Transforming Product Development and Quality Assurance Processes with Kintone

Imuraya USA was established in 2009 in Irvine, California, with the vision of bringing Japanese flavors to the global market. Using production and quality control techniques from Japan, the company manufactures and sells frozen Japanese-style sweets and desserts, particularly those using azuki (red bean)—a core ingredient of its parent company in Japan.

Too Many Files, Not Enough Flow

Imuraya USA was managing product information, raw materials, and quality inspection records across various Excel, Word, and PDF files stored on a shared server. As the number of products and supplier base grew, the folder-based system became difficult to manage – slowing down searches, increasing risk of errors, and making collaboration across teams inefficient.

Challenges with Product Development:

• Product specification sheets, raw material data, and cost statements were all stored separately. 
• Cost-related data wasn't linked to raw material or product information. 

Challenges with Quality Assurance: 

• Weekly inspections were conducted by taking photos on-site and later pasting them into Excel templates. 
• Reports were time-consuming to create. 
• Tracking the progress of corrective actions was complicated. 
• Many QA records were still on paper, making it hard to review historical information. 

Both teams were often rewriting or duplicating similar information in different documents, further reducing efficiency. 

Kintone For Flexibility & Customizability

The Imuraya team wanted a platform that could centralize and organize its documents while making it easier to search and connect across departments.
One key consideration was maintaining compliance with SQF (Safe Quality Food) certification, which requires proper management of product and raw material specifications, as well as quality assurance records.
They evaluated other platforms but found them too narrowly focused on food safety. Kintone stood out because it allowed them to:

• Freely create applications tailored to their specific use cases
• Build and customize their own system that scales as their business grows

From Folders and Forms to Instant Access

With Kintone, the Imuraya team transformed how information is managed across departments – shifting from scattered folders and forms to a centralized, accessible platform.

Results In Product Development:

• Product specification sheets are now directly linked to raw materials and suppliers, enabling full traceability.
• Cost calculation sheets are instantly validated against raw material specifications, accelerating decision-making.
• Duplicate data entry has been significantly reduced, minimizing errors and saving time.

Results In Quality Assurance:

• Inspection images are uploaded directly from smartphones and tablets, improving accuracy and speeding up the documentation process.
• On-site reports are created quickly and easily, reducing administrative overhead.
• Smart filtering and sorting functions help track progress and schedule corrective actions efficiently.
• Positive qualitative observations are recorded in Kintone, a feature that impressed auditors during the SQF audit.
• During audits, teams can instantly search and access key product and raw material information, building auditor confidence.

Looking Ahead 

The Imuraya team plans to continue developing helpful apps within Kintone to further improve work efficiency across departments.

Interview Date: April 29, 2024