Hello. I'm Hatakeyama from the sales department. In this corner, we, the sales staff, will promote other companies that we think are the best as if they were our own company!
This is the second time we are hosting this event, and our featured guest will be Raksul Co., Ltd.
With the philosophy that "If we change the way we work, the world will be a better place," the company operates services such as "Raksul," a cloud-based online printing service, and has grown rapidly.
What makes it special is how the service works.
"Raksul" networks printing companies nationwide and places printing orders during times when printing machines are not in operation. This makes it possible to provide high-quality printed materials cheaply and quickly. By changing the system, we are able to provide a convenient and pleasant service to our users.
Actually, I, Hatakeyama, am one of the heavy users of the printing service "Raksul". I grew up in a downtown area of Tokyo, and since my parents help out with the work of the neighborhood association, I ask Raksul to print a number of things, such as monthly newsletters and announcement flyers.
Up until then, I had used the printing services of several other companies, but now I feel that "when it comes to printing, Raksul is the answer." There are two main reasons for this.
- I received so many coupons that I couldn't use them all, and it was really cheap and fast!
- The customer support is overwhelming!
In particular, when it comes to customer support over the phone, even if you do get through, you won't have to select a push number and be transferred endlessly; instead, you'll be connected to a support staff member straight away and they'll respond to you courteously.
What kind of people are providing this user-friendly service that goes beyond the image of a printing company as a place that just prints and returns what you submit? Perhaps by learning about the engineers and support center staff who support this service, we can gain some useful wisdom for our own Coding Factory service?
I had always thought this way, and one day, we received an inquiry from Raksul at our coding factory.
I immediately visited the company as Hatakeyama from the sales department, and during the meeting, I was impressed by the great atmosphere within the company and the open communication between the employees, which made me an even bigger fan of Raksul.
This time, we spoke to four members of Raksul to delve deeper into its appeal.
●People who cooperated in the interviews
Yuki Kutsuna (Marketing Department, Public Relations)
Public Relations and Customer Relations Manager. In charge of all external communications for Raksul, including media coverage, user survey compilation and analysis, and event hosting. Recently, he has been writing interviews with employees and posting them on social media, and is planning on becoming a writer.
Koji Yoshimoto (Customer Relations Department, Quality and CR Management Group)
Manager of the Customer Relations Department. Aiming to build a better team with a team that is conscious of directly connecting with customers. In addition, as manager of the Production Management Group in the Corporate Planning Department, he works hard to cooperate with printing companies and deliver better products to customers.
Shinichi Noguchi (Front-end engineer, Business Development Group, Systems Department)
I am in charge of the front-end in the systems department. It's been almost two years since I joined the company. While spending exciting days at a rapidly growing startup, I focus on the front-end, and sometimes I step into the server side, interview users, and get involved in recruitment. I am the father of a three-year-old boy, and on weekends I often hang out with my family around Maihama. I belong to the company's basketball club, and I've been playing basketball for 27 years, starting with mini-basketball.
Sayaka Ishigaki (Marketing Group, Marketing Department)
Marketing Department editorial web director. He is committed to the CMO's saying "God is in the details" and is determined to achieve great results by accumulating the details that no one wants to touch. He runs a children's musical theater company and also works as a musical creator and composer with children. At Raksul, he is showing off his childlike side.
"Speed is better than perfection" and "1% reform"
Six principles for outstanding service
The first question I asked was a question I had as a user.
"Why is it that Raksul's user support is available at any time, never makes you wait, and provides such comprehensive service?"
- Noguchi
"When you join Raksul, regardless of your department, you will all receive customer relations training, during which you will also gain experience in user support and actually answer phone calls from customers. Therefore, I think that there is an ingrained awareness in each and every employee that they are responsible for customer relations.
For example, when the call center is overwhelmed with calls from customers and the customer relations department alone cannot handle them, engineers and designers sometimes rush over to take the calls."
- Ishigaki-san
"The most important thing is to create a trouble-free system, and that's how it should be, but we don't want to become timid in our pursuit of perfection, which could result in delays in the launch of better features and services for our customers. Of course, we don't let our guard down in our day-to-day operations, and our style at Raksul is to aim for 'speed over perfection.'
So if there is a problem, everyone will help regardless of their department or role. I think that kind of atmosphere, that culture of working together to build relationships, is being cultivated."
- Kutsuna-san
"The foundation of this is our philosophy that 'if we change the way things work, the world will be a better place,' and the six principles of conduct known as the 'Raksul Style,' including 'speed over perfection.' Our employees always keep this in mind when they act."
- User-drivenWe always think from the user's perspective and create services together with users.
- All scrum members come together in solidarity and work on things.
- Flat thinking: Start thinking from scratch without being bound by precedent, custom, or common sense.
- Speed is better than perfection Instead of spending time striving for perfection, start moving towards a solution first.
- 1% Reform: To make the world a better place, we will make small reforms, even if it's just 1%, every day and continue to make progress.
- Full OwnershipEveryone works with a sense of ownership and from the owner's perspective.
- Yoshimoto-san
"As long as this is the basic principle, we are a company where you can do anything and not be criticized."
- Kutsuna-san
"We are a company that just tries things. Naturally, there are times when we fail. But when we fail, we look back on it, report back to everyone, and clearly communicate, 'This is what I learned this time. This is what I will do next time,' and they support us with, 'OK, do it again next time.' I think we are that kind of company."
In addition to the free-spirited atmosphere typical of a startup, what surprised me as I spoke was that even though printing is their main service, there is no one in the company with a background in the printing industry.
- Kutsuna-san
"We are all novices when it comes to printing. So, without knowing the common sense of the industry, we thought as users and said, 'This might be a good service,' and 'Let's give it a try!' That's what we did to create Raksul. I think that's what has led to a good service."
- Ishigaki-san
"I think that services are created by technology and the results are shown by numbers, but I also think that the unseen atmosphere has a strong influence. After all, a release that is not enthusiastic will not ultimately result in good output. In that respect, I think there is an enthusiastic atmosphere at Raksul."
- "1% Reform" Case Study -
Instead of thinking, "Someone else will do it," try it yourself first.
Our company is full of little ideas to make everyone comfortable, even in places that you might not notice unless someone points them out.
To prevent input cords from getting tangled and tangled, terminals are attached to the back of the LCD monitor in the conference room with Velcro.
Right next to the light switch in the conference room are pictograms representing the items to check before leaving.
This was Yoshimoto's idea, and the warning signs are written in an easy-to-understand design, so with just five seconds of consideration, the next person can use the station comfortably as well.
The whiteboard has different colored tapes on it to keep the pens in place.
By accumulating these small things, we can create a good environment that is easy to use.
I really wanted to try this in Monosus' conference space.
The secret to teamwork is "full ownership"
Colleagues with their own knowledge and experience
What impressed me from the first time I went to a meeting was the open atmosphere within the company. When I was talking with a person from the marketing department in the meeting room, an engineer from the systems department just popped in and offered some fresh ideas.
In this way, employees are aware of the projects each other is working on, and they share ideas without any barriers between departments. The atmosphere here makes you think it would definitely be fun to work together.
- Noguchi
"At Raksul, we hold regular meetings that all employees attend. All information, including current management issues, is made public there. This allows everyone, from junior to mid-career employees, to be aware of management issues and to set and act on visions that go beyond their own areas of responsibility."
- Kutsuna-san
"This may be because we are a startup with a limited number of employees, but we have many employees with multiple roles.
Like Yoshimoto, you can look after the entire call center while also being in charge of quality control, or like me, you can handle both PR and customer service. There are many people who work across departments, so you don't have to limit yourself to "this is my area." There are no instances where you think, "I'm an engineer, so I'll just code," but rather, there are many people who are willing to work together to think about the design, starting from the design itself."
- Noguchi
"That's true. Of course I do code, but I also try to get out and attend study sessions, so that when someone asks me, 'What does Raksul do?' or 'What is online printing?' I can explain our products, services, and company vision.
I have a strong desire to increase the number of colleagues, and I see myself as both a salesperson for Raksul and a recruiter for human resources."
As the phrase "we want to increase the number of our colleagues" naturally came out, the rapidly growing Raksul is also focusing on recruitment activities to increase the number of new employees. In fact, the four people who answered the interview questions that day had a wide range of careers.
- Yoshimoto-san
"When I graduated, I joined a movie theater company where I was in charge of accounting. After that, I joined a major mail-order company in logistics, where I saw things moving around in a warehouse and saw how things could be improved by changing small systems. I wondered if I could use that experience in another field, and that's when I discovered Raksul."
- Noguchi
"I've been with the company for two full years, so I'm the oldest of the four of us. In my previous job, I was at a company that ran a travel review site. As a front-end engineer, my duties are the same, but the scope of my work has expanded dramatically."
- Ishigaki-san
"It's a company that allows you to grow and develop your skills, but it's also tough. It's not a world where people shout, but everyone is really talented.
For example, the code of conduct called "full ownership" means that if you raise your hand and say, "I'll do this!", you have to see it through to the end. Since everyone works by that standard, there is also pressure to constantly grow."
- Kutsuna-san
"I started in the wedding industry as a new graduate, worked as a wedding planner, and in my previous job I was secretary to the founding chairman of Gurunavi. Because we have members with such a wide range of backgrounds, we are able to share our knowledge and experience and engage in constructive exchanges and discussions. I think that is what leads to our great teamwork."
A system where all employees think seriously about how to make the world a better place
In parallel with the success of its printing service, Raksul has launched other impactful businesses, such as Hakobell, a new business that is quickly changing the way the logistics industry works. The driving force behind these efforts is the philosophy that is posted in a corner of the company's office: "If we change the way the world works, it will be a better place."
- Ishigaki-san
"Everyone sincerely believes that if we change the way things work, the world will be a better place."
- Yoshimoto-san
"The printing industry is of course important. However, we are not solely focused on it. We are always thinking of new things to do, including Hakobell. I think we can improve the printing industry by changing the systems, and I am also thinking about ways to change systems in other fields."
- Noguchi
"This vision is extremely important in bringing together all the professionals from each field and uniting us as one."
- Yoshimoto-san
"I think that many employees came to Raksul because of this vision. I think that everyone has had the experience of feeling that if they had done something better, they could have made a difference.
At that time, they learned about the philosophy that Raksul is promoting and thought, "I can do a lot of things here. I think that's what people who think that way are gathering here."
- Kutsuna-san
"No one really thinks of us as a printing company, more like we're a company in a new genre. We want to fuse the Internet with an old, physical market that hasn't yet been digitized, change the way things work, and have a big impact on the world. I think people have the image of us as a group of people who think up and create new systems that will change the way the world works."
Hatakeyama's "This is what I want to sell!"
After this interview, I feel that Raksul is even more appealing to me. There are three points I would like to strongly promote:
- The driving force behind our overwhelmingly user-friendly services
- Great teamwork that makes you want to work with them
- Everyone is seriously working to make the world a better place
Looking back after the interview, I was particularly impressed by an episode where, when the call center was flooded with inquiries, everyone from across departments would rush to pick up the phone.
It may be a small story, but that's why it showed that all the employees truly believe that "if we change the way the world works, it will be a better place."
Before the interview, I thought, "I like it because I can get a lot of discount coupons and the support is great," but when I realized that there are people behind the service who support Raksul with a lot of passion, I became an even bigger fan.
The good atmosphere in the company and the way all the employees work together to create a better service were exactly what I wanted from Coding Factory. Now I truly believe that "Raksul is the best choice for printing."
~A visit to Raksul's office~
The Raksul office is based on the concept of an open-air "sky garden." We'd like to introduce you to some of the wonderful office space that has caught the attention of the media, but we couldn't fit it all in the main article!
The office has a 12-meter-high ceiling. This sense of openness should have an impact on the comfort of working there. The spaces are divided only by partitions, and there are no private rooms with doors, so the layout allows for seamless communication between employees.
The concept of the office is a "sky garden." Climbing the ladder leads to a park-like rest area. The attention to detail and playfulness of president Yasukane Matsumoto, who was looking for a property with high ceilings, is evident everywhere.
The sunny café space on the second floor is also used for study meetings and events.
In the cafe space, there is a blackboard with Raksul's vision written on it: "THE BETTER SYSTEM, THE BETTER WORLD (Changing the system makes the world a better place)."
A relaxing break space on the first floor. There are multiple open spaces where you can easily meet with other members.
A meeting space designed with the three primary colors of CMYK (cyan, magenta, and yellow) used in color printing. CMYK motifs are used everywhere, including logos and business cards.
~ Internal map ~
Raksul Co., Ltd.
〒141-0021 2-24-9 Kami-Osaki, Shinagawa-ku, Tokyo, Japan
Tel:03-4530-3733
Corporate website
http://corp.raksul.com/
Online printing for working people: Raksul
http://raksul.com/
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