Miratap Hires First AI Employee to Address Labor Shortage Challenges

Miratap Co., Ltd. (Headquarters: Osaka City), which sells housing equipment online, announces that its AI employee, "Mira Nina," will join the company on Wednesday, April 1, to address labor shortages and establish a comfortable customer experience. Moving forward, the company will promote a work style where humans and AI collaborate to provide a rich home-building experience to even more customers.

In recent years, the housing equipment industry has faced a severe labor shortage, making the stable recruitment of customer service staff a significant challenge. In response, our company has been proactive in developing fully unmanned "SMART SHOWROOMs*." In 2022, we opened the Yokohama Smart Showroom, which introduced remote customer service, and in 2023, we opened the Sapporo Smart Showroom, which utilizes avatars for customer interaction. These efforts established a service style that could provide high-quality customer experiences without staff being physically present. However, while these initiatives improved convenience for visitors, they still required a system where staff could provide constant remote support, failing to provide a fundamental solution to the labor shortage. Given this background, we have decided to hire our first AI employee, "Mira Nina." The introduction of an AI employee will enable fully unmanned operations that do not require on-site or remote staff. This allows for customer service at any time without the need for reservations, preventing lost opportunities during wait times or peak hours, and aims to provide a comfortable customer experience. Mira Nina will be assigned to the "Well-being Minoh HDC BOX" exhibition space within "ABC Housing Well-being Minoh" on Saturday, April 4, where she will be responsible for assisting visitors.

Under our management philosophy of "Making life fun and beautiful," we will continue to contribute to the creation of better living spaces.

* "SMART SHOWROOM" is a registered trademark of Miratap Co., Ltd. (formerly sanwacompany).

Expected Benefits of Introducing an AI Employee

1. Smooth Customer Service through Provision of Basic Information Having learned the product information displayed at the "Well-being Minoh HDC BOX," the AI will smoothly provide basic product guidance, such as color variations and size options.

2. A Customer Service System That Is Accessible and Reservation-Free Because it can be used without a reservation, it eliminates traditional inconveniences such as "not being able to get a booking" or "having to wait for a representative," creating a system that is easy to use.

3. Optimization of Operational Costs It eliminates the need for remote staff to be on standby, which was previously necessary for operating unmanned showrooms, thereby achieving a stable service system while further reducing labor costs.

Future Outlook

Starting with this initiative, we are looking toward the future expansion of AI-staffed Smart Showrooms nationwide, as well as their introduction into existing showrooms. By having AI handle basic product guidance, we will reduce the burden of routine tasks on our staff, creating an environment where they can focus on "service only humans can provide," such as personalized proposals and building relationships of trust. By expanding this service style where humans and AI collaborate, we will continue to provide a consistently high-quality home-building experience to more customers.