Tianjin Denso Electronics Co., Ltd. (TDE)
More than 200 types of paper forms are used on-site, and records are recorded by hand.
Quickly reflect on-site needs in the reporting system.
The site alone consumes hundreds of thousands of sheets of paper per year.
This reduces paper usage on-site by approximately 90%, or 300,000 sheets per year.
To view the records, you go to the archive and manually search for the documents in the files.
Search and view report data from your desk. Use the data for business and management decisions.
The introduction of i-Reporter has resulted in paperless forms and a significant improvement in on-site work efficiency. By reducing the use of paper by 300,000 sheets per year and digitizing form data, on-site recording and searching can now be easily done from one's desk, leading to increased work efficiency.
In addition, by establishing a dedicated in-house design team and creating a system that can quickly respond to on-site needs, improvements to the report system progressed smoothly. Furthermore, after the introduction, on-site workers began to proactively propose improvements, which not only improved work efficiency but also changed the awareness of the entire on-site workforce and increased their motivation for improvement.
Tianjin Economic and Technological Development Zone (TEDA), one of China's national development zones, boasts a favorable geographical location near the port, attracting many of the world's leading companies and creating a global business environment. Many Japanese companies are also based here, including the Denso Group, with TDE serving as a model factory for advanced production. However, paper forms have been used at production sites for many years, and there have been discussions about the issue of paper resources and the inability to utilize form records. The introduction of i-Reporter solved this problem, and the existence of a unique "design team" played a major role in the company's success.
Tianjin Denso Electronics Co., Ltd. (TDE)
Established: 1997
Number of employees: 2,000 *The information listed is current as of September 2024 and is subject to change without notice.
Business description: Manufacturing and sales of electronic control products and parts for automobiles, etc.
Deputy General Manager of Manufacturing Division
Mr. Changling Chen
At our factory, which is promoting SDGs, data-driven, and smart factories, paper forms were a barrier.
They use over 200 different forms to record production and inspections, consuming hundreds of thousands of sheets of paper per year. Furthermore, some of the forms need to be stored for 10 to 20 years, which takes up a lot of space. Furthermore, when they wanted to look up past records, they had to ask the person in charge at the site or visit the site and search through the files. Traveling between the farthest factories took about 10 minutes, which was a real pain.
Manufacturing Planning Department Manager
Mr. Akira Ikukawa
Akira Ikukawa, General Manager of the Manufacturing Planning Department:
From a management and administration perspective, it was necessary to record changes in 5M+1E* accurately and make them available for viewing at any time, and there was a growing trend to digitize reports.
Manufacturing Planning Department Manager
Mr. Akira Ikukawa
When introducing a report system, we considered whether to outsource or develop it in-house. As a result, we decided that while we would introduce the basic system from an external source, "people within the company know the company best" and "it is important to respond quickly to on-site needs." We decided to set up a dedicated design team so that we could independently design and improve digital reports in-house. This also has the benefit of fostering human resources and reducing costs.
Design Team Leader
Mr. Wang Xuekun
Designing digital forms independently is difficult with just basic training from CIMTOPS, and our goal of digitizing over 90% of our forms requires multiple designers. Therefore, I decided to first become an i-Reporter specialist and train other designers. With support from CIMTOPS, even though I had no prior knowledge of systems, I smoothly acquired a certain level of knowledge in about two months. I then began training the design team. I selected the necessary functions from i-Reporter's diverse features, created specialized teaching materials, and optimized design procedures, and trained several designers in a short period of time. I uncovered on-site needs, shared with all team members what designers needed to understand, and how to respond quickly to those needs, and established a system to reflect on-site feedback. While focusing on input methods and other aspects, I focused on creating forms that minimize users' fear of digitalization.
Design team members
Mr. Jiaxin Xu
I am one of the members. i-Reporter is very easy to use, so the barrier to entry is low, and I think most people can become basic designers after a short training period. Compared to other software and systems, it has a high degree of design freedom, and its ability to be customized to suit needs is a major attraction.
Design team members
Mr. Zhang Zhan
For example, because it can use Excel functions, the system can automatically make decisions on behalf of humans, automatically checking against the criteria and displaying a green "OK" if a match is found. There are also a variety of data exchange methods, so we developed the necessary programs ourselves. Another advantage is that it is highly compatible with Python, and by combining the API provided by i-Reporter with Python, we were able to develop functions such as bulk downloading of input forms and bulk uploading of documents, making it extremely practical.
Design team members
Mr. Zhou Chenxu
I think the great things about i-Reporter are its QR code resolution function and its Bluetooth functionality. It automatically resolves and fills in the QR code content, which makes it extremely efficient, and i-Reporter can read strings of more than 30 characters, making it particularly useful for business purposes. Also, by using the device's Bluetooth function to read measurement data directly from measuring instruments and transmitting it directly to i-Reporter, there's no longer any need for manual scanning and input.
Manufacturing Planning Department Manager
Mr. Liping Yang
Another important aspect of the implementation was ensuring that on-site managers and workers understood not only how to use the system, but also the significance of its implementation. First, we used internal improvement case studies and report sessions to highlight the benefits of using i-Reporter. This enabled us to gain the understanding and support of on-site managers, such as section chiefs and assistant section chiefs. We also held regular i-Reporter function briefing sessions to communicate its excellent features and gain understanding from the on-site staff.
Manufacturing Planning Department Manager
Mr. Akira Ikukawa
As a concrete result, firstly, the amount of form paper used has been reduced by 300,000 sheets per year, which is equivalent to about 90% of the paper usage at the site. Secondly, form data can now be searched and viewed easily from one's desk. This has resulted in improved efficiency not only in on-site management work, but also in all related departments. 5M+1E* can also be checked at any time from one's desk.
Deputy General Manager of Manufacturing Division
Mr. Changling Chen
I think one of the biggest results has been the change in awareness on the ground. Improvement ideas are now coming from the field on their own initiative. For example, previously there was the problem of time lost searching for work schedule charts and people misreading the written content, but now by reading the QR codes on production instruction signs with an iPad, we have been able to improve work efficiency and prevent mistakes.
Field team leader
Mr. Shizuka Tae
As a worker on-site, I'm happy that we've been able to contribute to reducing CO2 emissions by reducing paper usage. The time it takes to record information on-site has been reduced, and the hassle of printing and filing paper has been eliminated. Above all, it's rewarding for us to see that the design team is able to quickly reflect our requests for improvements in the digitized forms. Even when we brought up ideas that hadn't been fully finalized as requests, the team was proactive in considering them and putting them into shape.
Field team leader
Mr. Son Jingrong
Digitalization allows managers to check documents from their own desks, eliminating the need to circulate paper documents and speeding up approvals. There is also no longer a need for space to store documents.
project manager
Mr. Kim Young-mae
There were three key points to the success of this project. The first was setting a high numerical target of digitizing over 90% of the paper used on-site. The second was that the team, which had been trained under the design leader, was able to demonstrate their design capabilities. I believe this was the biggest key. And the third was that the systems department created a stable Wi-Fi environment in every corner of the factory, which made it possible to operate hundreds of iPads. i-Reporter is also attractive in terms of cost, and I don't think the software and license fees are expensive. You can simply add licenses over time, so it's easy to start small.
Manufacturing Planning Department Manager
Mr. Akira Ikukawa
i-Reporter now allows us to quickly visualize important management KPIs, which will likely lead to further improvements in productivity and quality. We also want to use the time saved by streamlining our work to create even more added value for our products and services. We also want to promote work style reforms by reducing data processing and management workloads and increasing efficiency through centralized data management. We will continue to focus on DX throughout the factory, and we believe i-Reporter will be an important tool in this effort.
*5M+1E: Man, Machine, Method, Material, Measurement, Environment
The above reviews are quoted from ITreview.(https://www.itreview.jp/products/i-reporter/reviews)
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