Sanpo-yoshi Communication

President's Column] I can quickly create business applications even though I have a liberal arts background.

Toyoetsu, a.k.a. actorEtsushi ToyokawaAre you very interested in this commercial by Mr.
Although we have not adopted this service from Company S, we have been holding a monthly AI utilization contest for all employees for several months now. We heard that a major consulting firm was doing the same thing, and we immediately adopted it. The purpose of the contest is to draw everyone's attention to AI by making them realize that such things can be done with AI, and to encourage them to try AI in any case. Various examples of applications are entered every month. We also offer prizes to the top three winners.

The monthly winners are examples of "apps" that use generative AI and other technologies to improve their own business operations without special programming knowledge. These include an app that automatically calculates shipping costs, an app that calculates the number of sheets from the diameter of a roll of excess stickers, and an app that works with a smartphone to manage the number of steps taken and display internal rankings and other information.

Minor inconveniences can be found anywhere in the company. If all employees can work together to solve these problems with the application, they will find it convenient, and employees will become more motivated. It has only been a few months since we started, but I expect that as this builds up, groundbreaking apps will be created. It would be exciting to think that eventually one of these apps will give birth to an app that can be sold externally.

To raise this bottom line, about 30 selected employees are taking Googleworkspace and AI training from an outside IT training company. (I am also taking the course.) New initiatives are expensive, but the government is strongly encouraging reskilling (relearning) in small and medium-sized enterprises.

Our company is utilizing the "Subsidy for Human Resource Development Support (Reskilling Support Course for Business Development, etc.)" provided by the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare. This subsidy covers the cost of training for workers covered by employment insurance. 75% of the training cost is subsidized for small and medium-sized enterprises. (Management is not eligible for the subsidy.)

Specifically, each company can receive subsidies of up to 100 million yen per year, with a maximum of 300,000 yen per employee per training session, making it possible to significantly reduce expenses, for example, by paying only 87,000 yen for training that costs approximately 400,000 yen.

Since the completion of the new plant, fixed costs have increased and we are still in a difficult situation in terms of profit, but we have made a bold decision to invest in digital technology because we see it not as a mere expense, but as an "investment in people" for stable management in the future. First of all, we would like to find small "waste" in the field and start with a step to change it digitally.