Avant Announces that Froebel-kan Co., Ltd. Adopts "AVANT Cruise" for Management Control System ~Transformation to Data-Driven Management through Cross-Organizational Budget vs. Actual Management and Simulation~

Avant Co., Ltd. (Headquarters: Minato-ku, Tokyo; Representative Director, President & CEO: Takahiro Okabe; hereinafter "Avant"), a member of the Avant Group providing solutions for group management control, consolidated accounting, and business management, announced that Froebel-kan Co., Ltd. (Headquarters: Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo; Representative Director, President: Takaki Yoshikawa; hereinafter "Froebel-kan") has adopted its management control system "AVANT Cruise."

Froebel-kan is a publishing and childcare-related company founded in 1907. Since its founding, based on its expertise in "early childhood education and childcare," it has been widely involved in businesses related to children, including publishing children's books such as the "Anpanman" series and "Where's Wally?" series, selling playground equipment, teaching materials, and toys for childcare facilities, developing indoor play areas, and operating nursery schools, all to support the healthy growth of children.

The publishing and childcare market, which is the company's primary market, is currently in a period of transformation where new value creation is required alongside the diversification of the environment surrounding children. To respond to these changes in the market environment and achieve sustainable growth, the company is accelerating the development of new businesses across the entire organization, transcending existing departmental boundaries.

However, under the previous management system, numerical management was primarily based on existing organizational axes. For cross-organizational new businesses, it was necessary to manually measure the effectiveness of measures and manage progress each time. Additionally, because data was fragmented, rapid analysis and forecasting were difficult, making it an urgent task to establish a more flexible and responsive management control infrastructure.

Froebel-kan determined that to improve the accuracy of management decisions, it was essential to centrally manage the vast amount of data generated from business activities and utilize it in combination with years of experiential knowledge. Therefore, to fundamentally strengthen existing methods and build a system for quick and accurate decision-making, the company decided to adopt the management control system "AVANT Cruise."

Through this implementation, the company aims to make a full-scale transition to data-driven management, first by advancing its management control infrastructure and establishing its operational use.

Reasons for Adopting Avant Products

The reasons for adopting Avant products are as follows:

1. Establishment of a Multi-faceted Profit and Loss Management System Combining Organizational and Business Axes, and a Management Control Foundation Resilient to Change

The ability to achieve multi-faceted analysis by flexibly combining a horizontal business axis (such as projects and products) with the previously dominant organizational axis for numerical management was highly evaluated. By evolving into a management control foundation that can quickly adapt to frequent organizational changes and volatile market conditions, the company expects to build an environment that transcends complex Excel management and visualizes accurate profits and losses with continuous data, even for cross-organizational new businesses.

2. Improving the Accuracy of Budget vs. Actual Management in View of the Next Medium-Term Plan, and Laying the Groundwork for Future Management Sophistication

In preparation for formulating the next medium-term management plan, the top priority is to reliably link current budget vs. actual management with data generated from business activities to improve the accuracy of management information. Establishing a foundation that can smoothly and accurately match detailed, precise results from daily activities with plans is the first step. Furthermore, this foundation is designed to be expandable in the future to support strategic decision-making, such as simulations under uncertain business environments, and was evaluated as a platform that supports long-term management evolution.

3. A Hands-on Support System Leveraging Specialized Knowledge from the Implementation Stage

Not only the system functions, but also the practical support system, which includes specific improvement proposals based on other companies' cases from the early stages of implementation, organization of management accounting tasks, data surveys and report creation, and post-implementation operational support, was highly evaluated. In particular, a finance executive at Froebel-kan expressed expectations for Avant as "a partner that can reliably lead from implementation to operational establishment." The fact that support leveraging consulting expertise would be available in the future when expanding simulation functions or continuously updating and optimizing management indicators and axes in response to changes in the business environment was also a factor in the decision to adopt.

Comment from the Adopting Company

We received the following comment from Mr. Kensei Kimata, Manager of the Management Control Team, Finance Department, Froebel-kan Co., Ltd.

"Our company will celebrate its 120th anniversary in 2027. While inheriting our unchanging mission of 'continuing to support the healthy growth of children,' we have continuously taken on new business challenges in line with the changing times.
However, the management control that should serve as the foundation supporting these challenges has become increasingly dependent on complex Excel spreadsheets and the skills of experienced staff. We faced issues with utilizing the vast amount of accumulated data, conducting analysis beyond organizational boundaries, and making timely decisions.
Under these circumstances, aiming not only to improve data reliability and reduce workload but also to fundamentally improve business processes and achieve advanced analysis, Avant's hands-on support system based on specialized knowledge was a major driving force behind our decision to implement this system.
The introduction of AVANT Cruise is not merely a tool upgrade but a significant step towards evolving our management system itself into a 'data-driven' one. By redirecting the time and information generated through efficiency gains towards in-depth discussions to develop our 'next move,' we aim to achieve sustainable growth and contribute even more to 'the healthy growth of children.'"

Introduction of the Implemented Product

Management Control System "AVANT Cruise" for Enhancing Corporate Value

View Details

Avant will continue to support our customers in "visualizing and maximizing their invisible corporate value."

[About Avant Co., Ltd.]

Avant promotes management DX that leads to the enhancement of customer corporate value through the development of management control system software and the provision of various other companies' products. With a track record of over 1,200 implementations, we provide one-stop support including consulting, construction, implementation support, operation, and maintenance.
Focusing on "Group Management Control," "Consolidated Accounting," and "Business Management," we support the integration, analysis, and utilization of management information and data from both management and IT perspectives, realizing data-driven management.

Company Name: Avant Co., Ltd.
Established: October 1, 2013 (Founded: May 26, 1997)
*Changed company name from Diva Co., Ltd. on October 1, 2022
Representative: Takahiro Okabe, Representative Director, President & CEO
Head Office: Shinagawa Intercity Bldg. B, 13F, 2-15-2 Konan, Minato-ku, Tokyo 108-6028
URL: https://www.avantcorp.com/
Business Description: One-stop support from consulting to system planning, construction, implementation, operation, and maintenance in the areas of group management control, consolidated accounting, and business management. Development of in-house management control systems and provision of other companies' CPM software.
In-house Products: Management control system "AVANT Cruise" for enhancing corporate value; "AVANT Compass" for corporate value analysis, evaluation, and monitoring; "AVANT Chart" for visualizing consolidated financial statements, scenario creation, comparison, and future forecasting.

[About Avant Group]

Avant Group Co., Ltd. (Headquarters: Minato-ku, Tokyo; Representative Director, President: Morikawa