying contract management and dynamic, multimodal routing. Users can use advanced analytics to optimize decision-making, whether they’re selecting the best drivers, planning fleets, or choosing the most cost-effective transport mode. The TMS can even be configured with application programming interface integrations to connect with external partners, facilitating collaboration and data exchange. The software also streamlines accounting and billing processes, manages driver pay and settlements, and helps users with in-app training.

Mastery chose Azure for MasterMind because of its robust functionality and cost-management capabilities. Much of Mastery’s early success was driven by its collaboration with several partners who offered hands-on assistance with developing MasterMind within Azure. With the confidence that its product offered value to the logistics industry, Mastery was ready to expand.

Optimizing MasterMind with help from Microsoft Unified Support

Along with their wealth of industry-specific knowledge, Mastery’s leaders have a track record of success working closely with Microsoft, which led to their decision to grow with the company. “We’re building the world’s first lovable TMS using the world’s most welcomed cloud provider,” says Darren Cockrel, President and Chief Information Officer at Mastery.

Mastery relied on Microsoft to grow its cloud footprint. Direct licensing and teams from Microsoft Unified Support helped to smooth data migration, system integration, and training to adapt to the new environment. The scalability and reliability of Azure were key to this shift.

“Getting that mission-critical support early on and having the dedicated team of experts that we can reach out to, that always pick up the phone when we call, have been huge benefits for us as we’ve grown,” says Matt Kugler, Chief Information Security Officer at Mastery. This step in Mastery’s journey laid the foundation for enhanced efficiency and productivity and accelerated development of the company and its software.

Empowering 65 percent of staff to contribute code with GitHub Copilot from Microsoft

Mastery scaled up its operations, growing from 50 to 1,000 staff members, while continually improving its product. The company recently embraced Github Copilot, a Microsoft Copilot AI assistance tool that offers intelligent code suggestions, explanations, and automatic change documentation. Mastery uses Copilot to drive coding efficiency, automate repetitive coding tasks, and improve the developer experience.

After adopting the array of support tools and developer resources available from Microsoft, an impressive 65 percent of staff has actively contributed to writing code, and Mastery has successfully implemented many of those contributions. “We’re seeing a 25–26 percent acceptance rate on developer suggestions, and we expect to see the numbers go even higher, so we’ve been happy with it,” says Cockrel.

These internal benefits directly improve the client experience because Mastery can innovate quickly. “From a product perspective, we get to deliver faster and at the same or higher quality. That puts more time into making new things that thrill and excite our clients, opening up new ways of working, more automations, and even more integrations. What investment can you make today that makes your developers happier while accelerating dates?” says Cockrel.

Mastery is quick to recognize industry needs and provide solutions. For example, MasterMind added a feature that accounts for drivers’ preferences when making routing decisions. Clients can accommodate their employees in a way that was previously unheard of, keeping drivers happy and bringing unique value to the industry. “Our partnership with Microsoft has fueled our culture and our values of Strength and Artistry,” says Marianne Silver, Chief People Officer at Mastery. “Our team is flourishing, amplifying our core value of Mastering Our Craft.”

Driving innovation in the transportation industry

Mastery is at the forefront of driving innovation and growth in the transportation industry and is headed toward a future of continued creativity and progress. The company tagline, “Complexity Demands Mastery,” serves as a guiding principle for Mastery’s team members. It drives their efforts to provide clients with valuable insights, guidance, and solutions as they migrate from legacy and fragmented on-premises systems to MasterMind and Azure.

MasterMind’s holistic approach helps organizations operate efficiently and exceed client expectations, ultimately improving the entire supply chain ecosystem. The company is excited for the future as it focuses on SaaS development and delivery, along with exceptional client experiences.

“Being in Azure gives peace of mind—that one piece of the puzzle we don’t need to worry about. This lets us focus on our road map and on what capabilities we can add to MasterMind for our clients,” says Gopal Nagappan, Chief Technology Officer at Mastery.