Cybozu Publishes Japan Engineering Case Study on “ki to e”: 30% Shorter Project Lead Times and ¥40 Million in Annual Cost Savings

Cybozu, Inc. (Headquarters: Chuo-ku, Tokyo; President and CEO: Yoshihisa Aono) announced that it has published a case study on how Japan Engineering Co., Ltd. (Headquarters: Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo; President and CEO: Yusuke Noju) uses “ki to e” on its customer case study page. Japan Engineering built a cost management system using the cloud service “ki to e,” shortening construction project lead times by 30%, reducing annual construction costs by ¥40 million, and cutting annual overtime by 5,000 hours. Japan Engineering is a construction and engineering company that handles projects ranging from specialized construction work to advanced plant engineering. In the construction industry, profit and loss management is often handled through rough estimates, and deficits are frequently discovered only after project completion. Visualizing profitability has therefore become a major challenge for many companies. Japan Engineering had been using spreadsheet software to manage profit and loss in order to secure reliable profits. However, complicated version control caused rework, and overtime became routine for staff. Fatigue at job sites also contributed to employee turnover, making it urgent to reduce workload and accurately identify cost discrepancies. The company also needed mechanisms to prevent unnecessary orders, increasing the need for flexible system design and accounting integration. In response, the company first considered introducing a packaged core system for the construction industry. However, it found it difficult to adapt its existing workflows to the package specifications and concluded that it needed a system aligned with its own business processes. After reviewing its system requirements, the company selected ki to e, a low-code tool that can integrate with accounting and other systems, based on the requirement that cost data entered into the system could be handled end to end through journal entries. In addition to the flexibility to build a system tailored to its own workflows, ki to e also matched the company’s needs by enabling control mechanisms such as change history management, permission settings, and application and approval workflows. Implementation and development of ki to e were supported by Pepacomi Co., Ltd., which understands construction business operations. By sharing the cost management flow, the companies built a cost management system using ki to e in only about three months. Japan Engineering continues to operate and improve the system today. Currently, all 55 employees at Japan Engineering use ki to e. More than 450 apps are used on ki to e, supporting on-site operations across departments such as sales, general affairs, and factories by breaking work down according to each department’s needs. With the “construction ledger app,” applications are submitted from a construction order request app based on quotations. Only approved application details are reflected as execution budget costs in the construction ledger app. This makes it harder for on-site personnel to overwrite figures or make unsupported changes, reducing rework and easing the burden of confirmation and correction. In addition, by matching ledger information when invoices are received, the company can quickly identify gaps between order details and actual results, helping prevent over-ordering. Integration with accounting software has also greatly reduced the effort required for journal entry work, creating an end-to-end cost management system from order request to accounting. As a result of streamlining cost management and daily reporting with ki to e, Japan Engineering shortened construction lead times by 30%, reduced annual construction costs by ¥40 million, and significantly improved cost control. It also reduced annual overtime by 5,000 hours, contributing to work style reform. By visualizing budget flows, the company fostered stronger management awareness at job sites and improved transparency across the organization. The company also cites improved openness at job sites through business visualization as a management benefit. President and CEO Yusuke Noju said, “Management can pick up on problems at job sites earlier, and decisions become smoother. Because we can see who is dealing with what, excessive burdens are less likely to concentrate on specific people, which in turn helps prevent trouble and losses. I believe this has led to operations that also feel reasonable to people in the field.” Details of Japan Engineering’s “ki to e” case study are available on the case study page of the ki to e product website. ki to e is Cybozu’s no-code and low-code tool used by more than 40,000 companies, including 46% of companies listed on the Tokyo Stock Exchange Prime Market. Even without IT knowledge, users can create apps tailored to their company’s operations and quickly improve them as daily work changes. Its main features combine database, workflow, and communication capabilities, making it useful for a wide range of purposes such as customer management, business trip requests, and daily work reports, enabling continuous workplace-led operational improvement.