- Fujiwara
- Hello everyone, As this is our first time having a table talk, I would like to take this time to ask you about HACARUS’ new product, the Workplace Safety Support Application (HACARUS Workplace Safety). Especially for those who do not know what a workplace safety support application is.
- Takahashi
- Basically, the application is designed to prevent disasters at construction sites by combining cameras and AI to detect workers’ unsafe behavior and equipment conditions by alerting and notifying the workers at the site.
- Fujiwara
- I see; I understand. Well, I know that (laughs).
- Everyone
- (Laughter)
- Fujiwara
- How did you come to create such a product?
- Fukamachi
- For example, in 2024, the construction industry will apply an overtime cap for all workers. Many have called this the 2024 problem, and it has become an essential topic of discussion. While it is crucial to reform the way people work, the labor shortage is becoming more severe due to Japan’s declining birthrate and aging population. Meanwhile, safety must be ensured, and productivity must be increased with a limited number of workers. We aim to create a product that will help such industries move forward.
- Fujiwara
- I see.
- Fukamachi
- I have been given the key phrase “to be the “eye” of the site supervisor,” and that is precisely what I am achieved with this new product.
- Fujiwara
- Interesting, I feel like I was listening to a prepared script because your answers were exemplary (laughs).
- Fukamachi
- We have a last-minute event this weekend, we are be prepared… (laughs).
- Fujiwara
- And although this is similar to other products we have made, there is still a certain amount of difficulty in developing new products. Of course, this is an entirely new product for developers and sales. If you were to name the most difficult part of this project for you today, what was the most challenging part?
- Takahashi
- It is a bit of a crude story but..
- Fujiwara
- That is what I am asking (laughs).
- Takahashi
- Initially, I entered this project as a data scientist in September 2022, and I took over an existing cloud app that was being set up on AWS, which was quite voluminous. So I needed to familiarize myself with the programming languages and understand how cloud apps worked then, and it was a bit of a daunting task.
- Fujiwara
- I thought the programming language was Python?
- Takahashi
- Well, the back end isn’t Python; it’s JavaScript.
- Fujiwara
- Uh, node?
- Takahashi
- A node…. And I’m using a JavaScript framework called Strapi, and that’s the tricky part.
- Fujiwara
- I get a lot of comments from people who talk about it, especially those in the technical field. They usually think of Python when discussing AI ventures, both inside and out. Oh, isn’t it the same as JavaScript? (Chuckles).
- Takahashi
- Yes…
- Fujiwara
- So, you used unexpected tools. So, looking back, I would say that the most challenging point was that we had to use new tools for the first time, and you took on a lot of work.
- Takahashi
- Yes.
- Fujiwara
- So, let me turn the conversation back to you, Ms. Fukamachi. I think the real difficulty in selling products has yet to come, but as of today, is there anything that you would say, “Oh no, this is a bit ……”?
- Fukamachi
- What we are trying to create is sometimes quite different from what is wanted in a particular field. For example, considering what may be important for customers overseas may be insignificant for domestic Japanese customers. However, another customer may give us feedback that we should focus on developing a different area. So, moving forward, I think the most difficult part is yet to come. Still, I think it will be challenging to find out what the market wants, match them, and determine what customers want at the end of the day.
- Fujiwara
- I see. It seems you are doing what is called PMF (Product Market Fit).
- Fukamachi
- Yes, that is correct.
- Fujiwara
- We made a prototype, but the customer repeatedly said, “No, not that one, we want one like this” It is the same with any product. So now, let me ask you another question. As you mentioned, you had never worked with Strapi before, but trying it was a good experience. Do you have any personal experiences you found interesting or something you learned from using Strapi?
- Takahashi
- It was hard at times, but I think it was interesting to gain new knowledge about cloud services and Javascript implementation, which I was unfamiliar with.
- Fujiwara
- Which service was new this time?
- Takahashi
- New…
- Fujiwara
- Maybe the AWS or something.
- Takahashi
- Yes, in terms of AWS services, I had never really used ECS or anything like that.
- Fujiwara
- Container services, right?
- Takahashi
- I have used AWS Batch before, but I have never used EFS.
- Fujiwara
- There is a file system called Elastic File System, right.
- Takahashi
- Also, in terms of satisfaction, I was allowed to go to the site quite often during the PoC period, so I could communicate closely with the client. It was good that I could go to the site and talk face-to-face with the client before COVID-19.
- Fujiwara
- When you think about it, the project started before COVID-19, so it’s a project that has been underway for a long time!
- Takahashi
- The right, exactly three years ago.
- Fujiwara
- I think it is quite interesting that it takes 3 years, and people who don’t know about it would be surprised to know that it takes that long. It is surprising to many that it takes three years, including the preparation period, so “three years” may be one of the keywords to keep in mind. I believe you may have already prepared an answer to the same question, right Fukamachi-san?
- Fukamachi
- Despite the project being three years long, I had only joined the project this past year, so I needed help understanding what I had been doing because I had never sold AI before.
- Fujiwara
- That’s right. Over the past year, you have been entrusted with various tasks, from analyzing customers’ needs to sales. It’s very encouraging, but you might think, “No, no, no, I’m new to AI” (laughs).
- Fukamachi
- Yes, …… When I wanted to trace the project’s history, I found that the internal folders had become a bit of a labyrinth (laughs).
- Fujiwara
- Yes, Daisuke-san (Takahashi) finally decided on a format for the folders, so things are organized now, but before that, things were in a spaghetti state, and it was sometimes difficult to find information.
- Fukamachi
- This is a bit off the main point, but that was the most difficult part for me.
- Fujiwara
- I totally understand. I don’t want to look at folders of projects that occurred more than 4 years ago if I can help it (laughs).
- Everyone
- (Laughter)
- Takahashi
- I think everyone agrees with you (laughs).
- Fujiwara
- As for my final question, can you tell us about your mission for the future of this product and what kind of upgrades you would like to make?
- Fukamachi
- First of all, I think my mission is to get people in Japan to use this product. However, as I mentioned earlier, I also believe there is considerable demand overseas. So therefore, I think it would be exciting if we could get many people in Japan to use this product and then take it overseas so that people worldwide could use safety management tools without hesitation.
- Fujiwara
- It is undoubtedly a place where people’s lives are at stake, so it should be used outside Japan.
- Takahashi
- Safety management solutions come in various models, one of which is intrusion detection. As the name suggests, it is designed to determine whether or not someone is entering a pre-defined area. Still, it can be used for other purposes, including crime prevention. So, I wonder if there are any other uses other than safety management that the system might miss. I am also thinking that by detecting special vehicles at construction sites, it would be possible to calculate the utilization rate of the vehicles. Based on that utilization rate, we can connect it to a reduction in rental costs, so I think there may be other uses for this product.
- Fujiwara
- Yes, all the major companies are doing this in the logistics industry. Still, I think the most popular part is the optimization of routes and truck utilization rates, which they have been doing for a long time. Each company has provided information that they are making considerable cost reductions in these areas, so there is a possibility that it could be used in this context as well. In fact, Daisuke-san (Takahashi) himself has experience working in the steel industry, and I think it is that kind of onsite knowledge that makes him aware of these needs.
- Fujiwara
- Thank you very much for your time today.
- Everyone
- Thank you.
