Kintone is Leading the Way in Our Digitalization

Nippon Steel Trading Americas, Inc. (NSTA) is a trading company within the Nippon Steel Group. It functions as a subsidiary in the Americas for Nippon Steel Trading Co., Ltd., which is part of the Nippon Steel Group. The company operates three integrated businesses: "Steel," "Industrial Machinery & Infrastructure," and "Food."

NSTA streamlined their complex approval process by implementing Kintone, which improved efficiency and made the process easier for employees to navigate. 

Simplifying Approval Process with Kintone

Problems Faced Before Introduction of Kintone:

We managed the application and approval formats in Excel, printed and submitted them, or attached them to emails. However:

• Due to receiving numerous emails, approvers often missed approval requests. Approval processes also took longer during approvers' business trips.
• It was difficult to know how far the approval process had progressed or understand its status.
• Some members submitted applications by printing on paper while others attached them to emails, lacking uniformity. Additionally, it was inefficient for accounting department to print receipt files, and managing original documents such as receipts was cumbersome due to dispersed office locations.
• Approval routes varied depending on the approval content, requiring regular confirmation with HR and General Affairs. In particular, there was a surge in inquiries after regular personnel transfers.
• The storage location and method for applications were not standardized, leading to significant effort during audits to verify application data.

Improvements with Kintone:

• Because approval processes can now be done anywhere, quick decision-making is possible.
• Since approval statuses can be viewed in a list, it is easy to send reminders to approvers who are holding up the process.
• The implementation of paperless processes has significantly reduced the workload of the accounting department.
• Because approval routes are set in advance, applicants can progress through the process without delay.
• There are no longer any inquiries regarding approval routes to the HR department.
• Audits and other necessary checks can now be smoothly conducted whenever needed.

Why Nippon Steel Trading Americas, Inc. Chose Kintone:

In 2018, digitalizing general affairs tasks related to accounting and human resources was a challenge. At that time, issues such as lack of pre-application procedures and untimely expense claims were causing operational delays. Furthermore, after the merger of two companies, the approval workflows became inefficient due to double standards.

Adapting workflows to comply with company policies and government guidelines revisions proved difficult, so approval processes had long been managed using Excel formats, each tailored to specific approval cases, leading to increased complexity in management.

By using Kintone, various formats could be organized into a single Kintone app, making it easier for both applicants and approvers to understand. Kintone was adopted as a system capable of reflecting complex workflows and adapting to changes in those workflows.

The adoption started with travel requests and accounting settlements, and six months later, as end users became familiar with Kintone, its application was expanded to other areas as well.

Kintone Deployment and Its Effect

Members who have been with us for a long time, including management, were quite resistant to changing the way things had been done. Therefore, in the early stages of introduction, we established rules requiring applications such as business trip requests and expense claims, be made exclusively through Kintone. This encouraged everyone to start using Kintone, resulting in a lot of feedback from the field. We took those opinions into account to improve the apps, eventually completing an app that is user-friendly and meets the needs of the actual users.

As people became more familiar with Kintone, we progressed to the second phase; tackling heavier operations such as credit management. As employees became more familiar with Kintone, its adoption spread seamlessly across the organization.

Even during the COVID-19 situation, having used Kintone before the outbreak allowed us to transition to sudden remote work needs smoothly and with minimal confusion.

As a result, we recommended implementing Kintone for approval and application management to our affiliated companies in the United States and our subsidiary in Mexico, all of which successfully adopted the platform. Kintone has played a pivotal role in driving digital transformation for us and the collective group of companies. 

Interview Date: June 2023