Case Study｜Tosoh Corporation

*Scenes of the application of the system in the sales field can also be seen in the video.

Despite efforts to standardize and streamline operations, data entry work is becoming a burden on the frontline. 

-What is the nature of your company's business? 

Yaeshima: Tosoh Corporation is a manufacturer and seller of curtain rails, blinds, and roll screens. Our sales are about 20 billion yen, of which 10 billion yen is curtain rails. The company has nearly half of the domestic market share for curtain rails, and is proud to have historically introduced the style of double-hanging thick curtains and lace in Japan. The remaining 10 billion yen comes from sales of roll screens and other blinds, which rank third in Japan. 

-What is the background of the introduction of UPWARD? 

Mr. Yaeshima: We are in an old industry with an old structure where information is in people's heads, so we thought we needed to standardize our operations by introducing tools and organizing the information to be input. We have a relatively low turnover rate, but in this era of serious labor shortages, we wanted to improve our retention rate by standardizing and making operations easier to understand. 

Sato: In FY2022, we established a new department to promote digital transformation and have been working to improve internal efficiency. Since there were many labor-providing tasks in the sales field and we had issues with the number of visits, we knew we needed a tool to improve the efficiency of our sales activities. 

Previously, another tool had been introduced, but it was difficult to enter information on the spot after the visit, and the information had to be entered on a computer after returning to the office. As a result, the input process itself was stressful for the field, and it was difficult to increase the number of information entries. To solve these problems, we decided to introduce UPWARD. 

The deciding factor is the intuitive and easy-to-understand UI

-What were the deciding factors for the introduction of UPWARD? 

Sato: The most important point was a simple and easy-to-understand UI. If the tool is not intuitive and easy to use for the sales representatives who actually use it, they will not be able to use it, and the introduction will be meaningless. 

-What was the response in the field to the test implementation? 

Sato: We conducted a test implementation in three departments in route sales and received many positive comments. When we conducted a survey, we received comments such as, "The map function is easy to understand and makes it easy to get to the next sales destination," "It is very easy to input information, so there is no stress in the reporting process as before," and "Information can be shared in real time, so communication with the supervisor has become smoother. 

Using UPWARD for mobile daily report reporting and on-the-spot visits 

-How do you use UPWARD in your business? 

Mr. Otsuki: Immediately after visiting a customer, I enter the details of the exchange into UPWARD. I also search for customers in the vicinity while traveling and visit them on the way home, for example, "Let's drop by on the way home. 

The number of daily reports entered after 5:00 p.m. has been reduced by approximately 50%. Time after returning to the office can now be used for other tasks. 

-What are some of the changes you have seen since the introduction of the system? 

Sato: The introduction of UPWARD has changed the time of day when we input daily reports. We used to input them after returning to the office, but now we input them on the spot immediately after a visit, which has the advantage of accumulating highly fresh information. 

I also feel that it is a tool that changes the way I work, as I can use the time after returning to the office for other tasks by completing reports in the gap time. 

Overseas business in the mid- to long-term. Flexibly develop model cases of efficiency improvement for business expansion. 

-What is your outlook for the future? 

Mr. Yaeshima: We define our core business as "domestic, housing, and windows. However, with the number of households and construction starts declining, the future of these businesses is grim. Therefore, we are calling for doing the opposite of these in the mid- to long-term: "overseas, non-residential, and non-window". There is no doubt that there will be more to do in the future, so we would like to formulate a model case of efficiency improvement that we are working on now and expand it while flexibly updating it. 

Mr. Sato: With the introduction of UPWARD, it has become easier to grasp the activities of our sales force. In the future, while increasing the volume of activities, I hope to boost the company by creating an environment in which salespeople can focus on the activities they should be doing, such as by analyzing their activities thoroughly and outsourcing what they can do.