Company Introduction

TOC, based in Osaka Prefecture, is a manufacturing company that handles everything from sign design to construction and post-installation safety checks. They cater to a wide range of industries, from privately owned stores to major electronics retailers and commercial complexes, and have a track record of producing a wide variety of signs, both large and small. In recent years, they have expanded their business beyond signs into creative fields, including designing artists' live tour merchandise and logos.

In addition, the company organizes annual company trips, including trips to Okinawa and Korea, creating a culture that values interaction among employees. We also employ foreign employees, fostering a corporate culture that is flexible in responding to diversity and new challenges within the company.

Issues before introducing generative AI

Before introducing generative AI, the company faced several challenges. In particular, with a limited number of employees, work was concentrated on employees with certain skills, resulting in a serious "personalization" problem, which hindered work efficiency.

For example, when correcting business emails, employees accustomed to writing had to check and respond to each email, which took a lot of time. Furthermore, creating tables compiling information on clients' stores nationwide was done entirely by hand using Excel or Google Sheets, which was a very time-consuming task.

Additionally, the details in the business manual were too detailed and difficult to understand, leading to inefficient communication of information, which hindered the smooth running of the entire business.

Benefits of using generative AI

By taking the generative AI training, awareness and skills for using AI have taken root throughout the company, resulting in visible improvements in business operations. The major achievement is that the use of AI, which was previously limited to individuals, has evolved into an organization-wide initiative.

Specifically, when correcting business emails, the checking process, which used to take about 10 minutes per email, can now be completed by each individual using AI, improving the speed of work and reducing waiting times. Furthermore, creating tables compiling client store information can now be completed simply by instructing the AI, reducing the time required from 30 minutes to just 5 minutes.

In addition, by having AI read manuals, the contents of which had previously been difficult to convey, an environment was created in which employees could instantly obtain the information they needed using chatbots, greatly improving the speed at which information is shared within the company and employees can resolve issues on their own.

AI has already begun to be used outside of work, and for company trips, generative AI was used to create schedules, set meeting times, and even search for tourist spots and restaurants. Travel planning, which previously took a lot of time, can now be done in a short amount of time and with high accuracy, which has been well received by employees.

Future outlook

Going forward, we aim to further expand the use of chatbots, further reduce the dependency on individuals in work, and create a system in which each department can autonomously improve efficiency.

AI has also helped to facilitate smoother communication with foreign employees, broadening the scope of information sharing within the company. Going forward, we will actively share these examples within the company, fostering a culture in which all employees naturally use AI at least three times a week, with the aim of realizing a system in which "everyone can use it effectively."