JBS Supports JR West with In-house App Development
Contributes to Reduction of Hundreds of Working Hours and Costs Through Systemized Response to Business Challenges

Today, Japan Business Systems, Inc. (Headquarters: Minato Ward, Tokyo; President: Yukihiro Makita; securities code: 5036) announced that it is assisting West Japan Railway Company (Headquarters: Osaka City, Osaka Prefecture; President: Kazuaki Hasegawa; hereinafter “JR West”) with the development of a “Snowfall Volume Reporting App” and “In-house Operational Information Provision App” using Microsoft Power Platform (hereinafter “Power Platform”), with a view to realizing in-house app development at JR West. This initiative represents the first step in the JR West Group Digital Strategy and app development has contributed to a reduction of hundreds of working hours per year for station staff and workers at major stations.

The JR West Group’s purpose is “Evolve connections among people, communities, and societies. Stir the heart, drive the future. ” under which the Group is actively following a strategy to adopt and utilize new technologies, particularly digital technologies, with a view to achieving high productivity and creating new value. No-code/Low-code tools (*1) are currently attracting global attention, and harnessing these the JR West Group seeks to enhance its agility (*2) by providing business units with the latest apps and IT services, which is why it had been considering in-house approaches to system development. One of the key determinants in JR West’s selection of Power Platform as a tool was the fact that all JR West Group employees already have Microsoft 365 accounts, meaning that an environment was already in place that could be put to use immediately at no extra cost. What is more, some employees were already implementing business streamlining initiatives using Power Platform, and there was already a community of users within the company promoting its utilization, with the result that the requisite environment was already some way towards being developed.

*1 A tool that can be used to develop apps or websites, etc., with little or no programming-related knowledge.
*2 Speed and flexibility in management and organizational operations that is essential in a rapidly changing environment.

JR West made the decision to bring system development in-house based on Power Platform in order to effectively utilize the Microsoft 365 environment that had already been implemented company wide. JR West also made the decision to partner with JBS for this project, given JBS’s track record in supporting the implementation of various Microsoft products at JR West.

JBS launched support for this project in February 2023, starting with selection of themes and a systemization feasibility study. Next, from July to September, we simultaneously proceeded with the in-house development of two systems that had been narrowed down from these initial themes. One of these is the “Snowfall Volume Reporting App.” JR West’s business area includes regions that are susceptible to heavy snowfalls, including along the Japan Sea coast and the Chubu region, and there are times during the winter when snowfall can obstruct rail operations. Until now information about snowfall had been collected by control centers in each area from major railway stations either in Excel file format or verbally via the telephone, after which it was faxed to relevant centers in a process that was complex and extremely time consuming. With the new app it is possible to use a smartphone or tablet to resolve previous challenges, achieving swift information collection.

The second system to be developed is the “In-house Operational Information Provision App.” In the daily operation of railways, delays may occur due to various factors such as weather conditions (e.g., snowfall as mentioned above, typhoons, etc.), natural disasters, accidents, equipment malfunctions, or customer rescue response measures. Such information is collected in real time by control centers in each area, which is used to issue orders to change operational plans or take actions to restore service to normal operations as soon as possible. This information was previously distributed from a system developed by an SI vendor for communicating to relevant departments within the company and for providing information to customers. Switching the mechanism for collecting and sending out information to an app compiled using Microsoft Teams and Power Platform made it possible to reduce associated costs.

Using the “Snowfall Volume Reporting App” has made it possible for the first time ever to resolve business challenges that had remained outstanding in previous systemization initiatives. The effect has also been to reduce the time and effort required by staff and workers at major stations by the equivalent of several hundred working hours per year on the compilation of reports. The “In-house Operational Information Provision App” is also seen as a major step forward in that it demonstrates that in-house development is feasible, and it is expected to generate cost reductions amounting to several tens of millions of yen per year.

JR-West plans to continue such in-house development efforts and actively focus efforts on issues in operational areas that have yet to be systematized, and to also expedite the use of generative AI, which is another topic attracting attention recently. JBS will continue to assist JR West in its efforts to implement digital transformation.

Example of Microsoft Power Platform In-House Production Support: West Japan Railway Company (Japanese Only)