IHI Asia Pacific (Thailand) Co., Ltd.

Surprised to see the actual condition of manuals at oversea offices

Mr. Nakayama : Originating from a shipyard built at the end of the Edo period, IHI is involved in a wide range of businesses, including aerospace, energy plants, bridges, and other infrastructure systems, as well as machinery and logistics businesses. Of these, IHI ASIA PACIFIC is engaged in various businesses such as automated warehouses,multi-storey parking garages, and factory solutions.

As a company with a long history of 170 years in business, we may be perceived that internal rules and manuals are well organized, but this was not the case at our overseas bases. I myself was surprised when I was assigned to this position.

In Japan, all employees are well aware where to go to find any stuff, but at least in Thailand, this has not been caught up with. This has been an impact on the execution of operations, handover, and employee training. The development of rulebooks and manuals should have emerged as an urgent issue, but no firm measures have been taken.

Mr. Katsumi Nakayama , Managing Director

Not sure where to find rulebooks and manuals.

Mr. Nakayama : Before we introduced Teachme Biz, it is not that there were no rule books or manuals at all. Each person in charge had to prepare these documents as needed as part of his/her own work. However, because each staff created using Word and stored them in folders on their own computers, it was hard for everyone to find these documents, and even if they could find them, they did not know whether these documents were the latest versions or not.

Also, even if we used Word, all the processes to create manuals including inputting text, pasting pictures, creating headings, and coloring to make them easy to see were done manually. It required a lot of effort and time, even for those who used the computer frequently. Even capturing a screenshot was time-consuming and labor-intensive, requiring other applications to process the file.

While we were thinking of handling this issue as soon as possible, we learned about Teachme Biz and decided to implement it immediately. It was exactly the system we were looking for.

Search function to identify what manuals exist and what don’t

Mr. Nakayama : After the implementation, my first impression was that it is easy to see and understand visually. It is easy to import images and data, very user-friendly and easy to operate. Even beginners who are not familiar with computers will learn to use it soon. Everyone can participate in the creation process.

The search function is also very useful. Easy to see what rulebooks and manuals exist or don’t, so we can make a list of missing manuals out of the most important tasks. This is also effective in terms of information sharing, as it is clearly visible to all employees.

We have a variety of employees, some use Japanese mainly, some understand Thai mainly , and some prefer to use English,  so we translate the printed content into multiple languages. Although, there are inevitably differences in the nuances of language, which are compensated for by visual data such as images and illustrations. It is truly wonderful that anyone can understand the content correctly just by looking at it once.

Important abroad to eliminate personalized work

Mr. Nakayama : Teachme Biz is currently being used in two major situations. The first is the manualization of operations at work sites. Automated warehouses, multi-storey parking garages and factory solutions are the main businesses of our Thai subsidiary. Each of these businesses has know-how, knowledge, and technology that have been cultivated over many years. It is important for the company to ensure that these skills are passed on to the next generation.

It’s not good if these traditional skills are monopolized by limited employees. Those manuals are truly required which ensure a secure handover  even if an employee leaves the company. Teachme Biz is so easy to understand that anyone can read through to understand quickly, then continue the work. It’s very important to eliminate personalized work and make it easier to pass on those skills.

Another is the creation of various back-office related rules and manuals. For example, orientation materials for new employees and rules for various procedures. We also use Teachme Biz to create operation manuals for various software used in our company.

Access SOP by scanning QR Code

Use video manuals to reduce training workload.

K.Duke: Each time we onboard new employees, we need to arrange a safety training session. Before we met Teachme Biz, these sessions required the involvement of two trainers and lasted for three hours, it was a time and man-hours consuming process.

Since the implementation of Teachme Biz, the process has become more streamlined. We now simply just upload video training materials to the platform, which greatly conserves time. This saved time can then be directed towards managing other assigned tasks.

Employees of any nationality can now better understand the process of requesting various documents with ease.

K. Nita: Regarding the HR and Admin work scopes, we are responsible for managing the procedures related to the entry of foreign employees, such as visa applications, work permit requests, and various company-related activities.However the documents from the government can be complex and some might not be available in English. When our foreign employees come to Thailand, they are required to submit these documents. This is where Teachme Biz is being utilized, it is easier to explain the procedure for our employees.We can simply upload sample documents to the platform and add additional text and symbol. This visual-base manual simplifies comprehension for employees and significantly reduces the time spent addressing their inquiries.

We can easily distribute the manuals via email, allowing employees to independently understand the document preparation process and complete the required paperwork by themself.

(Left) K. Chalee Chalayon (Duke), Safty & Quality Officer
(Right) K. Tanyatorn Wasookoonsirirax (Nita), HR & Admin

Expecting significant improvements in operations and restructuring of the organization

Mr. Nakayama : IHI Asia Pacific (Thailand) Co., Ltd. is a Thai subsidiary of a Japanese company, but it is also a fully-fledged Thai company. Currently, Japanese employees from the parent company are providing operational guidance and passing on their long-standing expertise in Japan, although eventually we will need to switch to a Thai manager-led organization. It’s truly important in order for our company to grow.

One of the barriers to fulfill this is the fluidity of human resources It is common in Thailand for people to repeatedly change jobs in order to advance their careers which itself is not something to be denied, though as for the company, they lose the potential managers who they have worked so hard to raise and train.

What has been needed to break this chain of events is the existence of rulebooks and manuals, as mentioned earlier. As I explained at the beginning, we had been creating manuals using Word, but they were not very effective. Teachme Biz solved that problem in one fell swoop. We expect that Teachme Biz will greatly improve our business operations and restructure our company organization.

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