Country Manager Japan - Jostein Edvardsen is already in place.
- With the progress we now are experiencing in Japan, we must have people on the ground over there
In 2020, we signed a contract with the Japanese contractor giant Takenaka to deliver StreamBIM as a collaboration platform for a trial period. During the trial period, the software has been used to an increasingly large extent.
Until now, Takenaka has managed to translate, implement and adopt StreamBIM widely in Japan without Rendra being physically present, beyond a few short visits. With the increase in volume of the deliveries we now know the contours of and the fact that the test projects have confirmed StreamBIM's properties and ability to scale up, we have now opened our Tokyo office.
- Takenaka is by far our biggest customer. Not only do they deserve our full attention, but they have also shown themselves to be a skilled and alert partner who has useful input and a lot to teach. Getting people on the ground over there is therefore important to us and is another step we would have taken earlier if it weren't for the pandemic.
One of the "big five"
Tokyo- and Osaka-based Takenaka is a family-owned company that, over 400 years and 17 generations, has built up to become one of the island kingdom's five largest contractors. In Japan alone, the company employs more than 9,000 people and in 2018 had a turnover of close to NOK 110 billion. Despite the size - and a possible assumption that Japan is far ahead of Norway when it comes to digitizing the construction industry - the use and spread of digital tools for paperless production on Takenaka's construction sites had at the time been small.- The fact that they now have succeeded in implementing StreamBIM in an organization that, digitally speaking, was far behind most major players in Norway, is extremely impressive and says nothing at all about their ability and willingness to commit and implement change once they have decided themselves. They have therefore managed to roll out StreamBIM in their organization almost without any help from us. Which of course says something about the tool itself, but also a lot about their ability to organize, take action and follow up.
6,000 people at the morning meetings
In the Norwegian context, Takenaka's projects are gigantic. As of 01.12.2022, StreamBIM was used in a total of 215 projects with a total of 5.8 million square meters of digitally distributed production infrastructure via StreamBIM. In comparison, all the development stages at Oslo Airport Gardermoen together amount to just under 300,000 square meters. And "new" Aker hospitals of approximately 150,000.- When you typically have a morning meeting that counts 6,000 people, it goes without saying that digital distribution and work management give a valuable boost to an already hyper-efficient organisation. Through StreamBIM, all information can be made available - to everyone - in no time. Because basically it's about making the complex transparent and getting those who will carry it out to understand what today's challenges consist of. And the 3D model communicates it, regardless of language, says CEO in Rendra, Ole Kristian Kvarsvik.
An ambassador who opens doors
So far, only general manager Jostein Edvardsen is employed at the Tokyo office, but we have already found our first local employee who we expect to have in place as soon as the formalities are in place. In addition to this, local expertise in law and accounting will be hired. An important reason why Rendra is now opening the office is that in Japanese business culture the customer is king, and you must be able to follow up. Whatever is required, but perhaps even more important is to follow up on the many inquiries they receive daily from other Japanese companies.- Takenaka has proven to be a fantastic ambassador for us. They promote us in all channels, and we get a lot of sign-ups from people who want - or have - tested StreamBIM. As of today, they receive an email, but if we are to be able to take them on board as customers, we must be able to follow up and meet the need for training and further adaptation. I don't think it is possible to operate on a large scale without a local presence. We need someone who can pick up the phone and answer in Japanese, write guides and facilitate further growth. Because it is rumored that as early as 2024, the authorities will require widespread use of BIM. And then we will be ready to scale up further.