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Case study

A major auto parts manufacturer

Realizing quality operations while maximizing cost savings through offshoring in Vietnam.

  • *Altius Link was formed through the merger of Relia, Inc. and KDDI Evolva.
  • *This case study describes the efforts of Relia, Inc. and a major auto parts manufacturer prior to the merger.

Contract details

Location: Vietnam
Staff: 32 operators (all with Japanese language skills)
Details of operations: Handling back-office functions (process scheduling, totaling results, report preparation, etc.) for auto parts design, development, production, quality, and sales sections in Japanese.

▷Constantly maintaining KPIs through operations compacts at high Japanese quality levels
▷ Improving business efficiency and cutting costs by 40% through standardization
▷ Comprehensive back office services for client business processes

Background

  • Finding ways to adapt to people staying home due to COVID-19

A major auto parts manufacturer already was using an offshore facility for work such as data entry, totalization of data, and document preparation associated with receipt of orders and quality control at its plants. But as its complex, time-consuming offshore operations remained unstable, it was unable to enjoy fully the benefits of offshoring such as cutting overall operating costs and securing resources for core operations. This major auto parts manufacturer began a project to maximize benefits by revising its use of offshoring. It asked Altius Link Vietnam Joint Stock Company (hereinafter referred to as "Altius Link Vietnam"), an Altius Link overseas Group company, to launch the project.

  • About Altius Link Vietnam

Vietnam's first Japanese outsourcing firm, founded in 2009. Centered on call centers and BPO, its broad-ranging services also include image processing. It even edits wedding videos. It provides quality levels unchanged from those in Japan, through assignment of Japanese resident staff and Japanese language education for Vietnamese staff.

・Locations: One each in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City
・Employees: Approx. 600
・Languages: Mainly Japanese, English, and Vietnamese
・Main services:
(1) Contact center and BPO services for Vietnam and overseas markets
(2) Video editing and processing for e-commerce sites and Web magazines
(3) AI-related data collection, generation, input, and processing (Japanese, English)
(4) FAQ video production

Website: https://altius-link.vn/

Topics

Further cost savings

Needed to cut costs further across all operations through more efficiency and productive noncore work.

Business standardization

Needed to eliminate dependency on individual staff through business standardization.

Concentration on core work

Needed to concentrate internal resources on core through an extensive, accurate, stable operation structure for noncore work.

Measures

For solutions to meet these needs, we recognized the need to take action to visualize and improve current work while raising the quality level in noncore work. We took the following steps.

  • Chat Business efficiency improvements through action to visualize and improve work

The first step to maximize cost savings was visualization of noncore work. The results of close examination of all 135 processes from the start were the identification of those that took longer than needed due to complex deadline management and complicated system operations. We saw that we could save time and simplify work by revising the procedures for these tasks. Specifically, automation of routine work that involved low levels of specialization and no need for individual decisions was combined with precision management of complex deadline management in hourly units, to shorten processing time and prevent errors in schedule management.
We also began revisions to 120 existing manuals in cooperation with the parts manufacturer. Revisions to passages that were hard to understand, based on interviews with local staff, made them easier to understand and more useful in everyday operations.

  • Chat Ensuring thorough understanding of Japanese quality requirements

When this project began, some local staff found it hard to understand the parts manufacturer's Japanese quality requirements, due to cultural differences. New training was adopted to address this issue. This training carefully explained the background, grounds, and objectives of Japanese quality and management standards and business practices, instead of simply sharing the information by rote. Our years of experience doing business in Vietnam showed that Vietnamese staff tended to avoid mistakes more effectively when they understood and appreciated the objectives. Our training aimed to ensure that all understood the essence of quality requirements, instead of simple surface-level knowledge.

Results

Thorough revision of business processes made it possible to do with 30 operators what initially required 40 operators. These large-scale savings in labor costs realized cost savings of about 40% compared to operations at other offshore locations.
The high Japanese-language abilities of all staff, combined with their deep understanding of the importance of Japanese quality, were able to achieve target KPIs at all times even in complex work requiring high skill levels. The major auto parts manufacturer was impressed by these achievements, and today the scope of the contract has expanded to include one-stop back-office operations for the entire series of business processes. This has helped to stabilize core operations by improving the efficiency and speed of all its business processes.

Our offshore solutions

Our wholly owned overseas Group companies centered on Southeast Asia are able to provide high-quality solutions for complex operations. We realize cost savings and standardization through business efficiency improvements based on integrated support for client business processes.

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