Databricks migration and optimization
How Pilot Company is Reducing Costs, Accelerating Results, and Optimizing Operations with Databricks and Wavicle
Pilot Company, a global leader in travel centers, relies on accurate data and actionable insights to keep their operations running efficiently, maintain a great customer experience, and deliver value to their customers and partners. As a leader in the use of data, analytics, and machine learning, Pilot Company needs the best data technologies and service partners to help them stay ahead of the curve.
Pilot Company partnered with Wavicle and Databricks to transform their data ecosystem to deliver the performance, speed, and insights they need from their data. By using the Databricks platform, Pilot Company is improving operational efficiency, delivering customer value faster, and further refining their analytical models.
#1: Increased speed and accuracy for financial and compliance reporting
The ability to accurately track finances and compliance is essential for any organization. Inaccuracies and delays can have significant implications on company operations. Pilot Company wanted to optimize its data ecosystem for streamlined, faster, and more reliable reporting.
Solution: Wavicle and Pilot built a modern financial and compliance reporting ecosystem by migrating data from Netezza to Databricks. Databricks provided a more modern and scalable data environment and better ensured data integrity, security, and compliance with critical fuel regulations by leveraging Delta tables and ACID transactions.
#2: Optimizing data pipelines for near real-time updates
Pilot Company’s teams need real-time data to be able to evaluate market conditions and pivot accordingly. Throughout the course of the day, any lag in data pipelines can impact how they attract and serve customers in their travel center locations. Pilot Company needed a way to accurately and rapidly update data, analyze market conditions, and maintain their competitive edge.
Solution: Pilot Company and Wavicle leveraged Databricks to operationalize a model that used internal and external data sources to optimize operations on historical and current external and internal data. This new solution enabled Pilot Company to pivot more quickly based on market demands, increase the speed of their data-driven decision-making, and decrease the cost of the overall solution.
An ongoing partnership with proven results
Pilot Company continues to partner with Wavicle and Databricks to further optimize and scale their data, analytics, and machine learning capabilities. With Wavicle’s team of certified Databricks experts by their side, Pilot has been able to achieve massive cost savings and performance improvements with Databricks. As a result of these projects, Pilot Company has access to the data they need, when they need it, with fast and accurate reporting that doesn’t break the bank. This allows decision-makers at all levels to optimize processes and costs and to drive increased profitability.
By the numbers
- Reduced run times from 5 hours to 2 hours
- Reduced data run times from 4.5 hours to 25 minutes
- Reduced Databricks cluster costs by 90%
About Pilot Company
Pilot Travel Centers LLC (“Pilot Company”) keeps North America’s drivers moving as one of the leading suppliers of fuel and the largest operator of travel centers. Founded in 1958 and headquartered in Knoxville, Tennessee, Pilot Company has grown its network to more than 870 locations serving an average of 1.3 million guests per day and providing over 70,000 fleet customers with solutions for fuel, credit, factoring, services and rewards. Pilot Company has the third largest tanker fleet in North America with over 1,500 trucks that supply approximately 14 billion gallons of fuel per year and provide hauling and disposal services to the oil field sector. As a fuel and energy leader, Pilot Company is the largest provider of biodiesel and renewable fuels and is paving the way to the future by developing an EV charging network and low carbon fueling alternatives. Its Pilot and Flying J travel center network includes over 750 locations in 44 states and six Canadian provinces with more than 790 restaurants, 77,000 truck parking spaces, 5,500 deluxe showers, 6,300 diesel lanes and truck maintenance and tire service with Southern Tire Mart at Pilot Flying J. The One9 Fuel Network provides smaller fleets and independent professional drivers with a variety of fueling locations that offer everyday value, convenience, credit and perks. More information on locations and rewards is available in the myRewards Plus app.
Pilot Company is a majority owned subsidiary of Berkshire Hathaway. For additional information about Pilot Company, its 30,000 team members and commitment to giving back, visit pilotcompany.com.
About Wavicle
Wavicle Data Solutions provides award-winning cloud data and analytics solutions that accelerate value, reduce risk, and empower our clients to make smart, data-driven decisions. We combine deep technical expertise and industry knowledge with proprietary automation tools to support the rapid shift to modern data architectures and real-time insights. Today’s executives need more visibility into their businesses, faster than ever, and we help them get it. Founded in 2013 and headquartered in the Chicago area, Wavicle has been recognized as an Inc. 5000 company five years running and is a multi-year recipient of the Chicago Tribune’s Top Workplace award. Wavicle is also an NMSDC-certified MBE. For more information, visit wavicledata.com.