Tokyo — Dec. 22, 2022 — Asteria Corporation (Japan listed, Security Code: 3853) today announced that Osaka Prefecture-based Kotoku Cleaner Co., which is engaged in intermediate treatment of industrial waste, has introduced no-code*1 mobile app building tool Platio and achieved the digital transformation (DX) of reporting compliance with ISO standards using an app. This has led to the reduction of time spent on reporting processes by 400 hours a year.
The screenshot of “Daily Plant Inspection App”
A Plant worker completes reporting via an app
-Automatic input and dropdown list speed up reporting
-Accurate data accumulation with automatic calculations and settings to prevent input omissions
-Flexible support for ISO and administrative procedures by producing reports in CSV format
-Increase efficiency of creating improvement plans, etc. through reporting and data analysis
-Enter report details on site according to the items displayed on the smartphone app
-Complete reporting regardless of location as the app can be used offline
Background and Effect
The conventional reporting and management used paper
Kotoku Cleaner, which handles intermediate treatment of industrial waste such as sludge and waste oil, is ISO14001 certified for the purpose of protecting the environment and ISO 45001 certified for the safety of a work environment. To maintain ISO certification, plant workers must perform inspections and collect and report data on a daily basis.
ISO certification requires more than 100 inspection items, including the measurement of odor level and water consumption. Before the introduction of Platio, workers would write down inspection details on paper and then enter them into Excel when they get back to the office. The manual process required checks of omissions and calculation errors in the input data as well as storage of the forms, accounting for a large portion of their daily work. In addition, they had problems with data compilation, such as the difficulty reading handwriting and differences in the level of detail provided by workers.
Therefore, the company began considering improving the efficiency of work through DX of its reporting operations. As reporting can be done on site from a smartphone and the smartphone generation is increasing among workers, the company decided to introduce Platio, which enables the production of an app without coding and facilitates efficient data management and utilization.
With Platio, a safety management promotion staff member with no programming experience created in three days “Daily Plant Inspection App”, which allows workers to report a checklist of more than 100 items required for ISO certification. Using the app, workers can complete the entire reporting processes from recording, collecting, to accumulating reports from about 25 workers. Furthermore, by completely eliminating paper-based recording and data entry work, inspection time was reduced from one hour to 20 minutes, resulting in a man-hour cut of approximately 400 hours per year.
Kotoku Cleaner has also begun using Platio to improve the working environment for workers: it made an app for Heat Stress Index (WBGT*2) management to replace with paper-based management intended to prevent heat strokes. A total of five apps are now in use, including “Body Temperature and Alcohol Check App” and “Near-Miss Reporting App” that were created with a template in one hour. In the future, while using Platio as a hub for collecting data from plants, the company plans to expand the data usage with an eye to integrating it with other systems.
Asteria plans to focus on expanding templates for apps that can be used in the industrial waste disposal industry and other areas to help companies working to achieve their SDGs goals or to reduce their environmental impact improve operational efficiency.
Message from Kotoku Cleaner Users
Plant workers in the past had used several different types of report forms and stored a huge amount of paper every year. It was difficult to find the data we were looking for. It also took a lot of time and effort to print and file them.
With Platio, we could create a simple app in an hour, and even a complex one in as little as three days. Thanks to its ease of use, we were able to eliminate paper processes immediately. Now when we have a problem, we first think about whether we can make an app with Platio. We built and are using BodyTemperature and Alcohol Check App and Near-Miss Reporting App. In the future, we intend to use Platio in broader applications as a hub for collecting various on-site data, while expanding data use by integrating it with other systems.
KATABUCHI Kazuma, director and general manager of Sales Division, Operations Department
SUNADA Shogo from Operations Division, Operations Department, Safety Management Promotion Center
*1: 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.
*2: WBGT stands for Wet Bulb Globe Temperature. It is an indicator focusing on the exchange of heat between the human body and the outside air. The purpose of this indicator is to prevent heat strokes.
About Kotoku Cleaner Co.
Kotoku Cleaner provides intermediate treatment of industrial waste using advanced technology. Its mission is to contribute to the preservation of the environment.
For more information about Kotoku Cleaner, visit www.kotoku-g.co.jp/ (available in Japanese only)
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-September 2022, 9,809 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 1,670 companies and public institutions had adopted the product through end-September 2022.
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.
The names of products are registered trademarks or trademarks of individual companies.
