LeKumo Enters New Record-Keeping Domain Following Construction Records & Growth Records; Launches Maintenance Record AI Cloud 'AITURBO'

LeKumo Inc. (Headquarters: Minato-ku, Tokyo; Representative Director: Hironobu Arima; hereinafter "LeKumo") has launched the maintenance record AI cloud 'AITURBO (AITurbo)', which utilizes AI and photo time-stamping.

Starting with the simple action of taking photos on-site, it structures primary information, improving operational efficiency and ensuring accountability for automotive maintenance and repair shops that require transparency.

'AITURBO' Official Website: https://ai-turbo.net

[Development Background] The "Pricing Negotiation Distortion" and "Accountability" in the Automotive Maintenance Industry

The automotive repair and maintenance industry (e.g., BP factories) faces its most critical challenges in securing personnel due to severe labor shortages and securing funds for wage increases. However, according to a survey by the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism, the automotive maintenance industry has structural issues (market distortions) where appropriate price pass-through is difficult, with the proportion of subcontractors with low labor cost pass-through rates being "the worst" among industries.

To appropriately bill prime contractors, insurance companies, and car owners for labor costs, and to comply with the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism's "Guidelines for Ensuring Transparency," clear evidence (proof) of work processes and actual work times is essential. However, actual sites still rely heavily on analog operations, and even a factory handling about 50 vehicles per month incurs a significant management cost of 23.3 hours per month due to analog records such as "photo sorting, handwritten daily reports, and verbal sharing."

LeKumo will solve this structural issue by applying the know-how cultivated in quality certification and photo management within the layered subcontracting structure of the construction industry, without imposing any new burden on the site.

[Patent-Pending Technology] "Photo Time-Stamping" x "RecAI"

1 Convert photos into structured data simply by taking them

Craftspeople simply "take photos" at the start and completion of work using the dedicated app 'AITURBO Camera'. Based on this low-effort input, the patent-pending "Photo Time-Stamping" technology and proprietary AI "RecAI" work in conjunction. This breaks through the IT literacy barrier on-site and automatically converts information buried in analog records into "structured data (corporate digital assets)" that links work times, process progress, personnel in charge, and project information in real-time.

2 Justify price pass-through with "Unmovable Evidence"

Unlike general camera images or handwritten daily reports, data captured through the dedicated app ensures data authenticity (evidence of unalterable actual work time) on the cloud. This real-time data asset, linked with AI, becomes the basis for billing "appropriate labor costs and management costs" to insurance companies and car owners, enabling both appropriate price pass-through and accountability, which are structural issues in the industry.

3 Real-time visualization of management operations

Factory managers and front-desk staff can grasp the progress of all projects and the operational status of craftspeople in real-time from their PCs or tablets without visiting the site, eliminating information silos between the office and the field.

[Future Development] Evolution into an Industrial Data Foundation

'AITURBO' aims to become an "industrial data platform" that maximizes the productivity of the entire automotive aftermarket, not just a management tool.

1 Knowledge Assetification of Tacit Knowledge (AI Advancement)

By having RecAI further learn the structured data of accumulated repair photos and work times, it will promote the automatic optimization of "process judgment, personnel allocation, and delivery time prediction," which have traditionally relied on the experience of skilled craftspeople.

2 Management Dashboard through API Integration with External Systems

By promoting data integration with existing estimation software commonly used in the sheet metal and painting industry, it will build a data foundation for factory management that can integrally analyze "repair estimates, work results, costs, and delivery times."

3 Expansion to General Maintenance Areas

In the future, it will expand from the sheet metal and painting domain to the entire broad automotive maintenance field, such as "vehicle inspections, periodic inspections, and general maintenance," aiming to further maximize the ratio of recurring revenue in deskless industries.

What is 'AITURBO (AITurbo)'

'AITURBO' is an automotive maintenance AI cloud that integrates repair photo management, project management, and process management, starting with photo recording via smartphone. Craftspeople just take photos. Managers grasp the situation of the entire factory in real-time. It connects the field and management, accelerating the DX of automotive maintenance factories.

AITURBO Official Website

LeKumo Inc.

LeKumo Inc., with its mission to "Update the world with 'records,'" provides a "Record DX Platform" that resolves the structural issue of fragmented information between the field and the desk faced by deskless industries, maximizing the productivity of the entire organization.

Representative Director: Hironobu Arima

Company Establishment: September 20, 1995

Corporate Site: https://lecre.jp

* "Kuraemon" is a registered trademark of LeKumo Inc.