AI Utilized to Respond to Naphtha Crisis. Hamamatsu Construction Company Operating 'Construction AI Management Study Group' Shares Case Study

Construction companies utilizing AI are asking, 'How is AI being used in this naphtha crisis?' Notices of price increases from housing-related material manufacturers and trading companies are endless. In some cases, shipment restrictions and suspension of new orders have become a reality. According to information compiled by the industry magazine 'Housing Tribune Online': Asahi Kasei Construction Materials: 'Neoma Foam' and others increased by 20% + temporary suspension of order acceptance Kaneka: Extruded polystyrene foam insulation increased by 40% Tajima Roofing: Asphalt-based waterproofing materials and insulation increased by 40-50% + suspension of new orders for all housing materials and waterproofing products Cleanup, Toclas, Housetec: Temporary suspension of new orders for system baths TOTO, LIXIL: Temporary suspension of unit bath orders Kansai Paint: Thinner products increased by over 50% + shipment restrictions Shin-Etsu Chemical Co., Ltd.: Vinyl chloride resin increased by over 30 yen/kg These are just a small part of the whole, and the impact extends to all categories, not just petroleum-derived building materials, indicating that a building material shock, similar to the 'wood shock,' is becoming a reality. Source: Housing Tribune Online 'Housing-related Material Price Increase Information (Updated as needed)' URL: https://htonline.sohjusha.co.jp/20260409-3/ In such an emergency, housing companies are in a situation where they must simultaneously manage 'company-wide situation sharing, customer response, on-site training, and contract preparation' with limited personnel and time. To what extent can AI be used to respond to this crisis? LIFEFUND Co., Ltd. (Representative: Takuma Shirato), a construction company in Hamamatsu that organizes and operates the 'Construction AI Management Study Group,' will share examples of AI utilization in response to this naphtha crisis, hoping it will be a reference for the construction industry facing the same challenges. ■ Example ① Building a 'Countermeasure Dashboard' to Consolidate Company-wide Status into One Page with AI Generating a dashboard with Claude to share the situation internally. Operations are updated as needed by referring to related documents and chat history. With over 70 manufacturers announcing price increases and shipment suspensions daily, it was necessary to create a state where management, on-site staff, and sales could share the same facts at the same time, with limited man-hours. If information was conveyed individually via email or verbally, information would inevitably be missed. Claude to generate an internal HTML dashboard Instructions were given: 'Create an internal HTML page that summarizes what is happening regarding the current naphtha crisis / affected building materials / alternatives / and a company-wide summary on one page.' Claude generated an internal situation sharing dashboard (HTML). Operations are updated as changes in the situation occur. By consolidating naphtha-related information within the company into one folder and adding chat interactions, the latest situation can be shared. The dashboard is configured to display the following items at a glance: Status cards for major building materials (color-coded for 'order suspended / secured until / alternative available,' etc.) Basic policy for important news Notes on considering alternatives Company-wide summary Achieved a state where all employees can quickly grasp 'what is happening and how.' Management's time spent on individual explanations in internal chats and meetings disappeared, and decision-making speed increased. ■ Example ② Standardizing Customer Response Quality by Preparing a Collection of Customer Response Templates with AI Generating an HTML template tool with Claude. Storing templates for explaining to customers to prevent inconsistent responses. Customers who have signed contracts daily send questions of different natures, such as price, construction period, and procurement status of specific equipment. If responses vary among sales representatives, it directly leads to customer distrust. Claude to generate an HTML template tool Instructions were given: 'Create a collection of templates that sales representatives can use to reply to customers, organized by status tabs, with customer names and representative names variable and automatically reflected in all templates,' and deployed as a web tool. The completed tool constantly displays a summary of the latest situation at the top. It provides tabs for different purposes such as 'Latest Situation / Price Questions / Construction Period Questions / Equipment Questions / Proactive Explanations / NG & OK Cases.' When customer names, representative names, etc., are entered, they are automatically reflected in all templates, allowing sales staff to copy and paste and send them. All representatives can now convey the same factual information to customers with the same tone. The management's will to 'be honest' has been established as a system that can be executed by the entire organization. ■ Example ③ Packaging Explanation Manuals + Role-Playing Training with AI Creating manuals by having Claude read the response policy. Role-playing is Nott.