Road Freight Transport Company Rakusai Trucking Adopts Platio and Creates Delivery Record App to Ease Burden on Drivers as the ‘2024 Problem in Logistics Industry’ Looms
Press Release
Tokyo — July 26, 2023 — Asteria Corporation (Japan listed, Security Code: 3853) announced today that Kyoto-based Rakusai Trucking Co., Ltd., which provides medium-distance road freight transport services for corporate clients, has introduced no-code*1 mobile app building tool “Platio” and achieved digital transformation (DX) of its shipping operations.
The app created with Platio One, which is intended to help overcome the so-called “2024 problem in the logistics industry”*2, has also been marketed as “PicRAve”.
Background and Impact
B2B delivery companies like Rakusai Trucking, in certain transactions, sometimes load and unload freight at destinations in the absence of the owners of said freight. Documents related to delivery management are also sometimes omitted based on trust with the owners. However, due to the lack of face-to-face interactions, inquiries are increasing about delivery status, weighing on customer service representatives and drivers on the job. Moreover, a lack of documented evidence like delivery notes can lead to problems such as delays and damaged cargo.
To address these issues, Rakusai Trucking considered introducing a mobile app, which would help visualize delivery status. The company has opted for Platio, an easy-to-use no-code platform that allows even those without app development experience to create apps and also enables prompt responses to change requests from field workers and freight owners. Using this platform, the company’s sales manager with no app development experience created the “Delivery Record App” in just two days. The app facilitates sharing of photos and location information during freight collection and delivery.
Using the app, drivers can register schedules and upload images — taken during loading and when the delivery is completed, which are automatically shared with freight owners and customer service representatives. Consequently, the number of inquiries significantly reduced, alleviating the burden on drivers and customer service personnel.
The Delivery Record App also serves as important evidence in cases of suspected cargo loss or damage, enabling swift response and examination of causes. This has so far prevented major incidents, according to Rakusai Trucking. Furthermore, the accumulated data is used to enhance delivery planning and reconsider the required number of trucks, resulting in improved efficiency and cost reduction.
Provision of Delivery Record App “PicRAve” for External Users
Platio One allows business users to commercialize apps built with the platform for external users. Leveraging this feature, Rakusai Trucking began providing delivery record app named “PicRAve”, created based on their knowledge acquired through field operations, for 4,400 yen per user. The aim is to help address “the 2024 problem in the logistics industry” as an industry player.
Message from Rakusai Trucking Co., Ltd.
Keeping delivery records with photos and location information will help protect drivers from potential troubles. As the app sends a push notification to administrators in the case of a shipping delay, they can now respond quickly to unexpected issues.
Furthermore, we can share the loading process with cargo owners through an app, such as by sending the image of an overloaded truck, thereby allowing us to increase the number of freight vehicles before shipment. The utilization of data has proven instrumental in optimizing delivery resources and addressing the impending “2024 problem in the logistics industry”.
Our initiative goes down well with field workers and freight owners. We believe that our industry peers who are struggling with a similar problem can improve their business operations with this app. We hence started providing delivery record app “PicRAve” through Platio One.
SHIRAISHI Tamotsu, general manager of sales department
at Rakusai Trucking Co., Ltd.
<“Delivery Record App” Screen Image>
*1: A mechanism which allows creation of software and apps without writing a single line of code.
Platio users can deploy necessary functions and modify app’s specifications to make it more serviceable at worksites, even if they do not have expertise in a programming language.
*2: A generic term for logistics problems and disruptions likely to be caused by the planned law related to work style reform in the transportation industry, which will come into effect in April 2024.
About Rakusai Trucking Co., Ltd.
Rakusai Trucking is a logistics company of general trading company Masuda Medical Instruments Group, which provides logistics services mainly in the prefectures of Kyoto and Shiga, based on the motto of delivering “a sense of security, trust, and satisfaction to customers.”
For more information, visit https://www.rakusai-trucking.com/ (in Japanese only)
About Asteria Corporation
Established in 1998 as Infoteria Corporation, Asteria developed its first no-code product in 2002. It sells software and services which connect a variety of in-house computers and devices. Its key product, ASTERIA Warp, is middleware which integrates data in different computer systems without coding. As of end-March 2023, 9,931 companies, mainly large and medium ones, had introduced the product. Another product, Handbook, allows users to carry around materials used for sales activities and meetings as well as product catalogues in electronic files on smartphones and tablets. A total of 1,680 companies and public institutions had adopted the product through end-March 2023.
For more information, visit https://en.asteria.com/
About Platio
Platio is a cloud service which allows users to easily create and use mobile apps that fit specific tasks without coding. Platio promotes digitalization at worksites and improves efficiency of manual processes, thereby facilitating digital transformation (DX) of on-site operations. It offers over 100 templates with which workers who have no programming skills can create a business app. Data that users entered into an app is stored in the cloud and will be shared real time the up-to-date status of worksites with managers. Apps also can automatically detect changes in entered data and send an alert to managers so that they can quickly respond to anomalies. Apps for businesses tend to be complex and expensive. As an easy app building solution, Platio won Good Design Award for fiscal 2018. In 2022, Asteria launched “Platio Connect,” which enables not only app creation and utilization, but also data integration without coding. This tool supports data utilization by seamlessly linking on-site data with systems and services.
For more information, visit https://plat.io/
For the press enquiries, please contact KOIZUMI Masumi of Asteria’s PR and IR department.
TEL: +81-3-5718-1297 / E-mail: press@asteria.com
Asteria, Handbook and Platio are registered trademarks of Asteria Corporation.
The names of products are registered trademarks or trademarks of individual companies.