Meet Trimble’s Tawni Marrs: A 2024 Women in Supply Chain Honoree

We’re excited to announce that Tawni Marrs, lead data scientist for Trimble Transportation and Logistics, was recently named as a “Rising Star” recipient of the 2024 Women in Supply Chain award from Food Logistics Magazine and Supply & Demand Chain Executive.

This award honors young or newer professional female supply chain leaders and executives whose accomplishments, mentorship and examples set a foundation for women in all levels of a company’s supply chain network. Additionally, Marrs was recently featured in FleetOwner’s 2024 Women in Transportation issue, which profiled several women who are shaping the transportation industry. And earlier this year, we highlighted Marrs alongside several other leading women at Trimble in our International Women’s Day celebration.

Marrs is a passionate and kind leader who has pioneered efforts to help the supply chain industry solve complex problems with innovative solutions built on data. As the transportation industry has continued to evolve and embrace the role of data in strategic decision-making, Marrs has helped Trimble lead the charge toward a more data-driven, inclusive and innovative future. 

Congratulations, Tawni! Can you tell us a little bit about your background in data science and what you do at Trimble? 

I began my career as a consultant across various industries before joining Innovative Software Engineering, which was later acquired by Trimble in 2017. My early days at Trimble were met with a steep learning curve, but this challenge ignited my passion for helping customers optimize their shipping networks! 

Since then, with the help of others, I’ve built a career I am enormously proud of at Trimble, where I have had the opportunity to play a role in research and development initiatives focused on data science. I currently have a decade of experience in software development and data science and oversee a diverse team of six data scientists and software engineers from around the world.

My fascination with the complexity of the transportation industry has driven me to help develop innovative solutions that improve network efficiency. I’m really enthusiastic about taking the vast amounts of data this industry presents and turning it into actionable insights that make the job of the shipper and carrier alike easier and more efficient, ultimately benefiting the entire world.

One of the achievements I am most proud of is the creation of our Tender Evaluation solution, a tool that assists carriers in making critical decisions about tender acceptance based on historical network data.

What kind of impact do you see your work making on the transportation industry at large?

I’m very proud of my work on our Tender Evaluation solution, which has enabled carriers to make more informed decisions, leading to more efficient operations. By analyzing historical data and assigning grades to incoming tenders, this solution helps carriers determine whether a tender will fit within their network, optimizing resource allocation and reducing inefficiencies.

Beyond my technical contributions, I’m a strong advocate for diversity and bringing a wide variety of voices to the table. I make it a point to create an inclusive environment for my team at Trimble and am involved in programs like Kansas City Women in Technology, which is focused on addressing the underrepresentation of women and diverse voices in technology.

By promoting a culture of inclusivity and encouraging diverse perspectives, I believe we can drive innovation and help to shape a more equitable future for the industry!

What are you most excited to work on in the closing months of 2024 and into 2025?

Looking ahead, I’m focused on tackling the critical issue of data governance in the transportation industry. Many transportation technologies were not designed to meet today’s modern data needs, which means that there is a lot of work to be done to standardize data fields and ensure consistency across systems. My team is working to overcome these obstacles to derive meaningful insights from the substantial amounts of data produced by transportation companies.

Another major initiative I’m involved in is the development of tools to forecast carrier networks. By using historical data to predict future events and trends, this decision-making tool aims to help transportation businesses prepare for uncertainty and make more informed decisions. The ability to forecast network conditions will allow carriers to optimize their operations, reduce empty miles and improve overall efficiency, benefiting both the industry and the environment.

If you’re interested in how you can make the most of your business’s data and gain more actionable insights, contact our team for a free consultation.