Tokyo — April 5, 2022 — Asteria Corporation (Japan listed, Security Code: 3853) announced today that no-code* mobile app building tool Platio has been adopted by Tokyo-based fitness club operator Renaissance Inc. The app created with Platio was introduced at all of its 103 facilities nationwide and has saved up to 550 hours a month spent on lost and found property management.
Background and effects
Upon receiving an inquiry, a Renaissance staff member searches for a lost property on an app.
Fitness clubs operated by Renaissance are pursuing to improve service quality and the efficiency of various on-site operations, thereby further boosting productivity.
Every day, about 20 lost items are handed in at its facilities. Conventionally, staff members would record those items in paper-based ledgers and look for ones on the lost property rack when the owners reclaim their property. Such a method was inefficient in that: it relies on manual labor required to keep records and to search for items when owners turned up; and record keeping is often inconsistent such as differences in characterizing items depending on staff members.
Renaissance hence decided to introduce Platio, which allows users to easily create mobile apps befitting specific internal tasks in a short time for a monthly fee of 20,000 yen with no initial fee required. A staff member at the Business Relations department who has no coding experience produced a unique “lost and found management app” with Platio within just three days and deployed it at the 103 facilities.
[The overview of a lost and found management app]
The processes from registration of lost property data to confirmation of handover can be done on the Platio app.
When, where and what type of object was found can be selected from the dropdown lists. These inputs allow for consistency of data inputs.
Photos of the lost property can be taken with a smartphone and tablet and attached to the records.
After the item is returned to the owner, the color of the record changed to visualize its status.
The introduction of the app resulted in the abolition of paper-based ledgers, saving up to 550 hours a month spent on lost and found property management at the 103 facilities nationwide. Renaissance plans to use Platio for facility management and daily inspection in an effort to further increase operational efficiency and enhance customer service through the digital transformation of worksites.
Messages from users
Thanks to the no-code tool, even those without development experiences like myself can easily create an app. We are continuing to put an effort to make the app more serviceable such as by changing the background color of the record depending on whether or not it is of value and whether or not the item was returned.
Minami Hashimoto, head of Business Relations Department
We cannot completely eliminate lost property management itself. So we were seeking ways to enhance customer satisfaction through improved efficiency of the task. We are genuinely grateful of Platio for resolving this challenge.
Hisako Tachiyama from Sales Planning Department (at the time Platio was introduced)
The lost property management is now being handled by tablets and an app, breaking away from the conventional management using paper-based ledgers. This new method goes down well among staff members of all ages. The fact that we could improve and update the way work is performed for staff members who will play a key role at the company was also a big achievement for us.
Mai Tachikawa, the reception chief at Sportsclub Renaissance Ryogoku (at the time Platio was introduced)
Platio business plan
Platio has been highly evaluated for its ability to create and deploy business apps unique to
individual companies without coding in just three days, and adopted by companies and organizations in diverse industries. The product has also helped expedite DX at worksites through the digitalization of on-site operations and streamlined work processes. As a result, sales almost tripled in FY2020, compared with the previous year, and this trend continues into the current fiscal year. The aim is to achieve 500 downloads by the end of FY2022.
*A mechanism which allows creation of software and apps without writing a single line of code. Platio users can deploy necessary functions and modify app’s specifications to make it more serviceable at worksites, even if they do not have expertise in a programming language.
About Renaissance Inc.
Renaissance Inc. operates the sports club business covering fitness clubs and swimming, tennis and golf schools; the health solutions business for local governments and companies; the nursing care and rehabilitation business; and other related businesses.
For more information about Renaissance, visit www.s-renaissance.co.jp/en/
About Asteria Corporation
Asteria, formerly Infoteria Corporation, develops and sells software and services which connect a variety of in-house computers and devices. Its key product, ASTERIA Warp, is middleware which integrates data in different computer systems without coding. As of end-December 2021, 9,594 companies, mainly large and medium ones, had introduced the product. Another product, Handbook, allows users to carry around materials used for sales activities and meetings as well as product catalogues in electronic files on smartphones and tablets. A total of 1,641 companies and public institutions had adopted the product through end-December 2021.
For more information about Asteria, visit www.asteria.com/jp/en/
About Platio
Platio is a cloud service which allows users to easily create and use mobile apps that fit specific tasks without coding. By capitalizing on apps which are optimized for each task, Platio promotes digitalization at worksites and improves efficiency of manual processes. Apps created with Platio can be distributed immediately for use at worksites. Data that users entered into an app is stored in the cloud and will be shared real time the up-to-date status of worksites with managers. Apps also can automatically detect changes in entered data and send an alert to managers so that they can quickly respond to anomalies. Apps for businesses tend to be complex and expensive. As an easy app building solution, Platio won Good Design Award for fiscal 2018.
For more information about Platio, visit plat.io/en/home
For the press enquiries, please contact Masumi Koizumi of Asteria’s PR and IR department.
TEL: +81-3-5718-1297 / Mobile: +81-80-7716-9841 (Koizumi) / E-mail: press@asteria.com
For product enquiries, please contact the Marketing division.
E-mail: platio-pm@asteria.com
Asteria, Handbook and Platio are registered trademarks of Asteria Corporation.
