Sanpo-yoshi Communication

President's Column] "My company can't do it" is a thing of the past.

Recently, the terms "AI" and "DX (Digital Transformation)" have been widely used, but many people may feel that "this is just for large companies" or "I don't understand IT well.

In fact, I myself, who speaks so highly of DX, am in the midst of daily DX challenges. For example, I recently switched from "ChatGPT" to Google's "Gemini" as the AI I have been using to gather information and assist in writing. This is because I wondered if I could work more efficiently by linking it with Gmail and Google Calendar, which I use in my daily work.

At first, it took some getting used to, but now I can see the time it takes to draft emails, gather information, and manage schedules has been visibly reduced, and I feel that my own productivity has increased. I realized that if we implemented it company-wide, we could make tremendous improvements, and I began to seriously consider whether we could stop using ZOOM, Excel, Word, and PowerPoint, and just use Google Apps to do our work.
On the other hand, employees also use various AI free plans for their work. They include transcribing business meetings, creating presentation materials, etc. We are currently working with a project team to determine which AI to adopt and what to work on. Currently, a project team is discussing which AI to adopt and what to work on, and they are considering developing a chatbot for young salespeople using NotebookLM and other tools. This will allow young people with insufficient business knowledge to ask and receive answers to their questions anytime and as many times as they wish.

We hope that employees will be able to work more creatively, such as by growing faster, thinking of ideas that will help customers in their spare time, and deepening their contemplation of future business.

It may start with a small question and a little trial and error: "What can I do to make my usual work a little more convenient?" It may start with a small question, "How can we make our usual work a little more convenient?

The labor shortage is becoming more serious, and the price of raw materials is soaring with no foreseeable end in sight. The environment surrounding us small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) is severe, but it is precisely in times like these that I have come to believe that DX from familiar places is the key to open the way to the future. It may be possible to solve some problems by simply learning more about Google's functions without having to install expensive systems.

We can hear you say, "Even so, the initial investment is...". Don't worry. The availability of inexpensive, high-functionality products is changing rapidly.

In addition, "IT introduction subsidies" and other subsidies can be used to partially subsidize the cost of introducing software and purchasing hardware such as PCs and tablets. By making judicious use of these programs, you can take a big step into the future with a minimum burden.

Both my own small challenges and major changes at the plant have the same beginning. It may be the desire to "make it better" and whether or not one takes the first step. I have come to believe that the accumulation of these small successes will eventually become a force that will make a big difference to the entire factory and the future of the company.

Although I am still too young to share my know-how, I feel that the advent of generative AI is the biggest change since the advent of the Internet when I was a young office worker. I am filled with a desire to think and sweat together with you all, and to open up the future.