CBcloud: Driving a brighter future for delivery people with Google Maps Platform
About CBcloud
CBcloud is a Japanese logistics platform that deploys advanced technology to optimize the matching of freelance drivers with delivery jobs. Founded in 2013 on a mission to empower drivers, CBcloud has grown into Japan's biggest digital delivery platform through unique applications that directly connect drivers to jobs and guarantee them a fair wage. The startup today has over 55,000 registered drivers and 1,000 contracts with common carriers across Japan through a 99.2% matching rate.
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Contact usCBcloud created a groundbreaking logistics platform, drove a mission to empower delivery people with digital innovation, and gained a network of 55,000 registered drivers and 1,000 contracts with common carriers across Japan with Google Maps Platform.
Google Cloud results
- Empowers drivers to complete jobs faster through delivery planning optimization
- Ensures timely delivery by slashing time required to calculate distance and price by up to 60%
- Relieves drivers of manual burdens through 80% time savings in route and parcel loading tasks
Cut logistics planning time in half
Ryuichi Matsumoto began working at his father's chilled delivery business as a freight driver, gaining firsthand knowledge of the difficulties these workers face making a decent living while working grueling hours. An entrepreneur in the making, he dreamt of improving the working conditions of delivery people, and ensuring fair wages and better opportunities, by overcoming chronic problems such as staff shortages, operational inefficiencies, and multiple middlemen taking a slice of fees.
After taking over the family business in 2013, Matsumoto was inspired by his experiences on the road to launch CBcloud, a digital delivery platform committed to improving drivers' lives. CBcloud leads logistics industry digital transformation through its PickGo platform, which directly connects shippers to freelance drivers, and SmaRyu Post, a mobile app that enables drivers to calculate optimal routes and parcel sorting for home deliveries, among other products.
"Thanks to a range of Google Maps Platform APIs and SDKs, we're able to achieve our dream of empowering drivers with digital solutions that enable them to take control of their lives."
—Taichirou Tokumori, Software Development Engineer, CBcloudTo succeed in its mission, CBcloud needed powerful mapping tools to optimize the matching of jobs with drivers, calculate the fastest itineraries for multiple drop-offs, and accurately identify delivery points through addresses, landmarks, or coordinates. It also sought agile SDKs (software development kits) to build mobile apps that feature dynamic and intuitive mapping information.
By turning to Google Maps Platform, CBcloud gained valuable solutions to advance its mission of propelling the digital transformation of Japan's delivery sector, in areas such as contributing to the revitalization of struggling rural regions, while empowering drivers.
"Logistics is an industry that fundamentally supports our lives. It's essentially the circulatory system of society. Yet in an age of COVID and remote work, drivers face an increasing burden without benefitting from corresponding rewards or recognition," says Taichirou Tokumori, Software Development Engineer, CBcloud. "Thanks to a range of Google Maps Platform APIs and SDKs, we're able to achieve our dream of empowering drivers with digital solutions that enable them to take control of their lives."
Driving transformative logistics innovation with Google Maps Platform APIs
Delivery people in Japan traditionally carry out route-planning and parcel-loading based on drop-off order in a manual process that relies on experience and rough visual estimates. It's an inefficient process that often requires significant time simply to pinpoint a delivery location, especially when the driver is unfamiliar with the territory.
With the COVID outbreak, a new difficulty emerged as the dramatic growth of ecommerce caused drivers to struggle to keep up with the demands thrown at them. These situations led CBcloud to expand the use of its SmaRyu Post solution, a mobile app that automates the process of delivery planning. This goal is achieved through a "routing function" that calculates everything from delivery address to optimal routing, and a "loading position indicator function" that determines the location in the vehicle for each parcel, according to drop-off order.
"With both the Places API and the Places SDK, we can easily establish the correct address by entering a building name and dropping a pin on the map. This combination is indispensable for improving user experience."
—Taichirou Tokumori, Software Development Engineer, CBcloudIn order to run SmaRyu Post in conjunction with the existing PickGo system, CBcloud deploys a full panoply of Google Maps APIs and SDKs in an integrated architecture. For app development, the startup relies on Maps SDK for Android to build mobile solutions that display dynamic maps in user-friendly fashion. The apps then rely on Maps JavaScript API as the core tool for loading and displaying various kinds of location information, such as landmarks and roads, within the app. The startup deploys Directions API as the main service to calculate distances for optimal routing, while Geocoding API converts user addresses into precise coordinates. Meanwhile, the innovative use of Places API has proven crucial for last-mile delivery. "With the Places API, we can easily establish the correct address by entering a building name and dropping a pin on the map," says Tokumori. "This combination is indispensable for improving user experience."
Delivering operational impact and improved quality of life
Powered by Google Maps Platform, says Tokumori, PickGo and SmaRyu Post enable drivers on average to cut in half the entire planning process for delivery, including job-driver matchmaking, route planning, and parcel loading.
"A key factor in our success is an intuitive interface that makes using the app easy even for beginners," says Tokumori. "Google Maps Platform APIs and SDKs make this possible, both through user-friendliness and the familiarity people around the world already have with Google Maps, which makes using the apps second nature."
The results of deploying a dynamic ecosystem of Google Maps Platform solutions have been significant. PickGo achieved a reduction of between 50% and 60% in the time needed for calculating distance and price from the point it receives an order thanks to Google Maps APIs. SmaRyu Post, meanwhile, has slashed the time needed for working out optimal routing and parcel loading by 80% compared to the time drivers performed these tasks manually.
"By putting a renewed spotlight on drivers who are the heroes of the delivery industry, we're finding creative applications for Google Maps Platform APIs to discover new opportunities for purpose in life, work, and society."
—Taichirou Tokumori, Software Development Engineer, CBcloudDeploying Google Maps Platform APIs such as Maps Javascript API, Directions API, and Geocoding API, CBcloud has built a network of 55,000 registered drivers and 1,000 contract with common carriers across Japan, enjoying a 99.2% matching rate, with the average matching time between delivery request and driver at under one minute.
The advantages Google Maps Platform brings go beyond such operational achievements to help drive CBcloud's broader mission of lifting the livelihoods of drivers.
"We seek to unleash the hidden value and potential of people through the power of technology," says Tokumori. "By putting a renewed spotlight on drivers who are the heroes of the delivery industry, we're finding creative applications for Google Maps Platform APIs to discover new opportunities for purpose in life, work, and society."
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About CBcloud
CBcloud is a Japanese logistics platform that deploys advanced technology to optimize the matching of freelance drivers with delivery jobs. Founded in 2013 on a mission to empower drivers, CBcloud has grown into Japan's biggest digital delivery platform through unique applications that directly connect drivers to jobs and guarantee them a fair wage. The startup today has over 55,000 registered drivers and 1,000 contracts with common carriers across Japan through a 99.2% matching rate.