UPWARD, Inc. (Location: Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo; Representative Director & CEO: Takashi Kaneki; hereinafter UPWARD) is pleased to announce that OREC Co., Ltd. (Location: Hirokawa-machi, Yame-gun, Fukuoka Prefecture; Representative Director & President: Kenji Imamura; hereinafter OREC) has implemented the AI image analysis service “UPWARD AI Scan.”
OREC is an agricultural machinery manufacturer headquartered in Fukuoka Prefecture, engaged in the manufacture and sale of small agricultural machinery. Their main product, the self-propelled mower, boasts the top market share in Japan and is exported to over 50 countries. Sales activities mainly involve regular visits to dealerships.
At OREC, when a dealership requests a product demonstration, a sales representative brings the machinery for demonstration or rental. Traditionally, the management of rental machinery was done manually using paper or Excel at each location, leading to issues such as omissions in recording by sales representatives and difficulty in confirming the rental status of machinery.
The company has been promoting the use of "UPWARD" since last year with the aim of visualizing the sales process, and has also been considering improving operations for such rental management. Therefore, we conducted a PoC (Proof of Concept) at some sales offices to streamline rental management operations using "UPWARD AI Scan," which can automatically acquire "model" and "model number" by photographing the machinery. As a result, its effectiveness was confirmed, and it was highly evaluated by users, leading to its formal implementation.
We have revamped the workflow to build a rental management ledger on Salesforce* and use “UPWARD AI Scan” for ledger input. The “model” and “model number,” which are required for ledger input, are automatically acquired through image analysis, and rental locations are automatically linked with location detection, significantly reducing the input load. In addition, since the input results are linked to Salesforce in real-time, all sales representatives can now grasp the latest machinery rental status.
Furthermore, we have created a mechanism to link the rental management ledger with the rental machine master, and if a machine not registered in the master is rental-registered, it will be newly registered in the master. "UPWARD AI Scan" has also streamlined the maintenance of the rental machine master.
*Click here for details on “UPWARD AI Scan”: https://prtimes.jp/main/html/rd/p/000000138.000015260.html
* Salesforce is a trademark of Salesforce, inc.
We often repeat the process of lending and collecting machines for product demonstrations and exhibitions, especially during busy periods. In doing so, we sometimes forgot to take notes, or even if we took notes, we forgot to write them in the ledger. We tried using Excel and other methods to find a better way, but it didn't reduce the workload, and GPS devices were also costly due to the large number of units.
Amidst this, I heard that “UPWARD AI Scan” could link to dealerships simply by scanning with a camera, and I felt that this might lead to efficiency improvements. Initially, I was hesitant about the construction to adapt it to our company, but eventually, we received positive feedback from the sales offices that implemented the PoC, saying, "It's become easier," so we decided to formally implement it.
Although it is necessary to establish it in the future, the usage method is simple, so we expect that all sales office members will find it easier and that it will lead to improved operational efficiency and expanded use of Salesforce. Also, since it is reflected on the map, we would like to analyze which areas have many requests for which products and take proactive measures to further improve efficiency.
“UPWARD” is a sales support service with AI as its foundation, specializing in field sales and sales visits. We provide automatic recording of customer touchpoints using our proprietary “advanced geo-fencing technology” and various AI functions specialized for field sales. It has been implemented by over 400 companies, mainly major corporations that use face-to-face contact with customers as their primary sales channel, including Kubota and LIXIL, and is used as a next-generation sales DX platform.
Service Site: https://upward.jp/
“UPWARD” Introduction Materials: https://upward.jp/downloads/allservicematerials/
UPWARD CO., LTD. PROVIDES DX SERVICES SPECIALIZED IN SOLVING ISSUES OF FIELD WORKERS WHO VISIT THE FIELD AND CREATE VALUE THROUGH OFFLINE CONTACT WITH CUSTOMERS, BASED ON ITS PURVIEW OF "DRAWING OUT THE CREATIVITY OF FIELD WORKERS AND ACCELERATING THE GROWTH OF COMPANIES AND SOCIETY". BY LEVERAGING TECHNOLOGY TO CREATE AN ENVIRONMENT IN WHICH WORKERS CAN PERFORM THEIR TASKS WITH A SINGLE MOBILE DEVICE, WE AIM TO CREATE A WORLD IN WHICH THEY CAN BE ACTIVE REGARDLESS OF WHERE AND HOW THEY WORK.
UPWARD, Inc., Corporate Group Headquarters, PR Team
*Company names mentioned in this text are the registered trademarks or trademarks of their respective companies.
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