ROUTE06 Partners with Mitsubishi Corporation to Develop "PaSS-Portal," a Cloud-Based Order and Quote Platform for Distribution Businesses

ROUTE06 Corporation (Head Office: Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo; President: Takafumi Endo) is pleased to announce its partnership with Mitsubishi Corporation (Head Office: Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo; President: Katsuya Nakanishi) to jointly develop "PaSS-Portal," a quotation and order placement platform.

PaSS-Portal is a quotation and order placement and receipt platform that supports the daily "transaction intermediary work" performed by distributors in the materials supply chain, including those in the steel industry, by acting as a link between buyers and suppliers. By connecting with suppliers in the cloud, transactions can be promoted without the use of e-mail or fax.

In January 2023, initial implementation was completed, and in March of the same year, MC began providing implementation support to MSTP's suppliers (e.g., manufacturers of piping equipment such as fittings and valves). MC aims to contribute to business efficiency, paper reduction, and management decision-making and sales activities utilizing transaction data by connecting a large number of user companies on "PaSS-Portal" through active deployment by MC to companies inside and outside the MC Group.

Background of "PaSS-Portal

In the midstream sector of the materials supply chain, including the steel industry, many distributors and wholesalers act as intermediaries between buyers and suppliers, facilitating flexible transactions. They receive requests for quotations from buyers, which sometimes number several hundred items, sort them by item, distribute them to multiple suppliers, collect quotation responses without delay, including those from counter-quotations, bundle them together, and submit them to buyers as quotations, followed by order placement, delivery, and invoicing.

In many cases, these distributors communicate with buyers and suppliers via email or fax (for quotations, orders, delivery, invoicing, etc.) and manually input large volumes of information into their Excel sheets or accounting systems. In addition, since a huge number of transactions are promoted concurrently on a daily basis, many staff members print out related e-mails, faxes, and attached documents, and keep them in a clear file for each project at their own desk. This has long been an issue, leading to work overload, task specialization, and fragmented management. However, due to the nature of "transaction brokerage," distribution companies have found it difficult to initiate improvements.

In February 2022, MC and ROUTE06, together with MSTP, began developing a digital product with optimal functions for distributors and benefits for suppliers in order to improve this situation and realize smoother transaction operations.

Based on the design of a UI and UX that can respond to various transaction variations unique to distributors and to irregular situations such as changes and modifications to transaction terms, and based on interviews with MSTP suppliers requesting mutual use, the quotation and order placement and receipt platform "PaSS-Portal" has been released and will be available from January 2023. Based on interviews with MSTP suppliers requesting mutual use of the platform, PaSS-Portal has been released and will be used by approximately 200 employees at MSTP Piping & Machinery Division offices nationwide starting in January 2023.

Support for ROUTE06

In this project, ROUTE06 provided support in the following areas:

• Support for business plan review
• Service design of "PaSS-Portal
• Provision and customization of API platform "Plain" for enterprise
• UI/UX design and implementation
• Concept and service logo creation/direction
• Support for initial user adoption

About "PaSS-Portal", a quotation/ordering platform

Functions and features of "PaSS-Poral

1. One-stop provision of quotation, order receipt/placement, delivery and invoicing functions

Centralized management of quotations, orders, delivery statuses, and invoicing on a secure cloud-based platform. Real-time sharing between distributors and suppliers is possible. In addition, it is also possible to download each item of information and a list of projects in Excel format.

2. Centralized management of deal and transaction data on the cloud

Without developing a linkage with core systems or installing applications on PC terminals, users can centrally manage and check quotation information, related files, communication history, and transaction status for multiple suppliers connected to a deal in the cloud. Suppliers can also view a list of transactions requested by distributors, allowing both parties to monitor transaction progress and reducing the time and effort needed to track changes or updates to transaction terms and details.

3. Automatic display of the latest status of transactions

The system manages and displays the revision and update history of transactions in chronological order, so that the latest information can be accurately grasped without any hassle, and valuable transaction information, which was previously closed to individual staff members, can be shared within the organization.

4. Task registration for each deal

A "memorandum," which is conventionally written on a sticky note and pasted on the desk of the person in charge, can be linked to a case and registered as an individual task of the person in charge. This allows for sharing and visualization of "what needs to be done next," which contributes to quicker response and prevention of omissions.

5. Online communication function

Online communication can be easily carried out using chat. By replacing conventional communication via e-mail, telephone, or fax with chat, you can flexibly communicate with suppliers at any time, in addition to supporting prompt communication.

The current functionality assumes that the selection of suppliers and the assessment of quotations are based on the experience and judgment of each person in charge, but in the future, by utilizing the accumulated transaction data, "optimal suggestions based on past transactions" will be output, thereby contributing to further efficiency and quality improvement in transaction brokerage operations. In the future, we are considering evolving the system into a platform that contributes to further streamlining and improving the quality of transaction brokerage operations.

Product design that focuses on the needs of distributors and is convenient for suppliers

In streamlining the vast number of transactions among a small number of buyers and suppliers, it is common practice to link the mission-critical systems of each company through EDI (Electronic Data Interchange). However, midstream distribution companies that mediate transactions among a large number of buyers and suppliers have been using conventional methods such as e-mail and fax for many years because of the large amount of development man-hours required for system integration between companies, making it difficult to introduce EDI.

In recent years, "Web-EDI quotation/ordering tools" that do not require core system integration and can be accessed from a browser have been developed, but these tools are mainly designed for procurement departments of manufacturing companies, which are in a position to request suppliers to communicate with them using such tools based on their own procurement details masters. There are also "sales support tools" that enable registration, management, and sharing of work-in-process projects, as well as accumulation and reference of past projects, for intra-organizational use, but these tools are unlikely to lead to labor savings, and for distributors who deal with a huge volume of transactions on a daily basis, they are likely to increase their workload. However, it is difficult to save labor, and there is a concern that it may increase the workload for distributors who deal with a huge volume of transactions every day.

PaSS-Portal is designed to address these challenges by prioritizing the needs and convenience of midstream distributors and suppliers.

As with general Web-EDI, suppliers who use "PaSS-Portal" can register transaction details in "PaSS-Portal," while suppliers who do not use "PaSS-Portal" can receive transaction details by e-mail or fax as in the past. For transactions with suppliers who do not use PaSS-Portal, distributors can input transaction details received via email or fax into the system on behalf of their suppliers, enabling implementation without requiring them to adopt the platform.

The main function of "PaSS-Portal" is the "transaction promotion," which is broadly divided into three phases: quotation, order receipt/placement, and delivery/invoicing. The three phases are sequential according to the status of the transaction, but it is not necessary to go through all the steps, and the system is flexible enough to allow users to choose which steps to skip (skip those not used) according to the characteristics of each transaction.

The overall structure of the system covers the entire process from the beginning to the end of a transaction, including quotation, order receipt/placement, and delivery/invoicing. Therefore, once distributors and suppliers start "transaction promotion" on "PaSS-Portal," all related communication can be consolidated and completed on "PaSS-Portal," eliminating the need to use e-mail and faxes, and providing high benefits for distributors and suppliers in terms of labor savings and information storage. This will be highly effective for both distributors and suppliers in terms of labor savings and information storage.

[Inquiries about PaSS-Portal]

URL: https://pass-portal.jp

ROUTE06's future focus

According to a report by the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (*1), the domestic B2B-EC market has expanded to approximately 373 trillion yen. On the other hand, the environment surrounding business transactions has been changing dramatically in recent years. In addition to social demands such as decarbonization and SDGs, companies are required to anticipate economic conditions such as rising prices and interest rates. In addition to strengthening relationships with traditional trading partners, there is a growing demand for new software services that leverage digital technologies such as API integration between systems, order and supply platforms, and cloud EDI in order to expand new trading partners located in different industries and regions. In an era that demands transparency, soundness, and sustainability of transactions, ROUTE06 will continue to focus on the development of its enterprise API platform "Plain" in order to provide more user-friendly services to promote DX in business-to-business transactions.

(*1) Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry, FY2021 Digital Transaction Environment Development Project (market research on e-commerce)

"Plain" is an API platform for the enterprise.

Plain" is a business API platform for the digital transformation of all types of business transactions, contributing to the vertical launch and continuous service improvement of online marketplaces and other digital businesses, whether B2C or B2B.

URL: https://route06.com/solutions/product/plain

[Inquiries about Plain implementation and digital business launch].

ROUTE06 Professional Services Division

[email protected]

About Mitsubishi Corporation

name: Mitsubishi Corporation
Establishment: 1950 (Founded in 1954)
Location: 2-3-1 Marunouchi, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo
Representative: Katsuya Nakanishi, President and Representative Director
Business Activities: Mitsubishi Corporation (MC) is a global integrated business enterprise that develops and operates businesses across a wide range of industries, including natural gas, integrated materials, petroleum and chemical solutions, mineral resources, industrial infrastructure, automobiles and mobility, food industry, consumer products, power solutions, and urban development complexes. We are developing diversified businesses in a wide range of industries.
URL: www.mitsubishicorp.com