Remember the April 21 IPL match at Bengaluru? Time: 23.51. Eight runs needed from two balls. Dhoni hits a six and it’s a run-out on the last ball. Royal Challengers Bangalore win by one run over Chennai Super Kings. Apart from Dhoni’s dramatic innings, there was another player on the field, quietly working on the sidelines — a potential cricket precision tool.

Typically, when a ball swings, experts ascribe it to the condition of the pitch, but in this particular match there was an added dose of information. Weather data. “It was a ‘Big Data meets cricket’ moment. Along with data about the pitch, we also provided the atmospheric condition,” says Kartik Kannan, Principal Product Manager, Cricket.com., a newly launched cricket content platform by Head Digital Works, better known for its rummy site Ace2Three.

“Weather conditions can actually swing the ball. That is not tracked by anyone, though it is a very visible aspect of the game,” says Kannan.

Cricket.com is now combining weather data provided by The Weather Company, an IBM Business outfit, along with match data at a deep level to help fans better understand the game. By offering pocket size data insights, the platform hopes to differentiate itself from other cricket content providers.“Most cricket sites only state the current score. What we are looking to provide is what will potentially happen. With the help of these additional factors we are helping fans stay ahead of the game,” says Kannan. The precision tool is in the midst of being built, with the company looking to debut it for the World Cup in England.

Weather data is turning out to be a game changer not just for Cricket.com but a host of other enterprises as well. From shipping to aviation and energy, to fast food, retail and logistics, companies are using weather data to remain one step ahead.

Himanshu Goyal, India Business Leader, The Weather Company, says, “As data-driven decision making makes significant inroads in India, weather advisory is serving as the first step in the business planning process.”

Goyal describes how weather data is “helping airlines to better minimise disruption from turbulence, insurers to better prepare for storm recovery operations, utility companies to better position repair crews for outages, marine consultants to save fuel in vessel management, retail and pharmaceutical supply chains to better project inventory needs and plan staffing in hospitals for improved patient care.”

Of course, agri business was one of the first users of weather data, helping farmers and agri enterprises make informed decisions. But let’s look at a few other sectors where weather data has changed the game.

Charting new paths

Take marine consultancy XShip Design & Analytics. The company specialises in vessel performance analysis and caters to the life cycle of a ship from design, construction, operation until end of service. Given the need for accurate weather forecasting combined with technical innovation to predict how weather can affect vessel performance, XShip teamed up with The Weather Company.

Route optimisation is a major feature for the shipping industry, which is developed based on weather forecasts. The fuel consumption of a ship is dependent on its speed, cargo and environmental conditions. XShip has a proprietary algorithm that can calculate the fuel consumption for any of these factors with an accuracy of 90-95 per cent.

Using accurate marine weather forecasts, XShip can now suggest optimal routes where fuel consumption will be less and the estimated time of arrival is met even if the distance travelled is high.

For SafeExpress, a logistics company, too, weather data has come as a boon. In a first-of-its kind collaboration in India where weather insights were used to plan logistics for ground transportation, SafeExpress has cut risks, and maximised productivity and efficiency.

Each year, the trucking industry loses 32.6 billion trucking hours globally to weather-related events. Weather causes 28 per cent of highway crashes, 19 per cent of fatalities and 23 per cent of delays across the globe.

With advance information, planning can be better. “There are two ways of using weather,” says Kapil Mahajan, CIO, SafeExpress Pvt Ltd. “For customers, we are able to give them insights as to how their delivery could get impacted if acute weather conditions exist. The other part is for the company’s hubs.”

SafeExpress has 50-odd mega hubs, which are consolidation centres, with each hub hosting 200-300,15-tonne trucks. Collaborating with The Weather Company, SafeExpress provides hyperlocal weather insights into their web portal and app to keep their operations managers, drivers and other staff informed about approaching weather perils. Thanks to all this data, come rain or shine, companies can cope well. No longer can the weather be an excuse.

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