How Can SAP Make Uber Better

[Former Member]

Uber has completely revolutionized the way passengers hail cabs for their journeys. With one tap, a user may not only hail a cab to their doorstep, but also monitor their navigation along the way. But with more than 5 billion rides taken on Uber till date, managing the service backend and making it better can be hard work.

SAP has built solutions that can dramatically improve the experience on Uber, both for the passenger and the drivers themselves. Although there are over 7 million drivers on the Uber platform, there hasn’t been a lot of third party focus on their experience.

Parking Solutions

Finding a parking spot can be a huge waste of time for drivers, especially those in big cities that are starved of open spaces. Typically, these drivers go around car parks one by one to find one with a spot available. SAP has built a platform that can simplify this process and make it automated. Built with the SAP HANA cloud platform, the SAP software makes use of data from the sat-nav systems to identify the closest car parking space available. When the car approaches the car park barrier, the driver can view details such as the number of spots available, parking fee, etc. on their in-cabin display. Should they choose to go ahead, the system automatically clocks them in and charges them on their way out.

The parking system can also be extended to Uber Freights that focus on cargo shipment through trucks. Truck drivers are required to comply with legal rest times. Trucking companies that work through Uber Freights may also be keen to be know if their drivers and cargo is safe through this period. The Bosch Secure Truck Parking is and IoT based system which was jointly developed by Bosch and SAP allows truck drivers to easily find parking spots on their route and also make advance reservations - this brings together the physical parking spots with cloud based booking systems which makes the whole process easier.

Refueling Solutions

SAP’s IoT systems integrate the backend of a fueling station with the driver’s payment profile. In essence, it is possible for a driver (Uber or even consumer vehicles) to drive to a fueling station, fill their tank and drive away. The backend system powered by SAP could instantly charge your credit card for the volume of fuel. This refueling experience can be further customized by charging your personal or work expenses account depending on the time of the day you filled the tank.

Because the system is already loaded with all details about the driver (their demographic profile, car details, etc.), the fueling station could be fit with TV screens that play advertisements that are targeted at this specific user.

Insurance Solutions

On-demand cars like Uber and Lyft constitute a significant chunk of city traffic. In places like Manhattan, for-hire vehicles like these make up for over 36 percent of all traffic. The staggering number of such vehicles also mean a higher chunk of accidents and insurance claims where these vehicles are involved. SAP based solutions help gather data and interpret them for insurance providers. One way to do this is by fitting the car with black boxes that collect information related to the speed of the car, the amount of sharp braking, the speed at which the cars take corners and so on. This data can be analyzed by insurance providers for claim processing. Meteo Protect, an SAP HANA customer also makes use of weather risk data and geo-location to underwrite policies in real-time.

Such technologies can also help corporate consumers with auditing their travel information. Uber’s pricing is calculated based on factors such as base fare, time in vehicle, distance traveled, booking fee, surge variable and tips. Data from a black box like the one mentioned above can help corporate consumers audit the data provided by Uber in their fee calculation. This auditing process can also be automated and discrepancies be shared with Uber for fraud detection and prevention.

The on-demand economy today goes well beyond the Ubers and Lyfts and is today prevalent in dozens of different industries. SAP’s technologies are relevant in bringing sophistication and intelligence to these systems that can potentially make the future of these products a lot more seamless and automated.