Hello, everyone.

This is Enta.

I received a request for a quote from the government office, but I was so busy that I completely forgot about it.

I'm pretty sure that's what they told me on the phone...

Verbal work-related communications aren't a good idea at this time of year.

Unless I make sure I can confirm it via email, I can't even add it to my to-do list.

Please be sure to send urgent requests by email.

Lately, I've been forgetting things all the time.

Thank you in advance.

---

But that's beside the point.

Are you using ICT in construction?

The other day, I was talking with the owner of a general contractor, and—

ICT in Construction Is a WasteYeah.

That's what they said lol

 

This is a general contractor that is actively promoting i-Construction within the company, has actually purchased backhoes (BHs) designed for such applications, and is fully committed to implementing the initiative.

An ICT backhoe costs around 20 million yen, which is about twice as much as a conventional model.

Apparently, even if you buy that and try to implement ICT, it’s hard to make money from it, and it just wears out the employees.

 

Apparently, the only equipment that's actually useful is the TS finished product inspection system; other than that, nothing at all.

I hear that for Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism (MLIT) projects, submitting a certificate of completion issued within one year of the bid grants bonus points and gives you a slight advantage, but that’s about it.

"Let's make the officials at the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism a little happy? Well, I guess that's fine," is probably the general vibe.

 

And at those general contractors, so-called “ICT specialists” act as if they own the place, saying, “It’s all about ICT these days! Isn’t that common sense?”

Salespeople who come in trying to show off, saying things like, “This software is amazing!”

And the general contractor who fell for it is stuck with ridiculously high software renewal fees that come due every year.

An aging director who can no longer keep up.

Before I knew it, I had switched to another company's software...

The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism, which has been touting the simplification of paperwork, is still holding meetings on paper? lol

Even though each prefecture claims to be following the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism’s lead, they still use their own baffling forms and documents.

To top it all off, the contractor carried out the work while explaining i-Construction—a concept the project manager didn’t understand at all—and

The final inspection by Grandpa Inspector, who only knows the surface of things.

 

I think i-Construction is a good idea, too. Technology continues to evolve as we actively adopt new technologies.

It feels just like the day electronic submissions started, lol.

Thanks to electronic submission, construction management has become so much easier!

It's so great to have an easy way to organize your photos!

 

There’s one more thing I’d like the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism and the prefectural governments to do.

I want all the documents to be standardized!

Whether it's a service provider, a major corporation, or a local business—everyone uses the same standardized documents!

Enter work progress, quality, and safety information online.

Just like Credas turned into Cobris!!

That would eliminate the issue of documents being good or bad, right?

Given that our inspectors are getting older and older, wouldn't it be better to just use the same form for everyone—regardless of whether it's hard to understand or easy to understand?

It goes without saying that it’s already done, since I’m getting it checked.

A delivery slip for ready-mix concrete? A shipping certificate? This is a JIS-certified ready-mix concrete supplier, right? The structure’s already built, isn’t it?

Wouldn't it be fine to just scan that and attach it to the email?

Do I really have to go to the trouble of pasting it onto an A4 sheet and submitting it? (This is half a rant, lol)

Is it necessary to make the documents stand out?

 

Once this area is developed, it will be enough to simply determine whether i-Construction is being implemented or not. (Since it doesn’t seem to be a major factor in evaluations at this stage.)

Over the past few decades, evaluations have increasingly focused on the quality of paperwork rather than the actual results on-site—but that’s not what really matters!

That's what I think.

Of course, as long as there are clear photos of the hidden parts, that should be fine.

With that in mind, I think a field-oriented inspection is the way to go.

Thanks to construction ICT, the work went so smoothly! It turned out great, didn't it?

I wonder if I’ll ever be able to say something like that.

 

It’s more beneficial to teach new junior staff and employees about construction and construction management rather than paperwork, and they’ll grow faster that way.

If you explain that documents can be generated simply by entering the information into the shared web portal, and then teach construction management based on that, you’ll have everything you need.

It simplifies things for both the teacher and the student.

Documents don't need to have any personality.

 

This is the conclusion I’ve reached after meticulously crafting documents that are easy for inspectors to read and diagrams that are easy to understand.

I really don't want site supervisors—whose time is so valuable—to waste their efforts on unnecessary paperwork.

 

See you later.