Camanchaca: Streamlining the operation of its logistics center thanks to Google Workspace and AppSheet
About Camanchaca
Chilean company Camanchaca has 55-plus years’ experience feeding the world from the sea. With operations along the Chilean coastline and a commitment to the integrity of its fishing grounds, the company exports salmon, jack mackerel, and shellfish to over 50 countries worldwide.
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Contact usThe company leverages Google Workspace and AppSheet technology to enhance internal collaboration and add value to its logistics services.
Google Cloud results
- 35 apps developed through AppSheet and employed by 100+ users
- +80% adoption rate for Gmail and Calendar in only 2 months
- 100% of users video conferencing through Google Meet
- Better schedules and operations at logistics center
Reduced app deployment time
Since 1965, Camanchaca has exported salmon, jack mackerel, and shellfish from the Chilean coastline directly to over 50 countries worldwide. Structured into four divisions (salmon farming and processing, industrial fishing, mussel and abalone farming, and a Logistics Center), the company’s motto is to "feed the world from the sea" through healthy, nutritious seafood, following sustainable processes.
With over 4,000 employees in Chile, and offices in Mexico, the USA, Japan, and Spain, Camanchaca decided to go digital in its operations in 2020. The goals: facing the challenges of improving infrastructure availability, accelerating data processing, and optimizing its solutions' time-to-market.
Along this modernization journey, Camanchaca has migrated its SAP to Google Cloud, integrated its SAP data into BigQuery using Google Cloud Cortex Framework, and deployed two other solutions that completely changed its way of conducting operations: Google Workspace and AppSheet.
The journey to digitizing manual tasks
The first step in modernizing its logistics center and its related internal operations was to improve internal collaboration among employees to stop depending on manual tasks.
When assessing tools to optimize operations, the cost-benefit ratio and seamless integration of Google Workspace solutions with Google Cloud technologies, which the company was also looking to deploy, really made a difference.
Migrating from its legacy collaboration platform to Google Workspace fulfilled these integration needs, as well as the pursuit of more agile, simple collaboration tools used across the company.
"The main transformation we're bringing into the future is driving a culture of agility and leaving our fear of change behind."
—Andrés Mora, Business Intelligence Lead, CamanchacaCollaboration and automation to simplify daily activities
In January 2021, after exploring the full potential of Google Workspace, Camanchaca started deploying these solutions. In only 3 months, the company migrated each user account from the legacy solution to the new platform, and also trained employees to use it.
Thanks to Gmail, Google Meet, and Drive, the company succeeded in simplifying and centralizing email, video conference, and document-sharing capabilities.
Later, Camanchaca powered team collaboration using tools such as Sheets, Docs, and Slides, thus freeing IT support resources and reducing manual data-loading time.
In turn, AppSheet, Google Cloud’s no-code app development platform, was crucial for systematically and rapidly supporting areas requiring task digitalization and automation. Camanchaca’s teams began using this solution in mid-2021 and, one month after its rollout, the first apps had already been developed.
The company was able to streamline and automate storage services, such as supplies collection, registration, and arrival/departure, within Camanchaca’s Rocuant Logistics Center.
"With AppSheet, our employees can save up to 30% of their time on tasks that previously required pen and paper. This led to new opportunities: by gathering these insights in a database, we can now monitor operations in the logistics center directly from our headquarters."
—Pedro Aguirre, IT Corporate Manager, CamanchacaAdvantages that power business opportunities
Google Workspace tools were very well received by employees, as the use of email and video conference solutions was almost natural to them.
Today, 100% of Camanchaca’s users hold video calls through Google Meet. Two months after deployment, the adoption rate in heavy use of Gmail and Calendar has exceeded 80%.
AppSheet was also adopted almost instantaneously, as it is very easy to use. In fact, Camanchaca created a development center within the Logistics Center, comprising three IT employees and four developers, to roll out basic applications along the tool’s initial adoption period, supported by Google Developer Groups.
Following the deployment of AppSheet, the apps’ time-to-market went down significantly, from months to just days, mainly in areas that could not have been addressed in a traditional way.
This platform currently has 35 apps, which are employed by over 100 users, and six other apps are being developed. Now the company can easily plan any movements within the logistics center, including registering incoming trucks, any transfers inside each warehouse, and departure monitoring.
The seamless integration of AppSheet with BigQuery’s database and Looker Studio was yet another advantage. It enables the company to view insights and reports fast, as well as to improve the coordination and execution of logistics operations. This led to a considerable reduction in truck stay times within the center per day.
Navigating towards the future
Camanchaca’s present is promising as a result of the control it has gained over operations and the addition of AI tools, such as video analytics capabilities to recognize truck plates, identify containers, and even integrate with customers’ IT systems to further streamline operations.
The future lies with enthusiasm and a mindset change to leave the fear of new things behind. The company, inspired by the new possibilities that AI and advanced analytics contribute to process automation, has conducted proofs of concept over chatbots and virtual assistants.
Another goal is to modernize app creation using AppSheet to meet the high digitalization demand that some areas still face, and also overcome any new challenges using Google Workspace and Google Cloud.
"Google is known for its partnership and support culture for companies’ endeavors. As it believes in our business vision, we can turn many ideas into reality. Although we focus on salmon sales, with Google Cloud and Google Workspace, we’re a factory of ideas."
—Andrés Mora, Business Intelligence Lead, CamanchacaTell us your challenge. We're here to help.
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About Camanchaca
Chilean company Camanchaca has 55-plus years’ experience feeding the world from the sea. With operations along the Chilean coastline and a commitment to the integrity of its fishing grounds, the company exports salmon, jack mackerel, and shellfish to over 50 countries worldwide.