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Hello, this is Hayashi from the Marketing Department.

Recently, we have seen an increase in the number of cases in which local governments, such as prefectures and municipalities, are promoting DX in partnership with private companies. This trend is based on the “Municipal Digital Transformation (DX) Promotion Plan” announced by the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications (MIC) for 2020.

The Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications plan calls for local governments to first:

• Improve convenience for residents by utilizing digital technology and data for the administrative services they are responsible for
• Improve operational efficiency through the use of digital technology, AI, etc., and lead human resources to the further improvement of administrative services

and in response to this plan, local governments are currently promoting Municipal DX. As part of such efforts, “Digital City Hall,” which enables online procedures such as applications and notifications that previously required a visit to the city hall, is now in operation.

However, the reality is that there are various issues to be addressed in order to reform the past approach and develop it into the municipal DX that the government has set forth.

In this issue, we will focus on the theme of DX in local governments and explain how BPM (Business Process Management) and software called BPM tools can be useful in this context.

What is DX Anyway?

As of February 2023, the Digital Governance Code 2.0, published by the government, defines DX in companies as

• A radical transformation of the business model

In other words, DX is not just about digitizing and automating business operations, but also about transforming the way business operations are done and having a significant impact on society and people’s lifestyles. In other words, the DX framework includes digitization, automation, online, etc., as means and processes to achieve DX.

For example, Toyonaka City in Osaka is promoting 100% online access to administrative procedures. The ability to complete various administrative procedures without going to city hall may lead to a revolution that will have a significant impact on society and our lifestyles.

The “Analog City Hall” People I Met

By the way, the “Digital City Hall” mentioned above is only a part of DX in local governments. Naturally, the scope of administrative services handled by online city halls varies from municipality to municipality, and there may be some tasks that are difficult to handle online.

It was about 10 years ago when I moved to a new place in the same city. After completing the procedures related to my family register, I went to change the address on my insurance card. The city hall is a very nice building, and for insurance-related procedures, you have to go to a different floor. When I arrived at the insurance counter, there were many people waiting for their turn.

After waiting 20-30 minutes for my turn, I finally went to the window and told them that I wanted to change the address on my insurance card. The person who answered me at the counter was a fairly experienced employee who appeared to be nearing retirement. However, he did not seem to understand the procedure for changing the address on my insurance card. He took the insurance card that I had given him and went into a back room, then wandered around with his head tilted.

I watched his behavior wondering ” Why would he do that, even though he is a veteran?” Finally, he came back to me after checking with other staff members on how to change his address, and what he did was a very analog procedure of drawing a bar line with a ruler, erasing the previous address, and writing in the new address by hand. It was a terribly simple process, but he looked very serious. The process took only one minute. But I waited for nearly an hour for this procedure.

Well, there must have been some paperwork that I didn’t see, but this is the kind of work that I would like to see automated and online.

Incidentally, local governments currently have their own communication system called LGWAN (Local Government Wide Area Network), which plays a major role in realizing the Digital City Hall. On the other hand, there are still many issues that need to be resolved in the field of municipal DX, such as the lack of IT human resources.

The Role of BPM in DX

Now, what I am concerned about when I hear about Municipal DX and the Digital City Hall is the gap between the goal and the reality of these government offices.

In order to convert application and notification processes at government offices to an online system it is necessary to identify and verify each and every one of these processes. Some of these operations may not be defined in manuals, as mentioned above. For such operations, it is necessary to start with the codification of the operations. This is a steady and difficult task, but it is unavoidable if you are going to carry out business reforms such as computerization, automation, and online operations with a view to DX. It is a big task.

Incidentally, this kind of work is also indispensable in the private sector as a step toward DX. This is where BPM (Business Process Management) methods are useful, regardless of industry.

BPM is a business management method that aims to continuously optimize operations through the PDCA cycle*.

Specifically, we will repeat the process of:

1. Organizing, defining, and visualizing the flow of business operations
2. Discovering problems and issues by operating the business
3. Improving the business processes

By incorporating all operations into this BPM cycle, codification will become easier, and digitization, automation, and online operations will also become easier.

However, the reality is that there are many different types of operations in companies and government offices, and accordingly, there are many different business processes. It would be a painstaking task to incorporate each and every one of them into such a cycle and investigate them one by one.

Software called BPMS (BPM System/BPM Suite) provides powerful support for this painstaking task.

* PDCA cycle…A cycle consisting of four steps: Plan→Do→Check→Act. The PDCA cycle is the process of improving operations by repeating these steps.

Centralized Management of Business Processes with Questetra BPM Suite

Questetra BPM Suite is a cloud-based BPMS.

BPM emphasizes “modeling”, which is the process of graphically representing business operations, and with Questetra BPM Suite you can easily create a process diagram by placing icons on the computer screen. Once a process diagram is created, work proceeds automatically according to the diagram, so there is no need to manually hand over work and it becomes simple for work to proceed smoothly, even across multiple departments.

Another feature of Questetra BPM Suite is that business processes can be easily verified and changed after operation.

For example, when introducing RPA tools to automate operations, it is important to determine which parts of the operations to automate. Since Questetra BPM Suite stores data such as the processing time of operations, it will be easy to select the points to be automated by verifying these data. Normally, there are multiple business processes in a company or government office, but Questetra BPM Suite’s strength is its ability to centrally manage them.

Finally…

If business processes are well defined and visualized, it will be possible to identify tasks that are not easily automated or done online, as well as tasks that must be done by human resources.

For example, it is important for humans to provide face-to-face consultation services related to welfare, isn’t it? In this way, DX may be required to focus on tasks that require more human resources by collaborating with AI and robots.

Incidentally, Questetra BPM Suite can be used in conjunction with RPA tools to build a system that smoothly transfers tasks between humans and robots. Why don’t you take this opportunity to take the first step toward DX by visualizing your business processes? Questetra BPM Suite is a cloud-based system, so you can start using it immediately after you apply for it, and you can also try it for free.

Original Japanese version

Hello, this is Hayashi from the Marketing Department.

Recently, I have had several opportunities to stay at an extended stay hotel. There seems to be an increasing number of such hotels in Kyoto that offer lower rates if you stay several nights in a row.

But here’s where we ran into a bit of a problem.

First, there is hotel A. This hotel has a policy of cleaning the room every three days and changing the sheets once a week, and when I made the reservation, I had requested that the room be cleaned on Sunday when I was out of town. However, it seems that this was not communicated, and the front desk clerk at check-in asked “When do you want the room cleaned?” Well, so far this is fine.

After I checked in, I asked the staff to bring a desk and chair, which I could rent as an option, to my room. The staff who brought them in asked me when I wanted to have them cleaned. The next day, another staff member called me on my cell phone and said, “I just want to confirm…” and asked me when the cleaning would be done. I was a little fed up with the lack of information sharing among the staff, and repeated the same response, “Sunday, please”.

Then, on Sunday, when I returned from my outing…to my surprise, the room had not been cleaned. The sheets had not been changed, and the room was exactly as I left it. I called the front desk and told them that the room had not been cleaned despite their repeated insistence (the front desk staff rushed over and did a minimal amount of cleaning that day).

Then there was another hotel; hotel B. I told them I did not need cleaning services when I made the reservation, but every morning at exactly 11:00 a.m., the cleaner came in with the key to the room. What is strange is that even though I told them the first time that I did not need it to be cleaned, the cleaner came the next day and the day after that, as if nothing had happened. I wondered if the information was not conveyed at all.

This is a long preamble, but this time I would like to discuss how to prevent mistakes caused by such communication errors with a workflow system.

What are Communication Errors?

Communication errors refer to problems that occur in the communication of information and can be broadly classified into the following two types.

1. Errors due to lack of information transfer
2. Errors due to misinformation being communicated

The incident at the hotel mentioned at the beginning of this article is clearly an error due to the lack of communication of information. In the case of the second error, there are cases where the sender not only communicates incorrect information, but also where the receiver misinterprets the information.

In any case, such communication errors can be a source of operational failures and problems, and can cause damage to the company’s credibility. In addition, in the medical and nursing care industries, they can lead to accidents that could result in loss of life. Preventing communication errors is an indispensable requirement for smooth business operations.

What Causes Communication Errors?

As human beings, inadvertent mistakes and misunderstandings can happen to anyone.

On the other hand, environmental factors also play a significant role in communication errors.

For example, if your workplace is;

• Too busy to communicate information
• There is a lack of cooperation between departments
• There is an atmosphere that makes communication difficult

Communication errors are more likely to occur in such situations.

As a side note, I spoke with the staff at the extended stay hotel I mentioned at the beginning of this article, A, and they seemed to be suffering from a chronic shortage of staff. At this hotel, there was often no one at the front desk. When I asked, I was told that the front desk clerk was in charge of cleaning, or that one person worked at several hotels in the same group, traveling around by bicycle.

Indeed, as mentioned above, busyness and understaffing can cause communication errors. However, even under these circumstances, if a system for sharing information had been established, it would not have been a situation where the staff had to confirm the cleaning date and time over and over again to the guests (that’s me). In the hotel business, mistakes caused by such communication errors can lead to complaints and customer attrition, so they should be avoided somehow.

Similarly, communication errors are more likely to occur when the organization is structured vertically, or when work is assigned to individual employees. Furthermore, if the workplace has an atmosphere in which it is difficult to ask questions or speak up, new employees may proceed with their work without fully understanding the information given to them.

Workflow Template called “Information Sharing in Shift Work”

By the way, we have released many free workflow templates that can be used with Questetra BPM Suite. One of them is called “Information Sharing in Shift Work”.

This workflow is designed for cleaning and customer service in hotels. When a guest checks out, the front desk clerk enters the checkout information, and the process flows to the cleaning staff, who can immediately implement the cleaning process.

Another key point of this workflow is that the night shift supervisor can leave an internal memo for the front desk staff when there are guest complaints or other information that needs to be shared. When an internal memo is left, the front desk staff is automatically notified by email, making it easier to avoid communication errors due to oversight.

Another key point of this workflow is that it can be easily processed from smartphones and tablets. This should make it easy to use even for staff members like in Hotel A mentioned earlier, who are busy running around onsite.

Open Chat Communication Tool

Incidentally, in recent years many companies and organizations have been using LINE as a means of information sharing. Particularly in the service industry, such as restaurants, we often see cases where part-time or casual employees use LINE for business communication.

However, using personal LINE accounts for business purposes entails various risks, such as information leakage due to erroneous transmission. Therefore, it is safer to use specialized chat tools or internal SNS for sharing information on the job, from the perspective of account and log management.

Questetra BPM Suite also comes standard with an internal SNS function called “Open Chat”. Open Chat allows users to post messages like a bulletin board, but it is also possible to post messages to specific people or groups. In addition, when there is a post addressed to you or your group, you will be notified by email so that you won’t miss any important posts.

For example, discrepancies in communication, such as what was said or not said, are one of the most common communication errors, but since past posts can be easily referenced in Open Chat, such misunderstandings are less likely to occur.

Another advantage of Open Chat is that communication can be facilitated even if you are not in the office due to remote work or field work. With email it takes time and effort to start up email software and check the inbox, and phone calls cannot be answered while the work is in progress. With Open Chat, however, you can immediately post what you need to know, and the recipient can see your post at any time.

Open Chat can be used to improve the communication environment, making it easier for departments to work together and for newcomers to ask questions and speak up.

Improve Your Internal Communication with Queastetra BPM Suite

Questetra BPM Suite is a BPM tool that streamlines operations in three steps: Visualization, Automation and Optimization. Workflow diagrams can be easily created on a PC screen, and operations proceed automatically according to the created diagrams.

In addition, Questetra BPM Suite makes it easy to share the business processes that have been established, and when problems or issues are found in the business processes, they can be easily changed or corrected. Furthermore, by making full use of the workflow app’s memo and bulletin board functions, as well as the above-mentioned Open Chat, communication errors can be avoided.

Why don’t you take this opportunity to start improving your internal communication and business processes with Questetra BPM Suite?

In addition to the already introduced workflow template “Information Sharing in Shift Work”, Questetra BPM Suite offers a number of workflow templates that can be used free of charge. By choosing the template that best suits your business situation, you can more easily implement business improvement activities.

Feel free to start with a free trial!

Hello, this is Hayashi from the Marketing Department.

At the end of November last year (2022), ChatGPT, an interactive AI released by Open AI, Inc. in the U.S., attracted a great deal of attention because it is capable of smoother and more natural chat exchanges and (perceived) logical sentence construction.

In recent years, writing tools that automatically generate articles based on keywords that are entered have also been put to practical use. Some newspapers and news agencies in Japan and abroad have already adopted AI-generated articles.

As a writer by profession, the rise of these “AI writers” is a threat. However, there is no denying that the efficient use of AI writers, who can quickly mass-produce articles of a certain quality, can dramatically improve the efficiency of work such as web content production.

In this article, we will discuss the integration of AI and robots with workflow systems, while covering the workflow templates of Questetra BPM Suite.

Using AI in the Blog Write-Post Flow

Now, we have published many free workflow templates that can be used with Questetra BPM Suite, and one of them is the “Blog Write-Post Flow”. This workflow separates the responsibilities for writing, proofreading, and posting, and automates the process until the blog is finally published.

Even simple division of labor, such as in this workflow, can streamline operations and reduce the risk of errors and compliance breaches.

And what if an AI that automatically creates sentences is utilized in the “1. Write draft” process of this flow? The draft of the article would be completed simply by the person in charge picking up keywords and inputting them. The speed would be unmatched by humans.

Questetra BPM Suite is already automating the workflow, and this flow also automatically notifies the entire company via email when an article is published. Once AI is added to the process, all that remains is for the human to prepare the text and proofread it. It seems that a fairly efficient system for mass-producing blog posts can be constructed.

Click here to download the Blog Write-Post Flow.

Cooperation with Robots

By the way, speaking of process automation, Questetra BPM Suite has long been focusing on integration with RPA tools.

RPA (Robotic Process Automation) is a method of streamlining operations by having robots perform tasks automatically, and RPA tools are software that automates tasks such as data collection, processing, and extraction that were previously performed by humans.

While RPA tools partially automate work processes in business processes, Questetra BPM Suite automates the passing of tasks between work processes and the flow of the entire business.

By combining Questetra BPM Suite and RPA tools, it is possible to:

• Launch RPA tool robots from Questetra BPM Suite at any time in the business process
• Automatically select tasks for the RPA tool when they arrive and have the robot process them

This combination of automations will dramatically improve the efficiency of business operations.

So what should people do?

By the way, recently I have been seeing a lot of articles about jobs that will disappear in the near future.

Many of these articles are predictions based on technological advances such as AI and robotics, but some of them feel realistic when considering ChatGPT, mentioned at the beginning of this article, and the unmanned convenience stores that have already begun operations.

So, how should humans cope with this situation where AI and robots are automating many tasks?

For example, RPA tools are introduced to automate tasks and improve efficiency, but beyond that, the main objective is;

• To have robots perform tasks so that humans can focus on more important tasks

Only when this goal is achieved will AI and robotic automation be meaningful.

In order to achieve this major objective, it is necessary to carefully determine which parts of the business should be handled by robots and AI. What will be effective here is the BPM method, which visualizes issues and problems latent in the business by graphically displaying the business process.

Although we will not go into details here, BPM aims to constantly update (i.e. optimize) business processes to the best possible state through continuous verification and improvement. In the process, procedures that should be handled by AI or robots and those that can be automated to improve efficiency and operations are also highlighted. In addition, these business improvement activities will also clarify which tasks should be focused on by humans.

As AI and IT technologies advance and the automation and mechanization of work advances, it may be necessary to seriously consider the work that only humans can do and the work that humans must do.

Questetra BPM Suite to Support Business Improvement Activities with BPM

As mentioned above, BPM is a very effective method to determine which tasks can be performed by AI or robots and which tasks should be focused on by humans. Questetra BPM Suite is software that supports business improvement activities through BPM.

With Questetra BPM Suite, you can easily make a diagram of business processes by arranging icons on the computer screen. Since operations proceed automatically according to the created business process diagram, there is no need to manually pass the work to the next person. In addition, it is easy to change the process and share the changed process when problems or issues are found through the schematic diagram.

Why don’t you take this opportunity to review your business processes with Questetra BPM Suite? You may find a new way to improve your business by collaborating with AI and robots. No complicated setup is required. Please feel free to try the free trial and experience business improvement with BPM.

Hello, this is Hayashi from the Marketing Department.

The New Year holidays are over, I am writing this article at the beginning of the work year 2023, and I am sure that many of you have set your New Year’s resolutions and goals at the beginning of the year.

Because of my profession, I tend to be physically inactive, so I often set goals related to health management and exercise, and not just for the New Year. However, it is quite difficult to achieve them, and often all I do is end up setting goals without actually achieving them. Perhaps this is because my goals are vague: to overcome my lack of exercise…

Now, the “KGI” and “KPI” discussed in this article are both indicators used in the business. However, they are also useful in achieving the daily goals mentioned above.

This article explains the meaning of the terms, the importance of defining KGIs and KPIs in business operations, and the relationship between BPM tools and these indicators.

KGI is the Ultimate Goal

KGI (Key Goal Indicator) is a numerical measure of the final goal that a company or other organization wants to achieve in a business or project.

The key to setting KGIs is to express goals quantitatively. Vague goals, such as the one I set for exercise, cannot be considered KGIs. For example, in the case of a company, it is necessary to set concrete figures such as the percentage increase in sales or the number of orders.

This is to make it easier to share the company’s goals with all parties concerned and to measure the degree of achievement. By setting a KGI, the degree of progress toward the target is clarified, and it becomes easier to consider the direction of improvement and efforts to achieve it.

In the case of my exercise goals, health is hard to quantify, but it would be easier to understand if the KGI were, for example, to reduce weight by X kilograms or body fat by a certain percentage.

As a side note, when I used to go to the gym there was once a young man with a superbly toned body who came into the gym’s sauna. The other guests were all older men who were in less-than-perfect shape. All these men were asking the young man, who looked like an underwear model, in unison, “What percentage of body fat do you have?” It was amusing to see them all asking the same question. I guess body fat is an easy-to-understand indicator for physical fitness.

I digress, but I think that KGIs must be qualified and quantified in such a way that everyone can easily understand them.

KPIs are steps to reach KGIs

Key Performance Indicators (KPIs), on the other hand, refer to intermediate goals as steps toward reaching a final goal.

For example, if you set a KGI of losing 10 kg in one year, the KPI would set a target weight three months or six months from now to reach that goal. Of course, it is important that KPIs be as specific and quantified as KGIs. This is easy to understand if you think of a company’s sales targets.

Now, KGIs basically set one major goal, whereas KPIs are characterized by multiple cut-off points.

For example, if a company has set a KGI of increasing sales by X% in one year, sales targets for the next three months or six months would be the first KPI to emerge. In order to achieve the sales goal, various KPIs can be set, such as increasing the number of orders by X%, reducing production costs by X%, and improving the closing rate in sales by X%, and specific actions can be derived from these KPIs.

Thus, KPIs are intermediate indicators, as well as goals that are subdivided into smaller goals relative to KGIs.

Why do we need to set KGIs and KPIs?

There are many reasons for setting KGIs, but the most important one is to understand where you are headed and to make it easier to share that information.

Whether it is work or daily exercise, it is difficult to stay motivated without purpose. This is where KGIs and KPIs, which are clear, quantified goals, come into play.

These indicators are also important when judging whether business performance is favorable or unfavorable and whether a project is successful or not. To take an extreme example, if you are presented with monthly or annual sales figures while you have no idea whether these figures are good or bad, it would be impossible to run a company. If KGI and KPI are set, the criteria for such judgments will become clear.

This is like getting on the scale and seeing the number X kilos, but not knowing what it means to you. By knowing your best weight for your health and using it as an indicator, you will know whether the number on the scale is good or not, which will lead you to your next action.

In this way, KGI and KPI setting is indispensable for understanding the current situation, motivating employees, and determining results.

Points to Consider in Setting KGI/KPI

While it is important for a company to set KGIs and KPIs, if they are not done correctly they will not only be meaningless, they may even be counterproductive.

The three key points in setting KGIs and KPIs are:

• They must be clear
• They must be achievable
• Deadlines must be set

As I mentioned at the beginning of this article, exercising more is vague as a goal, isn’t it? In setting KGIs and KPIs, goals must be qualified and quantified, such as how many kilos to weigh, what percentage of body fat to reduce, and so on. This is an important element in objectively judging the results of operations.

However, no matter how quantifiable the goal may be, if you set an unreasonable goal such as losing 10 kg in two weeks, you are bound to fail, and if you try to achieve the goal by force, you will damage your body. The same is true for setting KGI and KPI in a company. It is important to consider the current status of resources and costs, and set goals that can be achieved by streamlining and improving operations.

It is also necessary to set clear deadlines for KGIs and KPIs, such as one year, six months, or three months from now. Only when such deadlines are set will it be possible to determine whether business performance is favorable or unfavorable at that point in time and whether or not the goal has been achieved.

Finally…

Questetra BPM Suite is a BPM tool that provides powerful support for setting KGI/KPIs, determining the progress of goal achievement, and subsequent business improvement activities.

When operations are managed by Questetra BPM Suite, various data related to the operations are recorded. By accumulating such data, for example, the time taken to process a task or the number of tasks processed in a certain period of time can be easily referenced. These features of Questetra BPM Suite are very useful for understanding the current situation, setting goals, and measuring the degree of achievement.

Why don’t you take this opportunity to visualize your business processes and results with Questetra BPM Suite, which is a cloud-based service that can be used immediately after application, and a free trial is also available.