ID Holdings, Inc.

Streamline IT purchasing operations with BP-LINKS
Significantly reduce workload and achieve zero overtime

Background of Introduction

The increase in BPs has led to a rapid increase in purchasing operations, and manual operations are no longer able to keep up.

ID Group has been steadily expanding its business, welcoming Fess Corporation into the group in 2018 and transitioning to a holding company structure in April 2019, but back in 2013, the group was suffering from a rapid increase in purchasing operations.

In order to respond to a wide range of customer requests, we collaborate with a number of BPs, which requires our purchasing and procurement departments to conclude various contracts with each company. However, the number of contracts had grown so large that we could no longer keep up with the business process.

Shigeru Takasugi, General Manager of the Business Partner Promotion Department, explains the situation at the time: “Eight staff members were in charge of creating individual contracts and temporary staffing management ledgers, but all of this was done on a paper basis, and it was an enormous amount of work. Especially during the peak months of April and October, when contract renewals and other events overlapped, we had to work until late at night every day, and with the increase in BPs, we could no longer manage the work by relying on manual labor,” he explains.

To improve this situation, the ID Group began considering systemization to enable integrated management of purchasing data for the entire group.

Background of Introduction

Emphasizes dispatch support functions, and evaluates the ability to handle a series of processes in a single step.

ID Group began gathering information in late 2013 and selected five companies as candidates for the system, which they began to compare and consider in earnest the following year.

When considering a system, we placed particular emphasis on support for temporary staffing contracts, as ID Group has a fair amount of temporary staffing contracts as well as outsourced contracting contracts. If the system did not have built-in functionality, we would have to customize it anew, which would have delayed its implementation.
We were in a situation where we wanted to reduce the burden on the field as quickly as possible, so this functionality had to be standard. After examining the aforementioned conditions as well as other functions and usability, the decision was made to adopt TDC SOFT’s purchasing system, BP-LINKS, in June 2014, and operations began in January 2015.

Mr. Hiroshi Takizawa of the Partner Promotion Group, Business Partner Promotion Department, explains the reason for the selection: “BP-LINKS and one other company’s product were the finalists, but we were concerned that the introduction and operation costs would pile up because BP-LINKS did not allow for flexibility in adding functions and all small modifications were treated as options. However, BP-LINKS was not flexible in adding new functions, and even small modifications were treated as optional.

On the other hand, BP-LINKS can handle a series of processes from quotation to contract and settlement all in one system, and there is no need for optional or add-on development. Another key point was that BP-LINKS can comply with laws such as the Subcontract Act and the Dispatched Worker Dispatching Act. We also appreciated the fact that it was easy to integrate with our group’s operations.

Effects of Introduction

Workload is greatly reduced, overtime is reduced to zero, and costs are reduced.

The ID Group introduced BP-LINKS with as little customization as possible and adapted its business practices to BP-LINKS. Mr. Takizawa recalls, “Since we were updating our core system at the same time BP-LINKS was introduced, it was very difficult to adapt our business to BP-LINKS, but thanks to TDC SOFT’s strong support, we were able to overcome the difficulties.

The systemized purchasing process has greatly reduced our workload. In addition, since there is no longer any paperwork to send and receive, we no longer have to pay for postage, which in turn eliminates operational errors. Considering the cost savings, including the time and effort involved, it is quite effective.” (Mr. Takasugi)

On the other hand, although there were many inquiries from the BP companies that use the system for the first two to three months, most problems were solved by referring to the manuals.

Kumiko Aoki, GL of the Group Business Systems Management Department, says, “We can put announcements and other information on the top page, and that alone has reduced the number of inquiries from users. We have also had problems with BPs operating in ways they were not expecting, and TDC SOFT Inc. has responded appropriately and saved us a lot of time.

Future Outlook

Cloud Migration to Create Unstoppable System, Focus on New BPs

ID Group initially operated BP-LINKS on-premise, but migrated the management server to AWS in 2018. The group’s purchasing data is now managed in a cloud environment.

In this regard, Mr. Takasugi commented, “It is a great advantage that the administrative burden has been reduced and a system that does not stop even in the event of a large-scale disaster or other unexpected event has been realized. Also, from the perspective of auditing the system, the change from paper to data has made it possible to refer to the necessary data at any time,” he said. The number of BP technicians in the ID Group has increased even more, and the number of purchase orders now exceeds 3,000 per year, but the workload has not increased as rapidly as it had in the past. Thanks to the introduction of the new system, overtime work has been reduced to almost zero, and three of the eight staff members involved in purchasing are now focusing on developing new BPs, which we believe is a major achievement of the new system,” says Takasugi.

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