Digital Forward Launches 'Katachi': Spot App Development for SMEs with Just the Necessary Features at 1/5 the Traditional Cost

Digital Forward Co., Ltd. (Representative Director: Shogo Yamauchi) has officially launched 'Katachi', a spot app development plan designed for SME managers who are hesitant about IT. The service aims to develop only the features truly necessary for their business operations on a low budget, without the need for large-scale and expensive system investments.

By leveraging the mechanisms of familiar, existing tools (such as Google Workspace and Microsoft Office), the company keeps development costs to about one-fifth of traditional levels. It provides 'small apps' for frontline operations with minimal monthly maintenance costs.

'Katachi': System Development Service Exclusively for SMEs

■ Background: Why Does SME Digitalization Cost Millions of Yen?

We often hear from SME managers who say, 'I want to move away from handwritten papers and messy Excel management, but when I got a quote from a system company, it was millions or tens of millions of yen, so I gave up,' or 'I was recommended external IT tools that require high monthly fees, and I'm worried if we can master them.'

While the world is filled with powerful IT tools, the reality is that frontline utilization foundations have not caught up.

Our representative, Yamauchi, has worked on large-scale systems at major companies like Booking.com and Accenture. At the same time, he is an engineer who re-entered vocational school after joining the workforce to study programming. The conviction he arrived at is that 'IT is merely a tool; the goal is to drive business forward.'

Rather than introducing a whole expensive system, resolving specific areas on the front line where 'double work' occurs can make operations significantly easier, even with a budget of just 1/5.

■ Three Features of the Spot App Development Plan 'Katachi'

1) We Do Not Sell Expensive Tools

There are no proposals made for the sake of agency margins. We prioritize customer profit and recommend keeping things in Excel if 'Excel is sufficient.' By narrowing down strictly to areas that truly require app conversion, we have made production possible at a low budget of about 1/5 of conventional development costs.

2) 'Almost Zero Maintenance Costs' by Utilizing Existing Services

Because development is done by linking the background mechanisms of the Google (Gmail) or Office (Excel) products you currently use, it not only enables flexible working locations but also eliminates the stress of learning new operations.

Additionally, there are no monthly system usage fees, allowing operations with virtually no maintenance costs.

3) 'Visible Results' in 1 to 3 Months

We do not make grand system plans that take months or years.

We emphasize rapidly accumulating small success experiences that frontline workers can immediately feel, such as 'Overtime decreased starting next month' or 'Paper transcription has been eliminated.'

■ Provided Plans and Pricing

'Katachi' is a spot plan with no monthly fees.

Because the developed system becomes the property of your company, it can be flexibly modified (specification changes) later, such as adding new features to align with company growth and operational changes.

Internal Business App Development: From 100,000 JPY (excluding tax)
[What it can do]
Employee management, customer lists, daily reports, attendance tracking, inventory management, etc.—completing daily management instantly on a smartphone or PC.

■ Service Flow

Step 1 | Inquiry & Consultation (Free, approx. 30 minutes)
Please feel free to contact us first. We will carefully listen to your current challenges.

Step 2 | Current Situation Assessment & Analysis
Organizing and visualizing the entire picture of your operations and systems. We clarify the causes of issues and points for improvement.

Step 3 | Solution Design & Proposal
Based on the gap between the current state and the ideal state, we design concrete improvement measures.

Step 4 | Development
We develop a system/app equipped 'only with necessary features.'

Inquiries can be completed in 1 minute via our dedicated web form. A representative will contact you within 1 business day after submission.

Inquire here ->

■ Comment from Representative Director Shogo Yamauchi

Through projects at Booking.com and Accenture, I learned the power to mobilize people across nationalities and cultures. Later, at an HR system company (CYDAS), I was in charge of a data integration project with one of Japan's largest securities firms, experiencing success while involving various teams across clients, development, and sales.

What I realized during that time is that 'Digitalization (DX) is not about installing a system. It is about connecting people to people, and systems to systems, to drive business forward.'

It is only natural that managers who are uncomfortable with IT feel resistant to technical jargon filled with foreign loanwords. I aim to be the 'number one in Japan...