SLD Co. uses LINE WORKS with its store employees and the headquarter sales department. We interviewed Mr. Nakamura and Mr. Otsuka, who are responsible for the introduction about the reasons for LINE WORKS introduction, and Mr. Iwami, who is in sales department using LINE WORKS, about the advantages of LINE WORKS.

Tell us about your company

Started as ‘kawara CAFÉ & DINING’, about 70 restaurants in various industries are currently operating in major urban areas in Kanto, Tohoku, Tokai, Kinki and Kyushu. We are also in charge of operating the LOP’s live house and producing stores focused on music, art, and food, as well as planning cruise event ‘SLD CRUISE’, which is only held in Tokyo Bay area, and outdoor music event ‘Natsubiraki’ held near Tokyo and Osaka.

Please tell us the reason why you adopted LINE WORKS

Mr. Nakamura :

Since its listing in March 2015, both business and organization were rapidly expanding, and we were feeling the limits of the internal infrastructure. For a few years, we have been looking for a groupware that could solve the problems in information-sharing tools and file management. However, it was difficult to find a groupware that can be used easily among everyone, even with young staffs who make up the most of our employees in our company. We had to consider carefully on which groupware to use because if it is not actually used within the employees, there is no point in introducing it. Thus, a groupware has to be ‘simple and easy to use’. Then finally, we learned about LINE WORKS.

What were the decisive factors in introducing LINE WORKS and the advantages of using LINE WORKS?

Mr. Nakamura :

One of the main reasons we introduced LINE WORKS was that it is ‘easy-to-use’ even for younger generations. ‘LINE for business’ was enough explanation for everyone to understand what it does, and that is a very important point. We compared and reviewed other groupware but LINE WORKS was the one that is the work-based messaging platform, providing all the necessary features, which seemed as a comprehensive solution package with full features built around it. . We could not find a service like this from other groupware. Since LINE WORKS was latecomer in the groupware market, it was responding to customer requests in a flexible and fast manner, and we had high expectations for this as well. The partner company that we requested was USEN.

What kind of benefits did LINE WORKS bring to work?

Mr. Iwami :

I am actually using LINE WORKS in my work and there are many benefits that I have got from using LINE WORKS. First benefit that I want to mention is the ability to share calendars, which has made schedule management very convenient. Also, when I share files outside of the company, it can be done safely and easily through LINE WORKS’ one-time password. I like the fact that files can be seen on my mobile phone, which I can now easily share store menus, interior photos, and data files with clients, so I can get up-to-date information quickly and properly. The most effective benefit is that in previous, all the communications had to be done through email. However, after adopting LINE WORKS, it can be done effectively by separating the features for communicating and sharing information, such as managing schedule through calendar, sharing files through Drive, and making information announcement through home feature. In addition, we had been sharing information, such as direct orders from bosses and supervisors. However, after we adopted LINE WORKS, we feel that the quality of communication has improved as information is being shared with every departments and employees.

What would you expect from LINE WORKS in the future?

Mr. Otsuka :

With the introduction of LINE WORKS, we are going to start pushing for BYOD. We also hope LINE WORKS can be used to communicate with part-time employees and to check their safety in the event of a disaster.

※ All details, affiliations, and positions specified were gathered at the time of interview.