❗The Challenge: Millions of Files, Zero Searchability
Imagine trying to find a single piece of paper in a room filled with millions of documents, every single day. That’s what this logistics company was facing with their digital file system.
Their back-end processes were generating millions of file transactions daily. These included:
- EDI documents for B2B communication
- XML files representing supply chain event messages
- Request and response logs tied to specific clients, orders, or shipment IDs
All of these were stored in Azure Blob Storage, a highly scalable cloud-based storage system. But with scale came chaos. Whenever clients or internal teams needed to retrieve a specific file, they had to:
- Manually browse folder structures
- Open files one by one
- Cross-reference metadata or filenames
- Raise IT support tickets for help
🔍 Key limitations:
- No content-based search: Couldn’t search inside files
- No metadata filters: Couldn’t find files by custom attributes like shipment ID, timestamps, or response code
- Slow retrieval: Searching often took hours, and sometimes days
This inefficiency was eating up valuable IT resources and slowing down operations in a high-speed industry.
💡 The Solution: Smart Search with Azure AI Search
To tackle this problem, Enkaytech implemented a scalable, intelligent search solution using Azure AI Search—a cloud-native search-as-a-service platform by Microsoft.
Here’s how we did it:
1️⃣ Connecting the Dots
We connected the company’s existing Azure Blob Storage and a supporting SQL metadata database to Azure AI Search.
This allowed Azure AI Search to:
• Crawl and index all stored files—EDI, XML, PDFs, etc.
• Read and analyze file content
• Extract and link metadata such as transaction type, client ID, timestamps, etc.
2️⃣ AI-Driven Indexing
Azure AI Search acted like a hyper-intelligent librarian. It scanned the content inside files—not just filenames—and built a searchable index that included:
• Keywords and text from documents
• Custom metadata tags
• Filenames and paths
Whether it was an EDI 214 shipment update or a customs clearance XML response, everything became instantly searchable.
3️⃣ User-Friendly UI
We built a sleek web interface that connects to Azure AI Search, allowing users to:
• 🔍 Search by keywords (e.g., PO number, client name)
• 📁 Filter by metadata (e.g., date range, file type, response status)
• 👀 Preview files inline
• ⬇️ Download results instantly
No more hunting for files or waiting for IT.
✅ Real-World Impact
The transformation was immediate and measurable:
⏱️ 95% faster search time
Users can now find any file in under 5 seconds—even from among millions.
📉 60% reduction in IT support tickets
Clients now self-serve using the portal. Fewer escalations to IT.
📈 100% search coverage
Every file and data point—old or new—is indexed and discoverable.
🚀 Scalable with growth
As the business scales, the AI-powered search scales automatically—no additional infrastructure needed.
One of the company’s client service leads shared:
“Previously, searching for one shipment response file could take us 3 hours. Now it takes less than a minute—and I can do it myself.”
📊 Why This Matters (Stats That Speak Volumes)
🧾 According to Gartner, poor data quality and searchability can cost organizations up to $12.9 million per year.
⚙️ The average employee spends 19% of their time searching for and gathering information (McKinsey).
🚚 In logistics, delays cost the global supply chain industry over $15 billion annually (Statista, 2023). Much of this is tied to poor visibility and slow response to disruptions.
By enabling fast access to file-level data, the company gained a competitive edge in transparency, speed, and service delivery.
🔄 The Bigger Picture
What started as a simple file search enhancement turned into a business accelerator. With better visibility and faster access to data:
- Internal teams responded to incidents faster.
- Clients were more empowered and satisfied.
- Data compliance and audit preparedness improved dramatically.
This is not just about search—it’s about giving people the right data at the right time, without the wait.
👨💻 Conclusion
Through our integration of Azure AI Search, this logistics leader turned a mountain of unsearchable data into an agile, AI-driven system that works like Google for their business files.
