Feature Story 2-2 Solving regional problems while taking advantage of the MAEDA Group’s strengths
SDGs to which we contribute and why we should contribute to SDGs
We, as an “integrated infrastructure service company,” contribute to the achievement of Goal 11 by providing infrastructure-based solutions to various social issues.
Method for resolving regional problems: Comprehensive private contracting for municipal infrastructure
One of the methods for resolving the issues in maintenance and management of the regional infrastructure is comprehensive private contracting under public-private partnerships. Conventionally, each competent division and facility has outsourced works such as inspection, maintenance, and management of equipment. Comprehensive management outsourcing is to comprehensively manage and outsource works for the purpose of securing the quality and safety of the infrastructure and public facilities owned by municipalities and standardizing and improving the efficiency of the works.
The municipalities where comprehensive private contracting for public facilities is underway and the starting year of the contract are shown below. Especially among the municipalities that are geographically close to each other and can share information, comprehensive management outsourcing has been spreading and the number of municipalities that are adopting it has been rapidly increasing in recent years.
Our Group has been actively engaged in infrastructure management businesses through public-private partnership and been contracted with seven projects for the comprehensive management of public facilities by the municipalities including Joso City, Ibaraki Prefecture and Higashimurayama City, Tokyo and one project for the comprehensive management of roads by Fuchu City, Tokyo.
In this business, we provide efficient and advanced infrastructure management services while utilizing private-sector know-how such as digitalization. We consider it possible to achieve accurate infrastructure asset management by appropriately grasping the states of use of infrastructures and their deterioration.
Since our Group assumes part of the infrastructure services, which the local government has assumed, a business opportunity for local companies might be lost. However, what our Group assumes is management operation, and the actual operation continues to be assumed by a local company.
Infrastructure management requires prompt response including emergency response, and partnership and cooperation with a local company is essential.
Efficient management of infrastructure requires efforts for productivity improvement with a unity of three parties: local government as the manger, a local company assuming the actual operation, and our Group, which has new technologies and advanced management know-how. With this, we solve the problems of municipalities as well as contributing to improvement of the local company’s technical capability and sustainable business management, and to improvement of the residents’ satisfaction with use. In other words, benefits for the three parties, the local, the regional, and the private sectors, are achieved.
Comprehensive management outsourcing for public facilities in Joso City
The FBS and Maeda Corporation joint venture started comprehensive business such as maintenance, management, and legal inspection for 46 public facilities owned by Joso City in April 2020.
Conventionally, the management records of facilities were made on paper. At present, tablet devices are used for data entry at work sites and the entered data is stored/centrally managed on the cloud to promote efficiency. The stored data is then integrated and analyzed together with facility use information, etc. and can be used for optimization of future facility management.
FBS’s general building management know-how, Maeda Corporation’s engineering capabilities, and local companies’ mobility and network are combined, and high-quality facility maintenance management services using their respective strengths are provided.
Comprehensive management project for roads in Fuchu City (East District)
A consortium consisting of six companies including MAEDA ROAD and MAEDA CORPORATION commenced a comprehensive management operation for roads in Fuchu City in April 2021. The consortium has conducted operations such as inspection, cleaning, and repair of city roads with a total length of 182 km in the East District of the whole city.
Fuchu City has long actively worked on infrastructure management through public-private partnership, and this project has attracted attention as one of the few comprehensive management projects for roads in Japan.
We have proposed services that are available only from the private sector, such as inspection taking advantage of IT technology and speedy response to reporting by residents, while maintaining and improving safe and secure roads, which the municipality has managed.
By fusing MAEDA ROAD’s engineering capability in the field of roads with our company’s know-how in infrastructure management, the MAEDA Group will unite together to continue to provide high-quality services.
Voice of a person in charge
The Local Business Promotion Dept. was inaugurated in April 2020, and has since unitarily consolidated and rolled out information that is collected by the entire company and the Group in a cross-functional manner from across Japan. Our efforts have been revitalized through information linkage such as lateral spread of preceding cases to regions facing similar problems, and synergistic effects such as a synergy generated within the Group have been gained.
Recognizing the problem that the region faces, and creating and practicing a business leading to a solution to it are our Group’s regional strategy. If information that we have accessed on the side of a construction contractor is seen upstream from the viewpoint of a business operator, any hidden problem will be uncovered, and elements of planning or proposal will become apparent. We intend to contribute to solving social problems by raising the added value of the business.
The ideal form we seek is building a sustainable society in cooperation with the municipality and regional companies as an integrated infrastructure service company. Although we are still far from achieving this, a number of projects have concretely been started, and I feel that we are steadily advancing. While making the most of the engineering capability that our Group has cultivated, we intend to continue to open up our future with ideas free from precedents.
Manaka Horikawa, Department Manager,
Local Business Promotion Dept.,
Management Innovation Division
