Overcoming Paper-Use Challenges: KANNA Enables 80% Paperless Efficiency Across 700 Annual Projects.

Pioneering Advanced Fields with Technology Backed by Over a Century of History

— To begin, could you tell us about AGC Technoglass Co., Ltd.?

Mr. Morishita: We are Japan’s first private glass manufacturer, with a history spanning more than 140 years. Since our founding in 1883, we have been engaged in the production of specialty glass. In the 1960s, we expanded into heat-resistant glass tableware and light bulbs; in the 1980s, we produced components for television displays. Adapting to the needs of each era, we have continuously evolved our business. Today, as an important base within the AGC Group’s strategic domains—Electronics, Mobility, and Life Sciences—we develop a wide variety of glass products on a daily basis.

Leveraging the broad expertise we have cultivated in melting, processing, and thin-film technologies, we have established an integrated system covering everything from development to production. In addition, we possess specialized facilities designed for small-lot, multi-variety production. Through these strengths, we supply materials to rapidly evolving and highly promising fields such as smartphone performance enhancement, autonomous driving, AR/VR, next-generation semiconductors, and regenerative medicine.

Managing 700 Projects a Year — Tackling the Challenge of Paper and Lost Time

— Your company has cultivated advanced technologies over its long history. What challenges led to the introduction of KANNA, and in which department was it implemented?

Mr. Morishita: Within the Facilities Group of the Equipment Engineering Department, we have introduced both KANNA Project and KANNA Report. Our responsibilities include preparing specifications for all in-house construction projects, managing execution, as well as handling in-house construction and the maintenance of utility plants.
AGC Techno Glass is headquartered and operates in Yoshida Town, Haibara District, Shizuoka Prefecture. The site is large, with multiple buildings and a wide range of equipment operating daily. Given our long history, the variety of construction projects is extensive—ranging from building repairs and equipment maintenance to the installation of new facilities.

Our factory site is extremely large—about the size of five Tokyo Domes. Within this large area, the Facilities Group alone handles an average of 350 construction projects per year, while AGC Techno Glass, as a whole, manages around 700 projects annually, covering equipment maintenance and facility management. In fact, some kind of work is taking place almost every day. To ensure safety in these projects, we ask our partner companies to submit a large number of documents on a daily basis. Previously, all of this was handled with paper. Looking back now, it was truly inefficient (laughs).

First, there was the overwhelming volume of paper. Every day, new documents had to be hole-punched and filed into thick binders. This simple, repetitive task alone consumed a huge amount of time. Once office shelves filled up, older documents had to be moved to storage. But whenever we needed to check past project details, it was a real challenge—walking from the office to the storage room, searching shelves for the right binder, and flipping through pages one by one. The amount of time spent just to find a single piece of information was enormous.

And it wasn’t only paper—our digital files were also unorganized. While construction photos and drawings were stored on the server, each person had their own way of naming folders and deciding where to save files. It wasn’t uncommon to waste time endlessly searching the server asking, “Where was that photo again?” We realized that if all documents, photos, and materials could be centrally managed by project, we could reach necessary information immediately and eliminate these inefficiencies. That thinking led us to introduce KANNA.

Familiar Format, Trusted Security — The Key Reasons Behind Selecting KANNA

— You mentioned that centralized management of construction-related information was your goal. Could you tell us why you chose KANNA?

Mr. Morishita: The biggest reason we chose KANNA was the presence of KANNA Report, which allows us to digitize the Excel forms we had been using without changing their look or usability. When I first saw it, I thought, “This is revolutionary!”
Our biggest concern in adopting a new tool was not to place unnecessary burdens on our long-standing partner companies. If the format were to change drastically, it could easily cause confusion at the worksite. With KANNA, however, that concern disappeared.
Another major advantage is that accounts for partner companies can be issued free of charge and without limit. We could never ask them to bear tool usage fees, so this pricing model was a significant factor in our decision.

KANNA also provides a high level of security assurance. Within the AGC Group, we possess numerous proprietary technologies, and as such, the requirements for preventing information leaks are set extremely high. In fact, there are tools we cannot adopt due to security concerns.
To address this, we have established a system for introducing DX tools that meet its strict security standards, allowing them to be shared across the organization. We first learned about KANNA through this system—it was introduced on an internal group site with the message: “This tool meets security requirements and can be safely implemented.”

“It’s So Much More Convenient” — Three Key Benefits Brought by KANNA

— After implementing KANNA, what kind of impact have you experienced?

Mr. Morishita: Since introducing KANNA, we’ve seen a series of positive changes at our worksites. First, document management—our long-standing challenge—has improved dramatically. Thanks to KANNA Report, we have achieved about 80% paperless operations for construction projects managed by the Facilities Group. The previous burden of having partner companies bring in documents by hand and obtaining signatures has been completely eliminated, greatly reducing the workload for both sides. In the past, partner companies even had to stop by the office before heading to the site to print out documents. Now, they can input everything directly from their smartphones or tablets. Hearing them say, “We don’t have to stop by the office anymore,” was extremely rewarding for us as well.

Communication has also changed significantly. Daily progress reports are now handled mainly through KANNA’s reporting function, with updates posted along with photos. This allows me to clearly understand the status of construction without having to visit the site myself.
One of the biggest improvements has been the reduction in phone calls. Previously, I sometimes had to interrupt meetings to answer urgent calls. Now, those communications come through KANNA’s chat, removing that concern entirely. Unlike emails, there’s no need for formal greetings like “I hope this message finds you well,” so we tell our partners, “Just the key points are fine.” As a result, both sides are now able to use their time more effectively.

And finally, we were able to solve the long-standing challenge of centralized management of photos and documents. In the past, photos had to be transferred to a computer, paper documents had to be scanned, and everything was then stored in folders—creating multiple layers of extra work.
Now, with all information organized by project within KANNA, even older records can be retrieved instantly. The cumulative effect of these individual efficiency improvements has proven to be truly significant.

“It would be difficult without KANNA.” Looking Ahead to Company-wide Expansion Toward Smarter, Error-free Construction

— Thank you very much. Finally, could you share your outlook on how you plan to further streamline operations with KANNA going forward?

Mr. Morishita: Within our Facilities Group, we have set a goal of achieving full digitization of construction documents by 2024, and KANNA is an indispensable partner in reaching that target. One of our supervisors has already told me, “Without KANNA, it would be tough. We must continue to expand its uses”. I now actively engage with both our partner companies and colleagues, gathering observations such as “It would be easier to use if we could do this” to streamline our future operations with KANNA.

What makes us place such high expectations on KANNA is not only its functionality, but also the way Aldagram’s staff always listen sincerely and proactively to our improvement requests. Often, they respond, “We are already working on that enhancement.” This attitude—evolving together with users—has earned our strong trust.

Thanks to this sense of trust and reliability, we are now looking to expand KANNA beyond our group to other departments within the company. Of course, some may initially resist new ways of working. But I am not concerned, because our partner companies—who we thought might struggle the most—have adapted smoothly and quickly, recognizing the ease of implementing KANNA. “Once you try it, you’ll see how easy it is.” That fact alone is the most persuasive argument.

With that in mind, we consider 2025 a crucial year of preparation for internal rollout. We are planning PR activities and training sessions within the company to promote wider adoption. Our goal is for everyone involved in construction to fully utilize KANNA and, across departmental boundaries, bring our company slogan to life: “Smarter construction with ease and no errors.”