Holding the "CX Innovation Awards" to Recognize Initiatives in Customer Data Utilization; Honoring 10 Companies Leading CX Reform in the Generative AI Era

Plus Alpha Consulting Inc. (Headquarters: Minato-ku, Tokyo; President: Katsuya Mimuro; Securities Code: 4071) hosted the "CX Innovation Awards" at its sponsored "Mieruka Engine Conference." The awards recognize companies among those that have implemented the "Mieruka Engine"—the domestic market share leader for 14 consecutive years(*) in the Voice of the Customer (VoC) utilization platform—that are promoting advanced initiatives through the use of customer data. Ten companies, including Suntory Holdings, Sega, JCB, Bandai, Benesse Corporation, Mizuho Bank, Osaka Gas Marketing, Herb Kenko Honpo, and LINE Yahoo, were honored with the Grand Prize. (*) Fuji Chimera Research Institute, "Software Business New Market 2025 Edition" ■ About the Mieruka Engine Conference Due to the progress of innovative technologies such as generative AI, the ways in which companies interact with customers and utilize data are changing at an accelerated pace. To achieve continuous corporate growth in a rapidly changing market environment, it is essential to practice "AI x Human Collaboration," which involves not just analyzing the collected voices of customers, but utilizing them as management resources for the future. The "Mieruka Engine Conference" is an event hosted by Plus Alpha Consulting with the goal of supporting the realization of "customer-centric management" by promoting corporate transformation starting from the voice of the customer and through data-driven decision-making. At this conference, companies that lead in the utilization of customer voices gather to share advanced case studies, knowledge gained through practice, and the latest AI utilization roadmaps. Furthermore, the "CX Innovation Awards" recognize user companies that are engaging in particularly advanced initiatives through their daily use of the Mieruka Engine and customer data. ■ List of "CX Innovation Awards" Winners and Their Initiatives (*1) (*2) [Company Name] Suntory Holdings Limited [Awarded Initiative] Realized automation of AI-based classification tasks by improving prompt accuracy using insights from VoC analysis. Established a mechanism to realize sophisticated analysis regardless of the analyst's experience, building a system that allows focus on deeper "hypothesis verification" and "multifaceted analysis" alongside increased classification efficiency. [Company Name] SEGA Corporation [Awarded Initiative] Rapidly creates reports on user reactions to game releases and updates. By improving the efficiency of aggregation tasks via AI, established a system allowing employees to focus on high-value-added tasks such as analysis and judgment. As a result, internal reports recorded an extremely high monthly open rate of over 95%, contributing significantly to fostering a culture of utilizing customer voices within the company. [Company Name] JCB Co., Ltd. [Awarded Initiative] Expanded the departments utilizing customer voices—which were previously used on a limited basis—through the expansion of data sources and the systematization of visualization and sharing. Promoted the fostering of a culture of VoC utilization within the organization by accumulating results such as refining measures based on objective data. [Company Name] BANDAI Co., Ltd. [Awarded Initiative] Built a platform capable of predicting fluctuations in inquiries for over 10,000 products and grasping the details of defects. By quickly and reliably coordinating with related departments on necessary future actions, promoted improvement actions such as a reduction in the number of inquiries. Based on analysis results, added videos to Q&A to support customers in solving problems smoothly without the hassle of making inquiries. [Company Name] Benesse Corporation [Awarded Initiative] Utilized dashboard functions to build a system for cross-departmental sharing and analysis of customer voices. Promoted evolution into a "self-propelled organization" where information-utilizing departments identify issues and plan solutions based on data themselves, establishing a customer value creation foundation that uses customer voices as a common judgment standard beyond organizational walls. [Company Name] Mizuho Bank, Ltd. [Awarded Initiative] By creating an environment where bank employees can "speak up whenever they have an idea, without worrying about anyone else's eyes," the company collects and analyzes not only VoC (Voice of the Customer) but also VoE (Voice of the Employee) to solve issues across the organization. By thoroughly feeding back how things were improved based on employee voices from headquarters to the front lines, the company realized a transformation to a positive culture where "the organization changes through our own voices." [Company Name] Osaka Gas Marketing Co., Ltd. [Awarded Initiative] Used generative AI to realize detailed automatic classification and summarization, including the extraction of "complaints/praise" by product/service, from 300,000 inquiries per month. In addition to reducing manual inspection man-hours and achieving significant efficiency, promoted a transformation to shift the reduced man-hours to high-value-added tasks known as "VoC utilization contributing to management." [Company Name] Herb Kenko Honpo Co., Ltd. [Awarded Initiative] Introduced speech-to-text transcription and automatic judgment of "refusal reasons," achieving a departure from manual Excel aggregation and significant efficiency. Shifted to a system capable of focusing on the aggregation of judgment data and feedback to operators. [Company Name] LY Corporation (LINE Yahoo) [Awarded Initiative] Built a mechanism to automatically detect "anger" and "response quality" from inquiry data. By automating the evaluation of all cases, ensured operational efficiency and quality. Established a mindset of response evaluation within the company, supporting the maximization of customer satisfaction from both system and operational perspectives. (*1) Listed in the order of recognition for each award. (*2) Selection criteria for the Grand Prize: Selected by comprehensively evaluating items such as "advancement and uniqueness of customer voice utilization," "impact on management (CX improvement, man-hour reduction)," and "degree of generative AI utilization" from among Mieruka Engine user companies. VoC Utilization Platform "Mieruka Engine" "Mieruka Engine" (https://www.mieruka-engine.com/) is the customer voice utilization platform that has held the No. 1 domestic market share for 14 consecutive years(*), which uses text mining to analyze vast amounts of customer voices—such as call records, inquiries, surveys, and SNS—to visualize customer problems, requests, complaints, and emotions such as joy and sadness. By leveraging generative AI, it understands customer intent and context, automating everything from voice classification to trend analysis and insight extraction, realizing analysis output that does not depend on individual skills or experience. Furthermore, it supports measures against customer harassment and the acquisition of advanced response skills through response training using actual customer data, contributing to reducing operator turnover rates and improving service quality. About Plus Alpha Consulting Inc. Plus Alpha Consulting (https://www.pa-consul.co.jp/), as a "visualization platform company that continues to create added value from all information," has been conducting cloud solution business since its establishment in 2006, centered on technologies such as "text mining" and "data mining" that have the power to "visualize" and provide insights into big data such as customer voices, customer data/purchasing data, and personnel information. By "visualizing" various information, the company develops and sells software to create +α (plus alpha) value for customers' businesses, provides consulting, and creates new businesses.