Whit Holdings and Sumitomo Metal Mining Collaboration
In an exciting development for the HR tech industry,
WHI Holdings, headquartered in Tokyo, has announced that
Sumitomo Metal Mining has adopted its integrated HR system,
COMPANY, to manage its workforce of approximately 7,000 employees across its group companies. This decision marks a significant step towards automating routine HR tasks, enhancing governance, and promoting a data-driven approach to human capital management within the organization.
The Adoption of 'COMPANY'
Sumitomo Metal Mining is pursuing a long-term vision to become the foremost leader in non-ferrous metals globally, and one of the essential strategies in achieving this goal is advancing human capital management. The company previously faced challenges with managing diverse personnel data, including HR, payroll, employee attendance, applications, and evaluation systems being dispersed across multiple platforms. This fragmentation not only hindered effective communication between systems but also resulted in extensive manual processes and a reliance on paper, leading to complications and inefficiencies within workflows.
Additionally, the custom development of various systems tailored to the organization's specific needs increased costs and time required to make modifications in response to regulatory changes and internal policy updates. Addressing these issues was crucial for aligning HR processes with corporate strategy and accelerating digital transformation (DX) efforts. Thus, in light of these longstanding challenges, Sumitomo Metal Mining has decided to implement 'COMPANY' as its unified HR management system.
Reasons for Choosing 'COMPANY'
Several factors led to this strategic choice:
- - The ability of 'COMPANY' to address the complex HR operations typical of large corporations with a single suite of products, avoiding the need for additional custom development.
- - WHI Holdings' extensive track record with large corporations and government agencies in Japan.
- - A comprehensive support system covering implementation, operation, and continuous improvement recommendations.
Expected Benefits
1. Enhancing Efficiency and Governance
By consolidating the fragmented HR systems into 'COMPANY', Sumitomo Metal Mining aims to streamline its operations significantly. The previous individual system optimizations and custom developments had caused disruptions, leading to manual and paper-based processes. The standardized features of 'COMPANY' can accommodate the unique and complex needs of large enterprises without further customization, leveraging best practices from a network of around 1,200 legal entities.
The integration into 'COMPANY' will allow seamless connectivity of data through all HR processes, ranging from requests to aggregation and analysis. This unification will automate an array of tasks, such as attendance requests, year-end adjustments, maternity leave applications, performance evaluations, and retirement calculations. As a result, the organization expects to increase efficiency in routine operations and eliminate reliance on specific individuals. Employees will benefit from having a single point for various applications instead of multiple entries, enhancing overall user experience.
Moreover, previous systems required significant rework whenever laws or regulations changed. In contrast, 'COMPANY' can adapt to those changes using its standard functions without extra development, which will drastically reduce long-term operational costs. The platform also enables internal adjustments without vendor dependency, facilitating rapid responses to external changes and strengthening governance.
2. Promoting Data-Driven Decision-Making
Effective human resource management relies on making data-driven decisions based on accurate employee data. Previously, there were numerous systems and spreadsheets, making it labor-intensive to collect and process necessary data for optimal personnel deployment and human capital transparency. By integrating 'COMPANY' with a talent management system, all HR data will reside within a single database, eliminating additional data processing efforts. Relevant metrics regarding compliance, diversity, and employee mobility will be readily available on demand, enabling immediate presentation on dashboards.
Thanks to these capabilities, Sumitomo Metal Mining's management and department leaders will have access to precise data, allowing for fast and informed decisions about talent allocation, training initiatives, and investment strategies crucial for human capital management.
Concluding Thoughts
Sumitomo Metal Mining has emphasized its commitment to enhancing human capital management as part of its long-term vision. The adoption of 'COMPANY' marks a pivotal moment in addressing previous inefficiencies caused by disjointed systems while aiming to provide a strong foundation for strategic decision-making enhanced by data visibility and analysis. WHI Holdings aims to empower every worker to realize their true potential through the integrated human resources system 'COMPANY'. For more information about WHI Holdings, visit
WHI Holdings Website.