JPANS Co., Ltd.

Description

Joined the company as a permanent employee in the rapidly growing jewelry industry during the COVID-19 pandemic. The company lacked proper software to manage their sales, transactions, stock, and other specific business needs. They had previously used several SaaS platforms, but none adequately met their requirements, largely due to difficulties in communicating their needs effectively. To address these challenges, the company decided to build a dedicated in-house IT team to work on-site, learn the business processes, understand the current workflows, and develop tailored software solutions that perfectly aligned with their unique requirements.

Technologies Used

Responsibilities and Contributions

• Identified issues the company was facing and provided temporary solutions (Excel sheets with formulas, Python scripts)
• Actively participated in team meetings to discuss challenges and decide on features for next sprints
• Joined sales meetings to gather requirements directly from stakeholders
• Proposed software solutions when possible
• Primary responsibility for coding while also documenting requirements, tasks, and solutions
• Designed application architecture
• Conducted research on open-source projects
• Implemented applications at the coding level
• Led a small team of non-software engineers
• Managed costs, budgets, and risks for software development projects

Challenges and Solutions

Challenge: User resistance to learning and adopting new software, as they were already familiar with other platforms. Additionally, the project faced budget constraints that limited options for software development and tools.

Solution: Took a friendly approach, engaging in daily conversations with users to build rapport and ease transition to new software. Divided training sessions into small, manageable 15-30 minute segments to keep users engaged and avoid overwhelming them. For budget constraints, prioritized using open-source solutions with large, active communities, keeping costs down while ensuring long-term support and reliability.

Achievements and Impact

• Successfully delivered software that perfectly aligned with the company's business requirements
• Significantly reduced manual processes
• Dramatically decreased time required to complete certain tasks, cutting down from 3 days to just 6 hours
• Eliminated the need for employees to work on Sundays
• Company was able to eliminate overtime pay, leading to substantial cost savings

Key Learnings

• Effectively managing user resistance to new software by fostering strong relationships
• Implementing user-friendly training methods
• Leveraging open-source solutions to navigate budget constraints while ensuring long-term viability
• Refined soft skills in communication and collaboration
• Understanding how to align software development with specific business needs to drive operational efficiency