We are centrally managing trade-related operations and progress on the cloud and have also begun integrating with generation AI.

 

STANDAGE Co., Ltd. (Minato-ku, Tokyo; President and CEO: Akinori Adachi; hereinafter referred to as STANDAGE), a developer and provider of digital trade platforms, has begun offering "Trade Cloud," a system that enables sales channel development and order management in trade on the cloud, to its existing customers. Since July 2024, customer companies that export using STANDAGE's trade outsourcing package "DigiTrad" have begun using the system. In the future, STANDAGE plans to offer the system to trading companies and major manufacturing companies, and by the end of 2024, it plans to implement support for creating trade-related documents through API integration with generation AI and functions for extracting product and price information. Furthermore, "Trade Cloud" is approved and registered as an invoice-related tool (order/receipt and settlement) under the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry's IT Introduction Subsidy Program, making it possible to cover part of the introduction costs with the subsidy.

 

■The weak yen is boosting the momentum for overseas expansion, and the trade outsourcing service "DigiTrad" is gaining traction.

Since 2022, Standage has been providing "DigiTrad," a service that handles everything from market development to all aspects of trade operations for small and medium-sized enterprises that find it difficult to handle exports on their own.

While domestic exports are steadily increasing due to the persistently weak yen, large corporations account for almost all of these sales. As a result, most of the approximately 3.5 million small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in Japan are unable to generate overseas sales and are not fully benefiting from the weak yen.

"DigiTrad," a service launched by Standage in 2022, is a service that supports small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) that wish to expand overseas but find it difficult to do so with their own resources. It utilizes Standage's trade construction know-how and trade DX system to provide comprehensive support.

The recent depreciation of the yen has increased the need for small and medium-sized enterprises to expand overseas, and as of the end of February 2024, the number of companies that have adopted our services has exceeded 150.

 

■ About "Trade Cloud," the industry's first "trading-specific CRM"

Developing sales channels in international trade requires specialized knowledge, connections with companies and individuals, and experience, and involves complex tasks such as extensive communication, information management, and the management of figures including prices.

Therefore, developing and disseminating systems and software that can centrally manage these tasks is difficult, and individual task management using spreadsheet software and the like remains the mainstream, making the delay in digital transformation a challenge for the entire industry.

In June 2024, Standage revamped its proprietary trade operations efficiency system, which it had been using for some time, adding new functions and refreshing the UI/UX.

This system, named "Trade Cloud," enables visualization of sales channel development status and centralized management of all processes in trade, much like CRM is widely used in sales and marketing. Starting in July 2024, Standage has been gradually providing "Trade Cloud" to companies that have contracted with "DigiTrad," which provides export support.

With "Trade Cloud," you can complete the entire process, from matching domestic companies as sellers to communicating with overseas buyers, all within the cloud.

Furthermore, accumulating buyer information within the system prevents reliance on individual expertise and creates a black box, which helps in developing further sales channels.

 

Standage was founded by two people who previously worked for a major general trading company, and one-third of its employees are former trading company employees or people with extensive experience in international trade.

Furthermore, having an in-house development department for the trade DX platform allows us to directly reflect on-site work flows and requests into the system, enabling us to achieve centralized cloud management of the sales channel development area, which was previously considered difficult to systematize.

 

■ Overview of "Trade Cloud" Functions

① Project Management

Sales channel development tasks are managed on a project basis, and task progress can be shared using Gantt charts. Tasks for each assigned person are clearly defined, and all stakeholders can understand and track the progress in real time.

 

② Document management

You can consolidate all your trade-related documents in one place and easily upload and organize them.

The intuitive UI allows for smooth file searching and sharing, dramatically improving work efficiency.

 

③ Matching with potential buyers

Based on buyer information accumulated and managed within the system, it is possible to match potential new sales channels with buyers within the system.

 

④ Chat function

Selling companies, trade managers, and buying companies can communicate with each other via in-system chat. This reduces the need for email and phone communication, enabling efficient information sharing and rapid decision-making.

 

⑤ Order Management

We centrally manage the entire process and operations from order placement to delivery.

 

⑥ Schedule Management

You can see important project-related events, such as regular meetings and deadlines, at a glance.

 

⑦ Task Management

We organize the detailed tasks involved in establishing a trade agreement, assign them to the responsible person, prioritize them, and visualize the progress.

 

■ Future outlook

As of July 2024, Standage uses "Trade Cloud" to share progress with client companies, conduct export-related communications, collect feedback, and continuously improve the system.

In the future, we aim to provide our systems to trading companies and major manufacturing companies, and we will continuously make improvements and add new features.

Furthermore, we plan to integrate with a generation AI via API within 2024 to implement features such as support for creating trade-related documents and extraction of product and price information.

Standage will continue to develop and provide various DX systems and solutions centered on trade, aiming to realize a prosperous world where all countries and companies can trade on an equal footing.