KANADEN Digital Transformation
We engage in our KANADEN DX initiatives as part of the “ES-C2025” medium-term management plan, with such initiatives encompassing two phases. The first phase is “reform-oriented DX,” which entails optimizing and furthermore advancing reforms with respect to our existing businesses in alignment with changing business dynamics. The second phase is “proactive action-oriented DX,” which entails shifting our management resources created through such reforms to growth fields. The “reform-oriented DX” phase entails updating integrated core systems with completion slated for FY2024. The “proactive action-oriented DX” phase entails establishing a consortium, new business models, and new business domains. In turning to our KANADEN DX initiative, we seek to further boost our competitiveness by more extensively developing our on-site capabilities in a manner linked to our individual-specific strengths and organizational strengths.
KANADEN DX roadmap
Reform-oriented DX
Reform of sales management
We have adopted a KPI-based management approach with our sights set on achieving sales management reform. We seek to strengthen our competitiveness by using our already adopted Salesforce platform, analyzing sales data, and enlisting AI technology.
Reform of sales organizations and enhancement of the quality of sales activities
Through the establishment of the Inside Sales Division, which utilizes digital marketing, we seek to diversify our customer contact points and improve our ability to provide information and our proposal capabilities.
Improvement of productivity and enhancement of asset utilization
Our efforts will involve going digital with our sales operations using the Salesforce platform, expanding business hours, and increasing productivity across the entire Company by streamlining clerical work through adoption of SAP solutions. We will furthermore build an environment conducive to swift situational assessment and decision making by linking Salesforce and SAP.
Proactive action-oriented DX
Consortium formation
We aim to form a “KANADEN Consortium” that ensures connections among our customers, partner companies, and the Company, underpinned by the trust and track records amassed by the Company over many years. We will build an “ecosystem” digital infrastructure for supporting the consortium, to serve as a next generation platform where buyers and sellers come together and execute transactions.
Establishing new business models
We will shift the management resources we create by increasing productivity to new businesses and new services. We will also collect customer information as well as details on market trends and ideas in seeking to enter new fields of business that are not constrained by our existing businesses.
Introduction of sales support system
Previously the sales representatives in each division responded individually to customers, which tended to result in proposals with limited and passive content. In addition, due to inadequate sharing within the Company of the status of transactions, it took time to propose optimal solutions that leveraged the collective strength of the Company, which led to opportunity losses. Utilizing the sales support system we introduced in 2021, we will improve sales quality through more appropriate management, and create strategic and speedy solutions by sharing information with the Company.
- Point1 Creating optimal proposals for customers through the sharing of sales information
- We will use the system to share sales information with all employees, bringing together knowledge and ideas, enabling us to generate proposals with content optimized for customers, and create new businesses.
- Point2 Strengthening sales activity management to further improve sales quality
- Based on data derived from the customer information and business meeting process shared in the SFA system, we will take steps to promote better communication between sales representatives and managers, facilitating prompt and appropriate management.
- Point3 Creating a broad range of contact opportunities with customers through the use of digital marketing
- We will utilize the introduction of digital marketing to leverage non-face-to-face promotions, and increase the number of contact points with customers.
By then sharing this information with all employees, we will link it to the creation of proposals for customers.
- Point4 Creating new solutions
- We will create new solutions by accumulating customer needs and our partner companies’ technical information (seeds) and matching them.
Digital transformation of the sales framework using
a product website and inside sales
To promote KANADEN DX, we established the Digital Marketing Division and launched the KANADEN product website.
Meanwhile, our product website showcases 1,000 products of 320 companies. We continuously upgrade content with the aims of making the website easier for our customers to understand, making it easier to navigate, and making it more appealing.
To strengthen the inside sales system, This has involved streamlining conventional sales processes, building a sales promotion framework based on sales strategies and account planning, and establishing a hybrid sales approach that combines inside sales and field sales.
With the use of digital marketing, we will integrate a wide range of customer needs into high value-added services capable of resolving customer challenges.
KANADEN DX synergies
Introduction of KPI-based management
We held workshops on adopting KPI-based management practices in order to leverage synergies of KANADEN DX. We are adopting KPI-based management practices with the aims of breaking away from the individual specific sales management approach applied thus far, establishing in-house communications that are standardized company-wide, and accordingly strengthening our organizational capabilities while amassing track records of successful outcomes among sales representatives.
