Fujimura Case Study: Automating Work for a Civil Engineering Firm

Fujimura is a Japanese civil engineering firm. It maintains public sewerage systems and major pipelines in Japan's biggest cities. Work like this also involves large crews, heavy equipment and tight control of costs.

When Fujimura approached Spacebar, it had two aims. First, it wanted a transparent view of the company's performance. Second, it wanted its people to work more efficiently, with less time lost to manual tasks and fewer chances for mistakes.

• Protect the company's finances with reliable cost estimates for each project.
• Reduce human error in calculations.
• Keep accurate records of when construction workers start and finish work.
• Give managers and leadership timely updates from every site.
• Use that data to report on company KPIs and forecast sales.

Custom business software succeeds when it fits the way people already work. For example, construction crews are on site, not at a desk. Managers, on the other hand, need summaries, not raw data. Leadership, meanwhile, needs a reliable view across every project.

We therefore followed the information as it moves through the company. So data enters at the source, either from the system or from the person closest to the work. It then flows upwards, from workers to the construction manager and from there to upper management.

Our UI and UX design work kept each step quick to complete. Our web development team then built the system that connects them.

The system brings together three connected tools.

Automated cost estimation

To protect the company's finances, we built a system that generates cost estimation sheets automatically. Users first enter the manpower, equipment and materials a project needs. The system then predicts the project's gross profit or loss. Because the calculations are automated, there is far less room for human error.

HR management with facial recognition

Smooth daily operations depend on knowing who is on site. We built an HR management system that gives detailed insight into employee attendance. Construction workers check in and out using facial recognition, and the records go straight to the construction manager.

Daily site reporting

At the end of each day, the construction manager writes a report on that day's work. It covers progress and any incidents. Upper management then reviews the report.

Together, these daily reports feed a wider picture. They provide the information needed to report on the company's KPIs and to build its sales forecast.

Fujimura now has one system that links project costing, attendance and site reporting. The system now calculates estimates instead of staff working them out by hand. It also records attendance automatically. In addition, management receives a steady flow of site updates to inform KPI reports and sales forecasts.

• Automate your highest-risk calculations first. Cost estimates directly affect profit, so removing manual errors there pays back quickly.
• Capture data where the work happens. Facial recognition check-ins on site are more reliable than paper timesheets filled in later.
• Design for every level of the business. Workers, managers and leadership need different views of the same information.
• Daily habits create strategic data. Small, consistent reports become the foundation for KPIs and forecasts.