KOBELCO

RK is being used within KOBELCO's Welding Business Division. There are about 40 users within the company, sharing three creator licenses and one runner license. Users are ranked based on usage frequency into "heavy users," "moderate users," and "light users." Licenses are allocated accordingly to prevent usage conflicts.

Currently, more than 30 scenarios (automated workflows developed in RK) are in operation. There are also approximately 120 scenarios currently in development.

Specifically, in my (Ms. Kubo's) role in the Testing and Inspection Group, we have automated tasks such as "issuing inspection slips" and "retrieving information from the quality management system." Previously, inspection slips were manually created, but now they are automatically issued. Additionally, the quality management system retrieves regulatory updates accurately, which is very convenient.

Our company, being a conglomerate, has different policies and budget sizes for each business division. Due to these internal dynamics, our Welding Business Division has maintained a stance of not allocating much budget to system development, and preferred to handle everything ourselves.

In this context, another company's RPA was initially implemented before RK. However, it was difficult to operate, with limited support channels, hindering what we call "citizen development" by internal employees. As a result, RPA hardly gained traction within our Welding Business Division.

RK came into play when our ICT Planning Group Leader learned about it at an exhibition in April 2023 and shared this information with me (Mr. Fujita), noting its potential for enabling citizen development. After comparing RK with our existing RPA solution, we decided to adopt RK for the following reasons:

• Strong user support
• Intuitive workflow and user interface
• No need for centralized management
• No strict version control requirements
• Error logging capabilities
• Flexible license allocation
• Cost-effective licensing and minimal implementation and operational costs

We particularly placed high hopes in the robust user support offered by RK. It seemed to us that RK could help us achieve our crucial goal of citizen development effectively.

Yes, even though I'm not particularly knowledgeable about computers, I (Ms. Kubo) have been able to develop scenarios smoothly without any issues. It is easier and more useful than using macros in Excel.

The interface is intuitive, so it was very easy to take an idea for automation and create a scenario from it.

The appeal of RK, as I (Ms. Kubo) see it, lies in two points:

Accurate and Easy Repetitive Tasks

In factory operations, there are critical tasks that if done incorrectly can have significant consequences. RK allows for easy automation of these repetitive processes and ensures accuracy, making it an ideal tool for handling such tasks.

Easy Maintenance

It's easy to understand what processes are being executed when reviewing a scenario, making scenarios very easy to modify if needed. Just recently, when we needed to irregularly input dates for issuing invoices per product, we were able to implement this functionality promptly.

I rate the support system higher than expected and greatly appreciate it. The responsiveness to inquiries is particularly impressive, with almost real-time responses received within a few hours. This has been rare in my experience with other companies where responses often take until the next day.

Being able to contact support directly without going through company channels is also invaluable. Previously, when I had a very general inquiry about what I wanted to achieve, they immediately set up a remote meeting. During the session, they provided guidance through screen sharing, offered suggestions for refining the scenarios I created, and showed an incredibly detailed level of support. I believe only KEYENCE provides such comprehensive assistance.

What surprised me even more was when I asked how long this level of support would continue, they assured me it would be ongoing.

We have achieved a reduction of 400 hours annually in tasks. However, this is just the current effect. New scenarios are beginning to operate, and we have many scenarios currently in development, so I expect the impact to increase further.

Another significant benefit is the identification of business processes through "process mapping." For example, automating a workflow for generating a report, stamping it, and converting it to PDF led to questioning whether the task was necessary at all. This led to eliminating unnecessary tasks and has been very useful for understanding and organizing internal workflows.

Moreover, beyond visible effects, there are substantial intangible benefits. Engaging in repetitive tasks that anyone can do but are critical and error-prone is inherently stressful. Manual processes inevitably led to mistakes and sometimes required starting over from scratch. Being liberated from such tasks has greatly relieved stress and allowed us to focus on more complex tasks that require deeper thought and innovation.

Overall, RK has not only delivered tangible efficiency gains but also enhanced our organizational clarity and employee satisfaction.

The key to spreading RK internally is to quantitatively analyze logs. It's highly recommended to track who within the company is using RK and how extensively, based on license usage. This information allows for immediate, flexible adjustments such as reallocating licenses based on usage frequency. Furthermore, dissecting RK usage data enables tracking automation trends across different locations. Essentially, it involves collecting data and interpreting its significance. This approach not only facilitates internal promotion but also proves beneficial for reporting to management.

As for mastering RK, a useful tip is to build it incrementally, part by part. Instead of creating everything in one go, breaking down tasks into smaller parts makes it easier to troubleshoot errors and run scenarios excluding problematic parts, thus simplifying the process.

Looking forward, from the perspective of automation, our company's factories still have significant room for growth. Therefore, we believe it's essential to delve deeper into the operations of various departments and expand the applications of RK in the future. Achieving this requires increasing the number of "citizen developers" who can use RK.

Already, the ICT Planning Team has identified potential new users for RK and plans to continue seeking and increasing the number of candidates for "citizen developers" in the future.

However, with only 10 members in the ICT Planning Team, providing detailed growth support is challenging. Therefore, we place high expectations on KEYENCE's support system.

KEYENCE's support truly resembles a comprehensive service that creates "citizen developers" for us. Their responsiveness has been beyond our expectations, providing us with great reassurance. We hope to continue receiving such robust support for a long time, as it is crucial for achieving our dreams.