Eurus Energy Holdings Corporation: Tokyo, Japan

Remote Management of Construction for 107 Wind Turbines across 6 Wind Power Plants, by simply accessing on iPad or laptop, utilising MetaMoJi’s GEMBA Note

Real-time Monitoring of 6 Sites

“Each day, with a mere click on the GEMBA Note screen on my iPad or laptop, I can instantly review the weather conditions and construction advancements across six sites situated more than 200km away from my location in Sapporo. This includes inspection requests, weekend and holiday operation schedules, and other pertinent information, offering immense convenience,” explains Mr. Sano. Euras Energy has a global footprint in wind and solar power generation projects and is presently erecting six wind farms in Wakkanai, Toyotomi, and Horonobe in northern Hokkaido, encompassing a total of 107 wind turbines. These towering structures stand at 85m from ground to turbine centre, with a maximum diameter of 130m. Each turbine boasts an output ranging from 4200 kW to 4300 kW, culminating in a staggering total output of 457.3 MW.

Subcontractors working at a remote site:

Writing down the site situation in GEMBA Note on his iPad

GEMBA Note, a digital site management tool developed and marketed by MetaMoji, has been selected for this ambitious project. GEMBA Note features a form named Site Communication Notes, facilitating seamless information sharing among the six sites. “The subcontractor overseeing each site records daily updates,” Mr. Sano explains. GEMBA Note has supplanted the traditional paper notebook with the introduction of iPads. Initially intended to reduce paper usage and streamline documentation by enabling handwritten notes, drawings, and construction management records, it’s noteworthy to observe its adoption by project managers for overseeing multiple dispersed sites.

GEMBA Note in Project Management

Euras Energy’s introduction to GEMBA Note traces back to 2019 during the project’s design phase. “Around June 2019, we were introduced to GEMBA Note by one of our contractors involved in the design work for the wind power plants, who had already implemented the tool. In September 2019, I attended a GEMBA Note utilization seminar conducted by MetaMoji. Following that seminar, I realized its potential for project management,” recollects Mr. Sano. The primary use of GEMBA Note revolves around digitally crafting documents such as daily reports and inspection records, formerly paper-based or scanned files, subsequently shared via the cloud between clients and contractors. With GEMBA Note, “collaboration across multiple sites becomes less daunting,” he remarks. “Simply create a folder for each site on the GEMBA Note cloud server, akin to a digital bookshelf, and populate it with GEMBA Note versions of documents. Setting access restrictions for each user streamlines the process,” adds Mr. Sano.

Document management:

Inside GEMBA Note, sub folders are created to store check sheets and daily reports from each site

Accelerated Documentation and Elimination of Wasteful Travel Time

Historically, project management necessitated the use of multiple software applications and a laptop to process documents, photos, and spreadsheets, culminating in the compilation of check sheets and reports. This process was time-intensive, involving photo transfers from cameras to laptops and transcription of paper notebooks into data using various hardware and software. “In contrast, creating document templates in GEMBA Note allows for comprehensive management—documents, figures, photos, and handwritten notes—all via an iPad and GEMBA Note. Contractors have reported reduced workload upon returning to the office in the evenings as they can now accomplish tasks on-site,” notes Mr. Sano.

“The initial impetus behind adopting GEMBA Note was the necessity for centralized management of six construction sites dispersed across Sapporo and Wakkanai. The distances from our base in Sapporo exceed 300km, while it’s approximately 40km from Wakkanai. With GEMBA Note, real-time site monitoring is achievable, enabling prompt action in case of any issues.”

Digital templates for documentation:

Standardised formats were created to be used among 6 different sites.

“GEMBA Note has significantly slashed the time and effort spent on transcribing documents from paper notebooks and exchanging documents. Additionally, each power plant previously received reports in varied formats from different suppliers. By standardizing forms on GEMBA Note, reports from all six sites are now uniform, enhancing comprehension.”

Remote Work and Presence during COVID-19

Digital forms for site information sharing:

GEMBA Note on iPad makes it possible to incorporate photos, texts, and numbers in documentation for real-time information sharing between remote offices

While Euras Energy initially contemplated adopting GEMBA Note for site management nearly two years ago, it has proven instrumental as an infection control measure amidst the COVID-19 pandemic over the past year. “To mitigate virus transmission risks, minimizing travel to and from the site is imperative. Thanks to real-time site information sharing and digital forms facilitated by GEMBA Note, certain site management tasks can be conducted remotely, such as progress checks and reviewing deliverables,” Mr. Sano explains.

Leveraging GEMBA Note’s online conferencing feature, engineers equipped with iPads can partake in on-site inspections while ‘live streaming’ rebar placements, slope excavations, etc. This feature also enables ‘remote presence.’ GEMBA Note, with its dual ability to enhance on-site productivity by reducing travel time while mitigating COVID-19 risks, is poised to become an increasingly indispensable site management tool for project managers in the foreseeable future.