Why was the DX Promotion Project necessary?

Kyoto Research Park is famous as a base for creating new industries in Kyoto.

Kadowaki: Kyoto Research Park (KRP) is a new industry creation hub where R&D companies and industrial support organizations in Kyoto Prefecture and Kyoto City line the streets. For over 30 years, KRP has been providing a variety of spaces and mechanisms for interaction as a place for emergence. In addition to co-working spaces, offices, and rental laboratories, we also provide Kyoto's largest laboratory space, which is the only one of its kind in Japan. From the perspective of urban private management, we are the only one of our kind in the country, and this is one of our major features. Currently, KRP is a town where approximately 6,000 players work, representing about 500 companies and organizations.

Why the DX Promotion Project Started

Kadowaki: When I became president in 2022, paper workflows and approval procedures using stamps still remained, and IT had not yet been fully implemented as a business foundation. The company was run by a small number of elite members and the field was extremely busy every day, which is why I felt the need to change the way we worked. I had worked on DX at Osaka Gas in the past, but I felt that if we suddenly used the keyword DX, the field would feel like "something amazing has fallen from the sky," which would create a sense of distance, so we decided to first make the work visible and then proceed with the improvements necessary to solve the problems.

Umeda: When I joined the company, IT was already at the forefront of the group, and mobile devices were quickly introduced, allowing people to work even while on business trips, creating a relatively advanced work environment. On the other hand, as the IT department was integrated with the sales and technology department, general affairs department, human resources and other business departments, I felt that IT itself was stagnating. Even when employees expressed dissatisfaction with the work environment, there was no progress, so we just had to put up with it and somehow make do with Excel. In that sense, there were many issues on the ground that needed to be addressed.

Being a small organization, it is possible for the company to overtake leading group companies.

Kadowaki: Osaka Gas has made considerable progress in IT, but has not yet made any fundamental changes to the way it works. Large companies have complex systems and a legacy that has been built up over time, so it is difficult to promote a change in employees' mindset. On the other hand, KRP is a small organization of about 80 people and has no legacy, so I believe that in three years we can make a transformation that will overtake them in one go.

The essence of DX is not "mastering IT"

Mr. Kadowaki: So-called DX is often mistaken for "mastering cutting-edge IT," but in reality, it is more important to speed up decision-making, delegate authority to the field, and create an environment and culture that allows business to be promoted through trial and error. However, KRP was unable to create an ideal environment right away. Therefore, we thought that we should first improve the problems in daily work and increase the motivation of the field, and then set a goal to aim for, so we started a project to improve business operations.

Although the work situation is visible to a certain extent, there are still some shortcomings in terms of whether superiors are able to properly visualize the work and whether employees are aware of each other's work. Since I first took up the position, I have felt that work reform was halting due to the excessive use of Excel files managed by individuals, and this project has brought this to my keen awareness once again.

The reason the business was still going strong was probably because KRP has a big brand in Kyoto and was in a fortunate situation where many related parties approached us, so there were quite a few members on the ground who did not feel the need for improvement. On the other hand, outside the company, changes are coming at an incredible speed, and real estate digital transformation is also progressing, so it is questionable how long the current style of real estate rental business will last. I felt that it was necessary to make the members within the company feel a sense of crisis about this wave of change.

Progress since the project began

First year of the DX project

Kadowaki: When I first took up my post, we were introducing a large-scale system, but to be honest, it didn't go well because many of the members were working multiple jobs. In a situation where there were insufficient human resources, investments could not be made satisfactorily, and I understood well that the field staff were struggling. I saw this as a great opportunity to convey "Let's change the current environment," so I created an organization to promote the project and secured the budget, which was not sufficient.

Kunimi: I was the sole administrator for the first year of the DX project, and we started without knowing what exactly we were going to do when we said DX. In addition, we had a project where the system implementation was not progressing as expected, and we also saw the issue of insufficient data sharing within the company, so we recognized that we needed to move away from paper and Excel management. Since I had experience designing systems for contracts and building management in the real estate rental industry in my previous job, I had created a roadmap for preparing tools even before Macnica joined the project. Taking this background into account, we moved forward with the first year of the project together with Ajioka and Macnica, who joined us midway through.

Kadowaki: We were introduced to Macnica by a consultant who helped us out when we were at Osaka Gas. We had asked a consulting firm to help us out, but it didn't fit our budget or the speed we wanted. It was an approach that involved backcasting from an ideal situation, but I think one of the reasons we didn't have the structure in place to meet that was a factor. In that situation, we were introduced to Macnica again, and they worked closely with us to address the issues at hand, so we feel like we made a great connection.

Kunimi-san: Even at that time, communication tools were insufficient, and paper-based operations were still deeply rooted, which made the issue of company-wide information sharing apparent. We asked a consulting firm to improve the situation, but we couldn't come to an agreement on the budget. Since I was the only member and had a dual role, we were in a difficult situation, with insufficient resources to organize the work flow.

Umeda: We were in a situation where we couldn't move forward just by receiving wisdom, so we were looking for someone who could work with us even in a situation where we lacked internal resources. However, Kadowaki pointed out that "it's probably not sustainable if the DX Promotion Department is the only one to take the lead." Therefore, we thought it was necessary to keep in mind that we needed to aim for an environment where each department could work together and independently advance DX.

Kadowaki:KRP never had the idea of recruiting or building an organization of super talent with DX knowledge. In the coming era, tools will be available that allow employees to improve their work while they are doing it, and collaboration with external parties will continue to grow, so it would be ideal for each employee to have the awareness that "I am a DX talent." For that reason, we picked people from each organization who are open to new things and created a cross-company project.

Kunimi: We thought that young members who have a certain level of literacy and can communicate appropriately would be suitable, so Umeda picked members from each department and asked them to participate in the project as representatives. We are fortunate that we are not a large organization, so we were able to successfully assign members who are proactive in taking on new challenges.

Current status of DX promotion projects

From identifying issues to creating a roadmap and introducing tools

Kadowaki: We have been able to sort out the issues on the ground and create a roadmap for DX, and concrete measures have already begun to be implemented. If we can get this operation established in the next year, we should be able to bring ourselves up to the same level as Osaka Gas. I think it is wonderful that we have been able to recover so much in the past year. Although we are a small company, we were once a vertically organized company, but we have created a cross-sectional environment that brings together members from each department, and we have consolidated the improvement measures to solve the many issues, which number more than 100, into about three major areas, which we are currently working on by prioritizing them. I have heard that employees are now able to speak out spontaneously about what they should do most and the priorities, and this is an ideal situation, including human resource development.

Umeda: We will be fully implementing the tools from now on, but each member must have high expectations for improved work efficiency. From a situation where work kept coming at us one after another and we didn't have time to think about new things, we will gradually see how to make time, and by improving our work with tools, we will be able to secure new time and do what we want. KPR is a company that supports companies and organizations that create new innovations, so we probably all want to work in an innovative way ourselves, and we are gradually getting closer to that goal.

Kunimi: In the first year, we aimed to create a roadmap for the future, and we were able to proceed according to schedule. The areas that each department needs to strengthen are progressing ahead of schedule, and we plan to continue supporting them. On the other hand, the environment for Microsoft Teams, cloud storage Box, and some generative AI to solve communication issues is in place throughout the company, but because it was introduced earlier than scheduled, there are still issues regarding how to deploy it in the field. In particular, with regard to education, we plan to provide in-house training for all employees, including how to use it.

Ajioka: I joined the project midway through, but at that time, each department had not yet been informed of a substantial business plan, and it was unclear what measures were to be taken. Therefore, with the aim of at least achieving a competitive advantage in mind, we proceeded to identify and analyze issues, prioritize them, and then consider profit strategies. In terms of specific measures, we received a proposal to roll out account-based marketing across the entire company, utilizing the customer data infrastructure that had been implemented in some departments, and we have also begun working on this with Macnica.

Operational and management efficiency are included in the mid-term plan, but with Kadowaki's intention to use digital transformation to create an environment where employees can feel motivated, we have set this as a goal in the roadmap up to 2025. In addition to improving operational efficiency, Kadowaki's intention to ensure that management decisions are quickly implemented at the workplace and that each department head takes risks and challenges while encouraging young employees to take action is reflected in this.

What has changed through the initiative?

Kadowaki: As a result of having them collect and organize all of the more than 120 issues and turn them into concrete measures, rather than simply sticking up Post-it notes with the issues written on them, they carefully digitized and consolidated all of this information, and were ultimately able to connect the voices of the field to management issues.

Kunimi-san: We selected project managers from each department and held a kickoff to start the project, but we had many concerns about their mental preparation and advance preparation. However, once the project started, we were able to collect a large number of post-it notes with the issues written on them in a short period of time, which was a good thing in terms of sorting out the issues.

Ajioka: For me, the advice on reporting to management was helpful. If they are anxious, they may bombard me with questions, so now I am conscious of building trust and making regular reports as much as possible. This time, we were working on improving back-office operations, so there are certainly some aspects that cannot be immediately reflected in the costs and ordinary profits that are emphasized. However, by incorporating indicators such as labor productivity and employee satisfaction, we have been able to take an approach that can be understood by management.

Expectations for the future

Educational initiatives for administrators will become increasingly important in the future

Kadowaki: From now on, I would like the key people who participated in the project to effectively spread their know-how to their own organizations. However, there will surely be times when it is difficult to develop as ideal. At such times, it is necessary for the superiors to support the members. Therefore, in the future, management education will become more and more important. It is especially important for older superiors to have the courage to give younger members a chance, and I always tell myself this. On the other hand, the speed of technological development such as generative AI is explosive, so we must not forget to keep up with technological trends. We have just taken the first step, and I would like to transform into an organization that can continue to change.

Umeda: The group is introducing online training on sites such as Udemy for its employees, so we are grateful that we can take that training. I think that by taking that training, we will be able to see our situation and position again. I hope that it will not be just about introducing the tools and being done with it, but that a real change in mindset will occur.

Ajioka: We will be able to steadily move forward with the introduction of new tools, including communication tools, as Osaka Gas will be taking the lead. On the other hand, we believe that the biggest challenge this year will be developing a marketing environment that will differentiate us from other companies. We plan to continue to receive support from Macnica, but there is a possibility that it will become a legacy system once the members who are thinking about it are gone. In order to continue this initiative beyond 2025, it is important to develop human resources in each department. We can rely on external help to acquire know-how, but there is no doubt that in the future we will need to develop leaders who can truly promote it.

Expectations for adoption of tools and data utilization

Kunimi: We will be introducing the tools in earnest from now on, but it is important to stabilize them first. Since the tools will be used while working on-site, I'm sure there will be some difficult situations, but I want to deal with them well. Once we have collected various data that will form the basis of our business, we will quickly determine how to utilize them and what to link them to.

Umeda: It goes without saying that data is used in the real estate rental business, but we have not been able to use the data we are acquiring in our innovation emergence activities for marketing until now. In the future, we would like to continue to ask Macnica for their support so that we can effectively combine these data and utilize them in new initiatives.

Kyoto Research Park Co., Ltd.

Business

Research park development and management

Founded

October 1, 1989

Number of Employees

78 (as of April 2024)

website

https://www.krp.co.jp/

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