What started in 1882 as a single icehouse has grown into certainly one of North America’s most recognizable names in ice. At the moment, Arctic Glacier delivers over two billion kilos of premium ice every year to greater than 65,000 buyer places throughout the U.S. and Canada. Behind each bag of crystal-clear ice is a posh operation powered by logistics, manufacturing and a dedication to high quality.
On the coronary heart of this transformation is an organization that’s not simply maintaining with change—however main it. Arctic Glacier is redefining what it means to be within the ice enterprise, mixing custom with innovation to serve prospects sooner, smarter and extra reliably than ever earlier than.
“Once I joined Arctic Glacier, I noticed a symphony of shifting elements that wanted to work in concord,” stated Doug Saunders, Chief Info Officer at Arctic Glacier. “Completely different sections should work effectively collectively to ship high-quality merchandise to our prospects.”
When legacy methods soften underneath stress
As Arctic Glacier scaled its operations throughout almost 100 services, their legacy methods grew to become a legal responsibility. Every location operated with its personal web supplier and community gear, making a fragmented, pricey and hard-to-manage infrastructure. Groups relied on guide procedures—like handwritten invoices and cellphone calls—to course of orders and resolve points, which proved particularly inefficient throughout peak demand durations like July 4.
The decision for simplification
Saunders acknowledged the necessity for a unified, dependable infrastructure to streamline operations and drive profitability. “Simplification was primary,” he stated. “It was a really advanced expertise atmosphere. We needed to simplify for the end-user expertise.”
With out centralized connectivity, Arctic Glacier struggled to entry real-time knowledge, forecast demand or reply shortly to buyer wants. Meals security compliance added additional complexity, requiring constant high quality management throughout all services. In the meantime, customer support was hampered by the absence of a centralized assist system. “We had no actual means to assist the tip person effectively,” Saunders famous. “There was no service desk, no ticketing system—simply advert hoc troubleshooting.”
To maneuver ahead, Arctic Glacier wanted a standardized community infrastructure, centralized assist and scalable methods to assist real-time decision-making, enhance logistics and improve buyer expertise.
Fashionable instruments for a contemporary ice firm
To assist their rising footprint, Arctic Glacier turned to Lumen to design an answer that may simplify, standardize and scale their expertise atmosphere.
Step one was changing a patchwork of web suppliers with a single, reliable community. Arctic Glacier deployed Lumen® Devoted Web Entry (DIA) high-speed web connections throughout all places. With this complete strategy, Arctic Glacier gained dependable connectivity, simplified billing and centralized community administration.
“We had near 100 places with distinctive circuits and carriers,” stated Saunders. “Now now we have a centralized means to handle all of our community gear by way of Lumen, which has actually taken a load off me and my group.”
A 24/7 managed service desk was launched to offer quick assist, permitting Arctic Glacier’s IT group to shift focus from troubleshooting to strategic initiatives.
“By leveraging Lumen® Managed Providers, we may help our prospects keep lively, on-line and happy,” Saunders defined. “Now, we are able to monitor points, resolve them sooner and determine tendencies earlier than they turn out to be issues.”
The intelligence behind the ice
Past connectivity, Arctic Glacier embraced a set of superior applied sciences to additional drive effectivity:
- IoT sensors had been put in in manufacturing services and merchandiser ice machines to observe ice ranges and vitality utilization. This helped scale back waste and ensured prospects at all times had the ice they wanted.
- AI automation was launched to deal with buyer orders. A digital assistant named “Glenn Glacier” now processes buyer orders routinely, slicing down on cellphone calls and guide entry.
- Superior analytics assist Arctic Glacier predict demand primarily based on climate knowledge and historic tendencies, to allow them to regulate manufacturing and inform dynamic pricing methods.
“We’re constructing a platform that provides instruments to our groups to allow them to get to knowledge shortly and make good enterprise choices,” Saunders stated.
To maintain its infrastructure updated with out massive capital expenditures, Arctic Glacier used Lumen Buyer Offered Gear as a Service (CPEaaS). This mannequin allowed them to refresh their ageing gear over time, with out incurring massive upfront prices.
Collectively, these options helped Arctic Glacier streamline operations, enhance service supply and construct a scalable basis for future progress.
Constructed to carry out, designed to scale
The outcomes of Arctic Glacier’s transformation have been each measurable and significant. By modernizing their infrastructure and embracing automation, Arctic Glacier has considerably improved operational effectivity—boosting automation from 16% to 60% and saving an estimated $1-2 million yearly.
The chilly, onerous outcomes
Arctic Glacier’s transformation has yielded spectacular outcomes:
- Operational effectivity: Automation elevated from 16% to 60%, whereas real-time knowledge and centralized methods streamlined decision-making and diminished guide work.
- Value financial savings: Estimated annual financial savings of $1–2 million, plus preserved capital by way of CPEaaS to reinvest in ongoing infrastructure upgrades like AI, analytics and IoT.
- Improved distribution: IoT-enabled merchandisers offered real-time stock knowledge, decreasing pointless journeys and bettering responsiveness. Furthermore, superior sensors helped Arctic Glacier keep meals security requirements, persistently incomes high audit scores for his or her high-quality, food-safe ice.
- Enhanced buyer expertise: The dependable community and improved distribution processes ensured well timed deliveries and high-quality, food-safe ice merchandise, boosting buyer satisfaction.
- Meals security and compliance: Superior monitoring and filtration methods helped keep excessive audit scores and product integrity.
- Scalability and innovation: A contemporary digital basis helps future progress, together with expanded AI capabilities and dynamic pricing fashions primarily based on climate and occasion knowledge.
By embracing revolutionary options and leveraging superior expertise, Arctic Glacier has reworked its operations, driving effectivity, price financial savings and buyer satisfaction. “We have gotten extra of a tech firm,” stated Saunders. “We use expertise to drive effectivity and income, and to distinguish ourselves from the competitors.”
A partnership constructed on belief
For Doug Saunders, the connection with Lumen could be summed up in a single phrase: belief. “I don’t like to make use of the phrase ‘vendor,’” he stated. “Lumen is a companion. There’s a excessive stage of belief, transparency and collaboration.”
That belief has been constructed by way of years of shared problem-solving and a dedication to delivering worth. With Lumen managing infrastructure, community and voice providers, Arctic Glacier’s IT group is now free to concentrate on innovation. With this digital basis in place, they’re getting ready for the subsequent part of progress: scaling IoT, advancing AI and refining analytics to turn out to be not simply the most important identify in ice, however the smartest.
“We’re not simply preserving the lights on—we’re creating worth,” Saunders stated. “And Lumen is the spine that makes all of it attainable.”
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