#Japan #Generative AI #Manufacturing Industry #Takano Corp #Miyata Village

Takano's Strategic Move Towards Generative AI Implementation

On August 29, 2025, Takano Corporation, headquartered in Miyata Village, Nagano, held a significant results presentation showcasing the utilization of generative AI across its entire organization. This event allowed nine departments to report on their specific efforts and achievements in enhancing operational efficiency and productivity through AI technology.

Background of the Initiative

The manufacturing sector in Japan faces significant challenges, including a diminishing workforce and difficulties in securing skilled personnel. In light of these issues, Takano has identified the application of generative AI as essential for overcoming such hurdles and speeding up the transition from manufacturing to a more creative industry.

Since April 2025, AI leaders have been appointed in various departments to spearhead the practical use of AI initiatives. The recent results presentation was intended to share these advancements company-wide and encourage further AI integration.

Highlights of AI Utilization by Departments

During the presentation, departments reported a variety of impressive outcomes. Here are some key examples:

Exterior Division: Cutting Inquiry Response Time by 90%

The exterior division developed a highly accurate FAQ system by training AI on historical documents related to their flagship awning products. This has reduced the average response time for custom specification inquiries from 30 minutes to just 3 minutes. Future plans include implementing chatbot features for 24/7 customer service.

Furniture Division: Minimizing Design Revisions

AI has been trained using extensive data across different formats to create an integrated search system. This system allows the AI to provide historical insights during the initial stages of development, thus reducing design revisions and promoting 'front-loading'—enhancing quality and shortening development time.

Industrial Equipment Division: Value-Added Customer Proposals

By analyzing inquiries on their website, AI identifies high-potential customers for quicker outreach. Moreover, analysis of customer order data enables proposals for minimizing order variability, contributing to reduced operational strain and improved productivity.

Image Measurement Division: Enhancing Response Efficiency

AI searches across technical documents and FAQs, summarizing key points to expedite query responses. This technology allows team members to readily access answer suggestions, significantly speeding up initial responses and improving overall response quality.

Healthcare Division: Strengthening Interdepartmental Collaboration

AI analyzes customer interaction data alongside quality and maintenance records, facilitating timely next-step recommendations and better visualization of data sharing. The potential for improving customer responses and proposal quality is currently under validation.

Technical Development Division: Accelerating New Market Exploration

The division introduced an application concept utilizing large language models (LLMs) for the medical and caregiving fields, evaluating its business viability. They are exploring efficiency in development and investigating the effectiveness of secure, open-source LLMs in practical applications.

Management Division: Streamlining Operations and Enhancing Employee Satisfaction

The HR department built a 24-hour Q&A portal to address complex HR inquiries, ensuring employees have constant access to accurate information. The finance team developed an AI system that automatically identifies accounting categories based on asset names and amounts, promoting standardization. The medical division used AI to transcribe and summarize team discussions, reducing documentation time by 80%.

Future Directions

Looking ahead, Takano aims to transition from individual use of generative AI to an organizational level, maximizing knowledge sharing across departments. By further promoting cross-departmental data utilization, Takano envisions creating new value propositions for clients and exploring new business opportunities, ultimately working towards its goal of evolving from manufacturing to creativity.

About Takano

Takano Corporation began as a spring manufacturer, expanding into office furniture, exterior products, and advanced electronics. The company's ability to enter new domains continuously showcases its development power, driven by the philosophy of pursuing possibilities and contributing to a richer society amid changing social dynamics. Takano operates under the motto of maintaining a high level of ambition while adhering to societal rules, ensuring sustained growth and development.

Company Overview

• - Name: Takano Corporation
• - Market: Tokyo Stock Exchange Standard Market (Stock Code: 7885)
• - Location: 137 Miyata Village, Nagano
• - CEO: Masao Takano
• - Established: July 1, 1941; Incorporated July 18, 1953
• - Website: Takano Official Site
• - Business Focus: Office furnishings, springs, exterior products, electronics, and medical care equipment manufacturing and sales.