Case Studies

Manufacturing

Daikin Industries, Ltd.

FastHelp5 and FastAnswer2 help improve service quality.
~ The integration of multiple channels significantly reduces management man-hours. ~

Implemented Products/Solutions
FastHelp5
FastAnswer2

Cloud Type

Purpose
Business efficiency
Customer data utilization
CX improvement
Information analysis and sharing
Management and profit contribution
Productivity improvement
Utilization of voice of the customer
VOC

Interview Subject

  • Service Headquarters Western Japan Contact Center, Customer Service Section Chief

    Ms. Aki Shindo

  • Ms. Yuki Kadomura
    Service Headquarters Western Japan Contact Center, Parts group

    Ms. Yuki Kadomura

  • Ms. Aki Shindo
    Service Headquarters Western Japan Contact Center, Planning group

    Ms. Akika Tanobe

  • Ms. Aki Shindo
    Service Headquarters Planning Department, IT group

    Mr. Koji Nakata

  • Ms. Aki Shindo
    Service Headquarters Planning Department, IT group

    Mr. Kentaro Takahashi

Pre-implementation Issues

  • The basic CRM system platform for contact center operations is outdated and requires replacement.
  • The server operating system supporting the FAQ system, which accumulates internal knowledge, is nearing the end of support.
  • Seeking a foundation that contributes to improved customer satisfaction and operational efficiency, with the premise of maintaining existing workflow during the transfer and streamlining operations.

Effects After Implementation

  • Contributing to the improvement of customer satisfaction by linking and managing past interactions in the response history.
  • Integration of multiple channels significantly reduces management man-hours.
  • Standardization of operations, contributing to a reduction in supervisor (SV) workload.

Background and Objectives

  • Consider replacing the outdated contact center-based CRM platform.

    Daikin Industries, Ltd., which focuses on customer support as an air conditioning manufacturer, has established the Daikin Contact Center, providing inquiry support through a 24/7 support system. However, due to the aging CRM infrastructure, a transition to a new environment is deemed necessary. Additionally, the Knowledge System collecting internal FAQs is facing the imminent end of server OS support, making a swift transition to a new environment imperative.

  • The flexibility to handle simultaneous connections and adapt to specific systems.

    A new CRM platform was selected based on the premise that the existing workflow could be maintained and transferred. The requirements included improved business efficiency and customer satisfaction through multi-channel support. Additionally, the creation of a mechanism for outbound communications that would contribute to the business. The selection criteria also encompassed a Business Continuity Planning (BCP) perspective to ensure business continuity even in the event of disruptions. As the company deals with seasonal products such as air-conditioning equipment, it is interested in the Contact Center CRM system "FastHelp5" and FAQ knowledge system "FastAnswer2" provided by TechMatrix, which have a licensing system based on the number of simultaneous connections, to cope with contact center operations with a sharp difference between busy and off-peak periods. Since the CRM environment can be developed on the cloud contracted by the company, the smooth integration with the core system and technical support were also highly evaluated.

Daikin Industries, Ltd. is a comprehensive air conditioning manufacturer that handles everything from refrigerants to equipment development, manufacturing, sales, and after-sales service in-house, leveraging its three core air conditioning technologies: heat pumps, inverters, and refrigerant control technology. In addition to the air conditioning business, which caters to various spaces such as homes, offices, factories, and airport hospitals, the company has three core businesses: the chemical business, handling fluorine compounds including fluororesins; the filter business, managing high-performance filters for air purifiers and dust collection filters; and the oil machinery business, which develops and produces hydraulic pumps and units. Furthermore, Daikin operates a special machinery business contributing to the aviation and medical fields, along with an electronic systems business providing high-function equipment CAD systems.

As an air conditioning manufacturer with an in-house after-sales service department, the company is dedicated to customer support. In 2000, it established the Daikin Contact Center, providing 24-hour, 365-day support for inquiries. Currently, the company is actively implementing its "FUSION25" action plan, set to conclude in 2025. Mr. Aki Shindo, from the West Japan Contact Center, explains that the contact center is undertaking various efforts to develop a sustainable operating system. Given the seasonal nature of air conditioners, the contact center experiences significant fluctuations in workload between busy and quiet periods. The company therefore operates the contact center with the aim of contributing to the overall business in three main areas: promotion of automation, use of telework, including home-based contact centers, and proactive outbound proposal activities to customers during off-peak periods.

The CRM platform supporting the contact center, built around software using Java applets running on on-premise servers and operating for several decades, required an upgrade due to the expiration of server maintenance. Simultaneously, the knowledge system collecting internal FAQs faced imminent server OS support expiration, necessitating expensive upgrades to a new environment. Other costs were also being incurred due to the high number of accesses to the SaaS-based FAQ system that provides knowledge outside the company, which led to the decision to consider moving to a new environment.

Reflecting on that time, Koji Nakata from the IT Group, Planning Department, Service Division, recalled the crucial decisions made during the project.

"Prioritizing the vital CRM area, the company initiated a project to concurrently revamp the CRM and internal FAQ systems, with the external knowledge system ready for parallel operation."


To establish a new CRM infrastructure, the company outlined requirements focusing on the transferability of existing operations, aiming to improve operational efficiency, enhance customer satisfaction through multi-channel support, create mechanisms for outbound business contributing to overall operations, and ensure business continuity from a BCP perspective in the face of disruptions. Mr. Nakata explained, 'We explored systems that Daikin could manage settings internally to a certain extent. Our approach centered around solutions offering packaged basic contact center operations, and we narrowed down product candidates after gathering information at events.' While not a major requirement, careful consideration was also given to the interoperability between CRM and the internal FAQ system.

To establish a new CRM infrastructure, the company outlined requirements focusing on the transferability of existing operations, aiming to improve operational efficiency, enhance customer satisfaction through multi-channel support, create mechanisms for outbound business contributing to overall operations, and ensure business continuity from a BCP perspective in the face of disruptions. Mr. Nakata explained, "We explored systems that Daikin could manage settings internally to a certain extent. Our approach centered around solutions offering packaged basic contact center operations, and we narrowed down product candidates after gathering information at events." While not a major requirement, careful consideration was also given to the interoperability between CRM and the internal FAQ system. and the FAQ knowledge system 'FastAnswer2' provided by TechMatrix. Mr Nakata gave the following assessment. ’Considering our operations, where the number of agents increases and decreases during busy and off-season periods, the licensing system based on the number of simultaneous connections was significant. If we had a system where licenses were granted to individuals, management would become extremely complicated. Furthermore, while many solutions are only available in the SaaS model, FastHelp5 was the one we could install and operate on the cloud we had contracted with. This environment was better suited for core systems, facilitating easy collaboration and leading to a reduction in man-hours. It was also easy to handle technically, including our unique integration.’

As a result, the company selected FastHelp5 as its contact center business platform.

It also selected FastAnswer2 as the internal knowledge system with which it frequently collaborates in its business.

Effect of Implementation

  • Linking and managing the past history for each response record, contributing to the improvement of customer satisfaction.

    Materials distributed to customers during inquiries can be seamlessly managed by linking them to the response history in FastHelp5. This facilitates smoother information sharing, making it easier for individuals other than the assigned person to understand the situation. Even in cases where the response period is lengthy, the entire history of past events can be linked to the response history,

    preventing any handover omissions. FastHelp5 allows comprehensive searching and handling of various information, contributing to improved customer satisfaction without causing delays. Currently, we integrate response history from telephone, email, and SMS with FastHelp5, and in the future, we plan to collaborate with other systems such as automatic voice response systems to develop it as the foundation for multi-channel customer support.

  • Significantly reduce management man-hours, level out the workload, also contribute to reducing the load on SV.

    More than 1,000 agents in two contact centers (Eastern Japan and Western Japan) use FastHelp5 to respond to customer inquiries, primarily serving as a general contact point for air conditioning-related businesses and handling around 2 million inquiries annually. FastHelp5 not only enables automatic handover based on inquiry categories but also achieves a significant reduction in management man-hours through the integration of multiple channels, including email. This not only leads to a leveling of workload and reduces the burden on supervisors (SV) conducting training but is also expected to contribute to the stable retention of agents.

Currently, the contract allows for the use of more than 1,000 agents at the two contact centers located in eastern Japan and western Japan, with over 1,000 utilizing FastHelp5 installed on AWS during the busy season. In contrast, during the off-season, customer service is limited to approximately half the number of agents. The center accepts inquiries not only from individuals but also from corporate customers such as dealers and construction companies. Inquiries cover a wide range of topics and are mainly divided into groups such as repair reception, technical consultation, parts sales, oil equipment, and recall-related contact points.

Daikin Industries has a contact center as a customer service center, but it essentially functions as the contact point for the air conditioning-related business, excluding the oil equipment group. "We receive about 2 million calls a year," Shindo explains. Customer service channels currently include telephone, email, and fax, with both telephone and email being integrated and managed by FastHelp5.

Regarding specific operations, when a call is received, customer information linked to the phone number is displayed on FastHelp5 through CTI integration. It is linked to screens for various groups and the core system based on specific requirements. For inquiries related to repair reception or parts sales, where there is an existing mechanism in the core system, FastHelp5 transitions to the core system screen upon recognizing the contact. The customer interaction is then input into the core system, facilitating responsive duties. Information entered into the core system is also accumulated on FastHelp5, allowing easy access to all customer-related interaction details. For technical consultations and simple inquiries, the response history can be directly input into FastHelp5. Similarly, email inquiries are reviewed and addressed using FastHelp5. If on-site repair is necessary after repair reception, a separate system is used to arrange for an engineer.


FastAnswer2, which stores in-house knowledge, is organized according to the approximately 150,000 existing models, and the knowledge is primarily registered by the operations team.

By revamping contact center operations using FastSeries, we have not only made it possible to automate handovers based on inquiry categories but also significantly reduced administrative man-hours by integrating multiple channels, including email. Ms. Akika Tanobe, from the East Japan Contact Center Service Headquarters, positively evaluates this transformation. According to her, "In addition to automatically inserting email signatures and opening sentences, we enable one-click insertion of FAQs into emails, contributing greatly to reducing agents' workload. The transfer of email responses from employees to agents, coupled with task standardization and a decrease in the workload of SVs involved in communication and education, has resulted in numerous benefits. We have achieved a more streamlined workflow, alleviating the burden on SVs." Ms. Tanobe anticipates that, in the future, this approach will also have a positive impact on the stable retention of agents.

Furthermore, Ms.Yuki Kadomura from the Parts Group at the West Japan Contact Center, Service Headquarters, shares insights on the integration of telephone and email inquiries through FastHelp5. There are high expectations for the future expansion of additional response channels. Ms.Kadomura notes, "Given the existence of multiple inquiry channels, the significant advantages of integrating them with FastHelp5 become apparent. Notably, when we send materials directly to customers, the ability to attach these documents to the response history has streamlined the understanding of inquiry details for individuals beyond the assigned personnel, receiving positive feedback within the parts group.”

"In particular, the parts group often deals with cases where inquiries, including the confirmation of delivery dates when parts are out of stock, take an extended period to close. The ability to link and manage all past events for a single response history contributes to the enhancement of customer service quality, eliminating handover omissions." Ms.Kadomura praises the system for enabling searches by order number, in addition to phone numbers, allowing the comprehensive examination of the entire history associated with the order number at once. This functionality proves beneficial during customer interactions, as it provides immediate access to information that would have previously required looking up while on the phone.

The FastSeries continues to operate stably without any major issues, and we highly appreciate its advanced technical capabilities. Mr. Nakata expressed his appreciation, stating, "We have received direct implementation and support from TechMatrix, the provider of the package. They have been flexible in accommodating our customizations. Previously, even a minor change in settings incurred to result in significant costs, but now we can efficiently make cost-effective modifications, and we are very grateful for that."

Mr. Kentaro Takahashi from the IT Group, Planning Department, Service Headquarters, also shared his positive feedback, saying, 'Not only did they provide excellent customization support, but their rapid and flexible approach to migrating from the previous CRM ensured a smooth transition. We deeply appreciate their efforts.


Future Rollout

  • I want to centralize all customer information management into FastHelp5.

    In the future, the company plans to expand FastHelp5, which is currently only used in contact centers, to locations with service engineers near the field and further develop it into a comprehensive customer management platform. Mr. Nakata expresses his enthusiasm for these future developments, stating, 'I want to establish a platform where all of Daikin's customers can be efficiently managed using FastHelp5.'"

    The company also aims to expand its business infrastructure by integrating with various separately managed systems, such as the automatic response system and manned chat systems that are currently under consideration, as well as integration with fax machines.

  • In the telework environment, there is an expectation for the establishment of chat support necessary for contact center operations.

    Additionally, when operating a contact center in a telework environment, it is necessary to develop support other than voice.

    Mr. Takahashi discussed the future, stating, '"There are some hurdles to teleworking using only the telephone, so we would like to consider expanding to chat services such as FastChat so that we can strengthen non-voice customer service".

Creation DateJuly 2023

The information provided is accurate as of May 2023. .

Company Name
Daikin Industries, Ltd.
Established
Oct. 25, 1924
Business Outline
As a group of air specialists handling everything from cooling and heating to refrigeration and freezing, the company operates in more than 170 countries and regions, including the United States, China, Asia and Oceania, and Europe, with "air conditioning," "chemicals," and "filters" as its pillars.

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