Asahi Soft Drinks Co., Ltd.
A rich product master that supported the Rakuten Shop of the Year award. Lazuli PDP is used for SKU expansion, SEO enhancement, and customer data analysis.
Lazuli PDP has been adopted by many manufacturers across various industries. Asahi Soft Drinks Co., Ltd., a major beverage manufacturer, has been utilizing it to streamline sales support activities for mass retail chains and enhance detailed services. We had a detailed conversation with Sohei Machida, a producer in the Category Management Group of the Wide Area Mass Retail Sales Department.
Challenges before implementation
The registration work for the product master required each branch's staff to spend 4 hours per person each month. There were also variations in work quality due to individual differences, making it a personalized product master.
Effects after implementation
The registration process for product masters has been automated, allowing staff at each branch to focus on creative tasks instead of routine work. Furthermore, automation has enabled the maintenance of product masters at a high level of quality.
－－What kind of tasks is Machida's department responsible for among Asahi Soft Drinks?
The category management group of the wide-area retail sales department to which I belong has two major missions. They are to improve the efficiency of sales support for retail chains through data utilization and to enhance services.
What I am primarily working on is the efficiency of sales support. We are promoting system construction and utilization to compress existing operational tasks and focus on more creative work.
Simply increasing new tasks will lead to a trade-off with existing operations.
Therefore, appropriately designing business processes that clarify business challenges is crucial.
This design includes training for all stakeholders after the system release and specialized training only for members expected to perform at a high level, which means establishing business processes can take a long time to achieve.
On the other hand, enhancing services for retail chains is a highly challenging endeavor that addresses issues that couldn't be solved until now by utilizing the data hidden in the distribution industry. Therefore, it is not unusual for our data specialist team to visit chain headquarters with sales representatives. Naturally, since meetings with chain headquarters are often based on analyzed POS data, proper data analysis becomes impossible if the product master is not properly organized. Therefore, our missions of efficiency and enhancement can be said to be interdependent.
－－Can you tell me the background of introducing Lazuli PDP?
Our company had a specific problem regarding the product master.
Specifically, the classification method was idiosyncratic when new products were registered in the product master, resulting in multiple product masters existing. As a result, there was a problem where the classification and analysis perspectives were not consistent across all areas. Furthermore, the management of this multiple product master was done manually, requiring enormous amounts of labor.
It was when I was struggling with such issues that Lazuli PDP was introduced to me.
I thought, "This is the solution to our problems!"
－－The purpose of the introduction was to reduce the workload and working hours of the personnel responsible for product master registration, right?
Yes. I have experience in this as well, and updating the product master is really tough.
New products are released every week from various manufacturers, including our company. Moreover, there is a tendency for SKUs to increase, such as with the rise of PB products and regionally limited items.
Therefore, as SKUs increase, so does the workload. Overall, we were spending 468 hours a year on registration tasks.
After introducing Lazuli PDP, all registration tasks for the product master have been automated, and the working hours for the MD have become zero.
－－Was it not possible to outsource data entry tasks?
Data entry is a simple task. However, domain knowledge is required to classify products.
To use our brand as an example, is "Wilkinson" seen as "carbonated water" or "carbonated beverage"? Neither is incorrect, but classification may differ from person to person.
In reality, including other company's brands and products requires veteran-level domain knowledge, so we handled it internally rather than outsourcing. However, even if veteran employees performed the task, variations in classification could not be avoided.
Now, Lazuli PDP's AI helps prevent these variations.
At the very beginning of the Lazuli PDP implementation, I thought it was still lacking, but as we worked alongside them and adjusted the AI, it improved significantly. If Lazuli's business expands, it may no longer be a dream to build a unified master that can be shared across the distribution and manufacturer industry. So let's all introduce Lazuli PDP and gather insights from Lazuli! (laughs)
－－Thank you (laughs). When the trade-offs, like in your company, are resolved, it leads to not just efficiency but also higher business sophistication and innovation.
Finally, please share your future outlook on your business and the operation of Lazuli PDP.
There are still many tasks in our company that can be automated. I believe Lazuli PDP can also be applied to business challenges other than product master tasks. I want to achieve results in efficiency beyond just the product master for new business challenges.
Ultimately, I want to contribute to further growth in the beverage industry as a beverage manufacturer that can utilize data in the distribution industry to the fullest.
Asahi Soft Drinks Co., Ltd. Homepage: https://www.asahiinryo.co.jp/index.psp.html
What is Lazuli PDP: https://corporate.lazuli.ninja/features/
