Accomplished data scientist honored for achievements in transportation industry, along with mentorship and support for women in logistics
AFS Logistics announces the company’s Chief Analytics Officer, Mingshu Bates, as one of Supply & Demand Chain Executive’s 2022 Women in Supply Chain award winners. At AFS, her work delivers real-world business value for clients and internal teams, and her leadership has helped spark the careers of promising logistics professionals at every stop in her journey. The work of Bates and her team also contributes to the industry at large, such as the quarterly release of the Cowen/AFS Freight Index, a predictive asset that applies machine learning and modeling techniques to large data sets to extract predictive insights for the quarter ahead.
“On many occasions, more complex situations call for custom models to enable proper analysis – that’s when Mingshu and her team are called in to help AFS customers answer the toughest analytical challenges.”
“The influence and reach of Mingshu and her team can be felt throughout AFS, our customers and beyond, thanks to her ability to translate massive data sets into actionable insights that support customers, the broader industry and our own internal initiatives,” says Tom Nightingale, CEO, AFS. “On many occasions, more complex situations call for custom models to enable proper analysis – that’s when Mingshu and her team are called in to help AFS customers answer the toughest analytical challenges.”
Bates built the analytics team at AFS from scratch and guides them to apply analytical principles to all business functions. Whether delivering a custom analysis or building a dashboard, a major emphasis is creating opportunities for each teammate to grow, empowering them to lead projects and get direct exposure to senior leadership and customers.
“Rather than wallpapering everything with endless reports, Mingshu’s team provides insights for customers that prompt positive change. They combine a passion for numbers with an understanding of what makes the business and our customers tick,” says Andy Dyer, President, Transportation Management, AFS. “As a leader, Mingshu stands out because she loves her work, enjoys mentoring and building her team, and upholds the AFS values of ethics, engagement and excellence in all that she does.”
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Bates has participated in speaking opportunities from the IQPC Pricing Strategy Conference in Chicago in 2014 to more recent engagements as part of a panel at the 2018 D3 conference in New York City and the Armstrong & Associates 3PL Value Creation Asia Summit in 2021. The aforementioned freight index launched in October 2021, and quarterly releases are regularly referenced by media outlets, including the Associated Press.
Before joining AFS in 2016, Bates spent 16 years at FedEx, building high-performing teams that served various functions in the pricing science, revenue management and global pricing arenas. She studied international economics at Nankai University in China, completing a quantitative-heavy program similar to a modern-day data science major, and went on to graduate studies in economics at the University of Toledo and Ohio State University. In her spare time, Bates dedicates energy to mentoring young professionals, particularly women, in the transportation industry.