Hints for "Problems faced by local Japanese people"
The Singapore subsidiary of Business Engineering (B-EN-G) is responsible for providing the production and cost management system "mcframe", the accounting system "mcframe GA", as well as IoT (Internet of Things) solutions to Japanese companies based in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) countries. Genji Yamashita is the Managing Director (President of the local subsidiary) of the Singapore subsidiary. He has been stationed in Singapore for 10 years since 2009.
During his time working at B-EN-G's headquarters in Japan, Yamashita was a project manager mainly responsible for the implementation of a major foreign ERP system at multiple overseas locations. In Singapore, he also supported the implementation of a global ERP system at a Japanese manufacturing company for five years until 2014. When introducing solutions centered on the company's own products such as "mcframe," which is his current main job, he says that rather than simply focusing on the products, "I first think about and listen to what the Japanese people at the local subsidiary are struggling with."
"Singapore, as the headquarters for ASEAN, is not able to efficiently gather information from each country," "We have almost no visibility into the status of projects in each country," "We want to standardize the tasks that are dependent on individual local staff, and deal with sudden resignations of staff members, etc."... By investigating the causes of problems that Japanese people in the region are struggling with, he points out that in many cases they can be solved systematically. This is where his extensive experience as a long-time ERP implementation consultant comes in handy.
What can be seen through "visualization of the ASEAN situation"
B-EN-G regularly holds seminars in Singapore for the headquarters of Japanese companies. The aim is to support the activities of client companies as headquarters for ASEAN from the perspective of systems. At this seminar, we met an accounting manager of a Japanese company. The company had set up its headquarters for ASEAN in Singapore several years ago, but was consulted by the manager, who said, "The accounting systems of the local subsidiaries in each country are all different, and the profitability of individual projects being carried out on the ground is almost invisible." Yamashita then proposed the introduction of "mcframe GA." The introduction costs of a high-performance ERP from a major foreign vendor are expensive, but the global business management solution "mcframe GA" has overwhelmingly superior cost performance. Above all, it is the ideal system for cost management of project-based businesses like this Japanese company.
The headquarters of this Japanese company in Singapore used to take a lot of time to consolidate financial documents sent in Excel from each country every month, but by implementing it at multiple sites, they were able to manage them centrally. As soon as they saw mcframe GA, which compactly implements the functions necessary for global management, the person in charge at the Japanese company, who had been struggling, decided to implement mcframe GA, saying, "With this, we can strengthen our overall management functions without any difficulty." The implementation project for this client's five locations was implemented one after another, and Yamashita was in charge of managing the entire project, and he is highly trusted by the client.
"By making Japanese companies' operations in ASEAN countries visible and streamlining work, we can learn specifically what is happening on-site and what risks exist, and then manage them. Reducing risks makes it possible to expand business and take steps toward new developments. We support our client companies in building the foundations for sustainable growth in their Asian business," says Yamashita.
"The joy of a challenge with no goal"
Expanding the possibilities for Japanese companies doing business in the ASEAN region from Singapore. The role of B-EN-G Singapore is to support this with IT systems. Currently, the region it covers is four countries: Singapore, neighboring Malaysia, Vietnam, and the Philippines.
Because it would be difficult for the B-EN-G Singapore subsidiary to provide detailed support to these four broad countries on its own, in recent years the company has been working with partner companies in each country to set up a system for developing new business locally. The Japanese partner company that is handling implementation in Vietnam is also receiving inquiries from Myanmar, India, and other countries.
"We've been getting more inquiries from the Philippines and Malaysia through our partner companies. We want to increase our orders and then focus on Vietnam, where Japanese companies are actively expanding their operations." Yamashita has specialized in project execution as an ERP implementation consultant and project manager for 15 years since joining the company in 1999, but in Singapore, he unexpectedly ended up working on sales and marketing, which he had no experience in. "As a headquarters for ASEAN, the Singaporean subsidiary of a Japanese company has the aspect of closely communicating and coordinating with the local subsidiary in each country and the Japanese headquarters. On the other hand, it also has the aspect of being a local subsidiary in Singapore, so it has a diverse position as a base," he points out. When the vertical organization weakens the cooperation between the bases in ASEAN, B-EN-G, which has its own bases and partner bases in each country, can act as a middleman between the bases in each country and the Japanese headquarters and coordinate the direction of the business.
"The project had a set goal, and the challenge was how to reduce risks and move forward, but now it's a challenge without a goal. I would like to use my knowledge as an engineer to establish a new form of sales and support Japanese companies in making great strides," Yamashita said enthusiastically.
(Reporting cooperation: NNA)
*This interview is current as of January 2019.
