Please tell us about the scope of your current use of Ariel.

Could you tell us about the application functions you have created and how you utilize each of them?

Mr. Hori:

Customer feedback (2010), management performance map (2012), approval documents (2015), and employee benefits (2016).

1. customer comments

We accept suggestions from airport users and other customers by phone or on the web.
The categories are divided into two: compliments and complaints, and we analyze and monitor what the complaints are about and how they have changed compared to last year, using statistics in large, medium, and small categories.
However, it is quite difficult to classify what customers said, so we would like to incorporate new technologies such as AI in the future.
Some customers want to receive responses to their letters, so Ariel manages whether or not they reply so that they can be seen in the database.

2. management performance map

It is an intuitive BI (Business Intelligence) tool that allows us to see sales and other information graphically from the beginning.
When we expanded the terminal, we also updated the map.

3. approval documents

In addition to basic workflow functions such as approvals, send backs and comments, you can also do serial and branching workflows in parallel.
The good news, of course, is that it is searchable.
In the case of paper documents, it is possible to search to some extent by creating an approval ledger, but it is still difficult to find the desired approval.
With Ariel, it is possible to search by subject and so on, so you can reach the desired approval right away.
The approval function was introduced by a group company.
Since the Group companies have seen the effects of streamlining, we are now considering it again at the head office.
We have conducted a workload survey at the head office and have learned that the use of electronic approval can reduce the man-hours required for distribution by 100 to 200 hours per year.

4. benefits

The benefits screen was created using Ariel's workflow function.
The hotels that have contracts with us receive subsidies from the company, so we use Ariel's workflow to submit the application, print out the approved screen, and submit it to the hotel, which then settles the account minus the subsidy, and the hotel sends the invoice to us as proof.
In the past, a booklet with photocopies of the person's copy, the HR submission portion, and the hotel submission portion was distributed, and the application was made on paper. The forms were also available at the Human Resources Department, and we had to go out of our way to get them, which was inconvenient when the person in charge was out of the office.
Now we can do it electronically, which is very convenient. At the time, I was the first to apply.
Even if the subsidy amount differs between adults and children, it is automatically calculated, and the annual usage limit is also controlled by the system, which I think makes the work of the human resources department easier.

What do you appreciate about Ariel and what do you feel are its advantages?

Mr. Hori:

I think it is good that the company has adopted Ariel as its comprehensive internal system.
Having a centralized system is also beneficial from a cost perspective. The posting of sales bulletins is also significant. Daily sales information, such as sales at retail stores in airport terminals, is important information for management. Therefore, we process the information from the sales data in "HUE Classic Sales Management" and automatically link it to Ariel every day from the CSV uploader so that it can be viewed as a sales bulletin from the most prominent place on the top page. The data can be viewed as of 1, 2, or 3 days ago, daily sales as of the end of the previous month, cumulative for the month, cumulative for the year, etc. Previously, when reporting to executives, we had to manually process the data in Excel each time. By automating this process, we were able to improve the portal viewing rate and reform operations at the same time. In addition to the sales report on the top page, Ariel also provides an application portal (management monitoring application) that allows users to visually check the color coding of sales increases/decreases and the ranking of sales and sales per square meter, etc., allowing them to make their own selections.
Various people across positions, both management and those in charge of each store operated by the group, check the information.
In order to bring management and the shop floor closer together, I think it is important for the shop floor to take an interest in management and for management to communicate information to the shop floor, and I would like to recommend the use of Ariel for this purpose.

What new initiatives would you like to undertake through the use of Ariel, and what are your future plans?

Mr. Hori:

I would like to promote more standardization and use the "HUE Classic" series to increase operating profit. We would like to take measures to reduce the distance between the head office and group companies, so it is better to have an integrated information infrastructure, and I think we can still improve on the way we utilize our company. I would like to continue to utilize Ariel to stimulate communication.

*This article is current as of March 2019.