ClipLine, Inc. has focused on "execution support" for multi-location businesses, particularly in the service industry, and has worked hard to solve industry-specific issues by utilizing short videos. For example, in the service industry, the first month is critical. By using our services to train new employees, we have been able to demonstrate the effectiveness of our platform in retaining and motivating staff.

Through supporting many of our customers, we have found that they require not only conventional services but also more comprehensive support to help each store or location achieve sustainable growth.
To meet such needs, we launched a new brand "ABILI" in September 2023, and have built a system that provides visualization of issues faced by the service industry and aids in implementing solutions.
We harness know-how scattered throughout the company, and create a strong frontline while eliminating variation between locations.
The rebranding strengthens ABILI's position as a partner that helps improve profits through the use of our product line, which now includes more than 600,000 people, mainly in the service industry.(*As of November 2024)​

We define the service industry not in terms of industry categories, but rather as "any type of business in which people intervene to provide value in the form of products/services". It includes not only general food service, retail, and lifestyle service industries, but also transportation and logistics, nursing care and childcare, and maintenance.

　　The environment surrounding the service industry has changed dramatically over the past several years. The key words are "inflation and yen depreciation," "labor shortage," and "technology.

Around 2021-2022, the combination of increased demand and supply constraints accelerated the surge in energy and raw material prices. In addition, the interest rate difference between Japan and the U.S. continued to widen during that period, resulting in a double punch of inflation and yen depreciation hitting the service industry. In order to respond to these changes, it is essential to review operations and strategies throughout the service industry. The service industry is required to change its business model, including strengthening digital transformation and efficiency improvement efforts.

Another perennial issue is the declining birthrate and aging population; by 2025, one in four of Japan's population will be elderly, and as a result, concerns about a shrinking workforce are increasing year by year.
This "labor shortage" challenge has a major impact on the service industry. Issues such as difficulty in hiring and turnover have already become apparent, and it is estimated that the difficulty in solving such issues will become even greater in the future. A future in which stores that used to be operated by 10 people will have to be operated by 6-7 people may be just around the corner.

Under such circumstances, the evolution of technology is brightly illuminating the future of the service industry. Not only are mobile ordering and tablet ordering improving operational efficiency, but robots are also being used to serve customers. For some businesses the reduction of manpower for tasks that do not inherently require human intervention has advanced rapidly over the past few years. This is partly due to the impact of the new coronavirus.

　However, we believe that technology alone cannot enhance the intrinsic value of the service industry. The essential value of the service industry is "the creation of added value through the delivery of products and services by human hands.
Technology that reduces the number of human resources, which is now becoming more prevalent, will not be enough to increase the value of services that can only be achieved through people.

　In a future where labor shortages and technology will continue to develop further, we believe that "technology that utilizes and empowers people involved in the service industry" is important. We have defined this as "Service Tech".

In the service industry, it is difficult to define "standards" in detail. In manufacturing, there are standards for the products to be produced, and once the standards are set, it is easy to mass-produce and improve efficiency by introducing machines and artificial intelligence. On the other hand, services have characteristics such as "intangibility," "variability," "ephemerality," and "simultaneity," which generally make it difficult to develop know-how and improve efficiency. Who has the necessary know-how, and how can it be systematized and deployed? In order to promote value-added services, we need to overcome these barriers.

In order to strengthen the service industry, it is important to invigorate front line workers. In order to achieve this, we place importance on the "Service Profit Chain". We believe that increasing employee satisfaction contributes to improving corporate performance.
 

We feel that many of our clients are not able to invest in their employees enough. Of course, in order to maintain a corporate organization, it is necessary to improve performance in the short term, so in some respects this is unavoidable. On the other hand, there are many progressive companies that focus on employee relations, as well as business performance, and manage their business in a very well-balanced manner.

　We offer "Service Tech" to help all service businesses and their employees to overcome various "barriers" and to demonstrate their true potential.
 

ABILI is a solution that provides "service tech" to visualize management issues faced by the service industry and implement solutions, and "professional support" to create results.

We offer four products. "ABILI Board" visualizes the current situation, identifies issues, and checks the status of improvement. "ABILI Voice" reveals the quality of on-site service through customer satisfaction surveys. "ABILI Clip" uses video to change the management system of multiple locations. "ABILI Career" visualizes the skills of all employees including non-permanent employees. We also offer two professional services: "ABILI Partner," which supports business process reform through video production and support for accompanying employees, and "Chain Consulting," a subsidiary of ClipLine Co. a subsidiary of ClipLine Corporation, which specializes in creating sustainable results in the service industry.

Combining these two, we can solve various issues in your business process and maximize the power of the headquarters and the field.

With ABILI, the good points and areas for improvement in each store can be visualized. Each member of the team will improve the visualized issues while coming up with their own solutions. By building an environment where people can enjoy working in this cycle, the most important factor in a multi-location business, motivation in the field will increase, leading to improved quality of work for those involved in the service industry, and ultimately, improved business performance.

ClipLine's vision is "to evolutionize the world's services through technology," and we are constantly improving the solutions we provide to achieve this, while incorporating the latest technologies, such as AI. We will continue to utilize service tech to create a system that can improve the motivation, skills, and operational efficiency of store managers and front-line employees.

We also hope to work with our stakeholders to create a world in which all people involved in the service industry are happy.