*The name of “G Suite” was changed into “Google Workspace” in October 2020
Q. What kind of operations do you use Questetra for?
At CRIAX. Co. LTD we manage Karaoke Lounges, Comic cafes and restaurants. We have 67 stores mainly in Tokyo, including well-known ones in UTAHIROBA and KaraNet24.
In this type of amusement business it is important to observe the trends of competitors and changes in the economic situation, and that decisions related to new store openings and store remodelling are made quickly.
Until now we had been carrying out the decision-making procedures on paper, but we made it paperless using Questetra in order to achieve more rapid decision-making. Decision-making procedures are now completed in one third of the time.
Q. What was a Decisive Factor to Introduce Questetra?
Renovation of our information systems had been a challenge for some time. The cost of operation and management was increasing, while the areas where we wanted to improve efficiency were not being sufficiently systematized. In particular, we were facing a great challenge with decision-making procedures.
In August 2012 we introduced the cloud service G Suite (formerly Google Apps). We have succeeded in significantly reducing the operation and management costs of systems related to emails and groupware. Then we started to investigate the systematization of our business.
We were focusing on cloud-based products which would allow us to be free from servers or software, and accessible from various terminal devices, and we researched and evaluated cloud-based workflow products capable of connecting to G Suite. For products other than Questetra we found out they were limited to relatively simple flows, and that it was impossible to define more complicated flows like the ones we were expecting, such as a decision-making process that includes the president of the company. In contrast, we could surely believe that Questetra would help us achieve paperless work and speedy decision-making, given its capability to easily define complicated decision-making flows – such as concurrent approval requests to multiple section leaders – using the Process Modeler. I think it is really fabulous that the modification of business definitions does not depend on a single, designated individual.
Q. How was your impression about Questetra in actual operation?
One thing we did not expect was that communication between employees has been stimulated by the introduction of Questetra.
When we were circulating decision-making documents on paper, employees were barely aware of projects in which they were not involved. So, we gave a little wider authorization for data viewing, to let employees – particularly those in a department manager position – to actively browse projects in which they were not involved. As a result, they became able to share their know-how and experience, and to express their ideas.
Of course, the new communication channel was good as a way of obtaining new knowledge, but I also feel that it made the power of the organization greater because employees started to be interested in what others were doing.
Q. What kind of initiatives do you plan to implement in the future?
We really found Questetra is capable of being used in many operations in the organization, unlike other typical request-approval workflow products. In fact, some departments started reviewing their own Workflows spontaneously by themselves, instead of asking the IT Section, so we are going to support spontaneous business improvement.
In addition, as a company-wide effort, we are discussing and considering the digitization and standardization of other in-house operations as well. In particular, I am thinking of using Questetra proactively for Workflows that will be started by external actions, in order to enhance the satisfaction of business partners and customers. Specifically, it will be for inquiry handling and order acceptance processing.
