Editor's Note
This editor’s note highlights the key facts and market implications behind “Toppan Printing Launches Business Improvement Se”, with emphasis on sourcing, product fit, fabrication, logistics, or buyer impact.
Toppan Printing, leveraging its printing technology to supply decorative sheets for doors, flooring, and kitchen surfaces to housing material manufacturers, has been involved in the housing market for nearly 70 years. As issues with existing housing stock gain attention, the company is launching two services to revitalize the renovation market and provide strong support to housing-related businesses.
Selecting Materials and Creating Coordination Boards
Making Initial Proposals More Accessible
Toppan Printing has been involved in the housing market for about 70 years in areas such as design proposals and printing for building materials like flooring and doors. Building on this track record and to contribute to revitalizing the renovation market, the company began the service "Refotoru" for renovation contractors in May.
"Refotoru" is a renovation web lead generation site operated by the company. It introduces customers who request estimates to renovation contractors from among its member businesses capable of performing work within the customer's residential area.
The mechanism works as follows: First, when a customer inputs necessary information for their renovation, the request information is automatically sent to businesses near their living area. Based on the information sent, up to four businesses, on a first-come, first-served basis, can enter if they can undertake the work. The customer then communicates directly with the introduced businesses to conduct on-site surveys. During meetings, the contractor provides the customer with a proposal tool called a "coordination board." Based on this, specific renovation plans are discussed.
The biggest feature of "Refotoru" is that a Toppan Printing representative creates a material coordination board from photo images the customer selects and sends from social media, etc. The coordination board is sent to the renovation contractor within about 1 to 3 days. This allows contractors to easily make renovation proposals tailored to customer needs at the first contact stage, potentially increasing their order acquisition rate.
The businesses introduced to customers are limited to those registered with the "Housing Renovation Business Association." Therefore, customers have the reassurance of being able to rely on trustworthy contractors for the work.
The company stated its desire to increase the number of member renovation contractors to meet the needs of more customers. While current member businesses are mainly in the Kanto region, they aim to raise awareness of "Refotoru" and expand its reach to other areas with many renovation businesses.
“Customers tend to make decisions based on low prices when considering renovations. We wanted to create a system where technically capable businesses can reliably secure work.”
This was stated by Mr. Akira Murata, Leader of the Building Materials DX Project, Lifestyle & Industrial Business Division.
Supporting Business Improvement for Construction Companies for 2024 Work Style Reforms
Running parallel to "Refotoru," another initiative the company is focusing on is the building materials and housing equipment catalog app "Toryou no Mekiki" (The Master Carpenter's Eye).
"Toryou no Mekiki" is designed to easily improve operational efficiency via smartphone, reduce working hours, and enable the collection of customer information that becomes an asset for the future.
Particularly in local construction companies handling around 20 projects per year, chronic labor shortages often mean one person handles multiple tasks, leading to work becoming personalized.
"Toryou no Mekiki" supports operational efficiency with four functions created based on feedback from actual hearings with construction companies.
The first function is the service's highlight and an industry-first feature: the "Automatic Part Number Generation Database." It allows users to check information on major products from building materials and housing equipment manufacturers on smartphones, etc. It lists each company's products, product names, part numbers, and prices. With 520 items, users can search by specifying color/pattern, dimensions, and options, eliminating the hassle of opening multiple manufacturer catalogs to find products matching the client's requirements. It also comprehensively covers information on optional compatible products. Furthermore, updates are performed promptly in response to price revisions, etc.
The second function is a site-specific materials list function that allows file attachments. It saves information on used materials, etc., enabling centralized management of customer information. Since notes from business negotiations can also be saved, it can be utilized as a future asset, for example, in repeat order negotiations.
“While there is an initial implementation cost for inputting data previously compiled on paper, operational efficiency and the accumulation of customer information enable long-term connections with customers, so it should be cost-effective.”
This was stated by Mr. Shinichi Kadota of the Digital Business Promotion Team, Lifestyle & Industrial Business Division.
The third function allows sending estimate requests or document requests via email or fax from a smartphone. With one touch, requests can be sent to pre-registered building material stores, retailers, etc., solving construction company woes like "having to return to the office just to send a fax."
It also includes a function to easily create simple proposal documents with notes. This is the fourth function. Created proposals can be converted to PDF and printed on portable printers or convenience store printers, allowing them to be kept as meeting records.
The fee is 2,640 yen per month (tax included), allowing registration of up to 3 user IDs per company. For more users, additional IDs can be added for 880 yen each. Currently, a campaign is running where registering as a friend on the official LINE allows free use of the service for 3 months.
One reason construction company work is difficult is the volume of pre-contract tasks like catalog requests and accompanying clients to showrooms. "Toryou no Mekiki" alleviates such operational burdens. As such, it is expected to significantly contribute to operational efficiency.
Source: Read the original article | Published: November 15, 2022