Delivered on March 16, 2026
"Positioning Data" to Reduce Stress: Visualizing the Workplace and Quantifying Productivity
Speakers:
Shota Okamura, President and CEO, Beacapp Co., Ltd.
Affiliation and position information is as of the time of distribution
This presentation explains the strategy for "Beacapp Here," an indoor location information service for businesses, which aims to visualize not just location information but also "positioning data" encompassing people, objects, and robots. The platform, launched in 2014, was revamped in April 2024, reducing operational, maintenance, and security burdens, as well as ongoing risks and alleviating concerns. It has been implemented in 574 locations nationwide (primarily offices, but expanding to hospitals, research institutes, factories/warehouses, and retail stores). The presentation showcases examples of how the system measures operational efficiency and the effectiveness of initiatives through visualization of cart locations and reports on movement and dwell time, achieving savings of 271 hours per month for 100 employees and 2520 hours per month for 700 employees. The potential for stress reduction and improved employee retention through monitoring attendance is also mentioned. The presentation also introduces a BCP (Business Continuity Plan) function that notifies the number of people at a location/floor via earthquake early warning integration.
Okamura's previous episode can be found here:
https://youtu.be/XEolByQC_mU
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System Infrastructure Renewal Supporting Five Consecutive Years of No. 1 Implementation Record
Beacapp Co., Ltd., which operates the corporate indoor location information service "Beacapp Here," boasts the number one track record in terms of the number of companies using its service and the number of users for five consecutive years.
In April 2024, the company implemented a complete system infrastructure renewal to further expand its service and ensure stable operation.
This renewal involved rebuilding the AWS-based system, which had been built up since the service's launch in 2014, using the latest technology stack.
After many years of operation, the company faced challenges such as increased backend load and operating costs due to the increase in the number of users, and more sophisticated security requirements. However, this "major operation" replacement has eliminated these risks.
According to Mr. Okamura, approximately one year after the renewal, the stability of system operation has dramatically improved.
Previously, there were times when the company had to be extremely careful about sudden increases in server load, but now that a robust infrastructure is in place, it is possible to accommodate an even larger number of users. This infrastructure enhancement is emphasized not merely as a technical update, but as a crucial investment to ensure customers can continue using the service with peace of mind.
Conceptual Expansion from "Location Information" to "Positioning Data"
Currently, the company's services are implemented at 574 locations nationwide, from Hokkaido to Okinawa.
While offices account for more than half of these locations, in recent years, the services have expanded to a diverse range of sites, including hospitals and other medical facilities, research laboratories, factories, warehouses, and retail stores.
With this expansion of use, Beacapp is advocating the concept of "positioning data," which governs the state of people, objects, and robots, going beyond the framework of mere "location information."
This can also be called "Positioning Data as a Service (PDaaS)," and aims to utilize data to alleviate the burden of on-site work.
Specifically, there is a growing need to visualize the location of "objects" such as wheelchairs, strollers, and specimens in real time, in addition to tracking the location of people. For example, at Kumamoto Airport, the location and number of carts within the large floor area are tracked on a map, helping to reduce staff travel time and distance, and facilitating optimal placement.
Furthermore, efforts are underway to eliminate invisible inefficiencies such as "time spent searching for items" and "time spent counting inventory" through digital data.
Visualizing the effects of implementation and realizing a stress-free work environment
One challenge many companies face when utilizing location data is clearly defining the "return on investment (ROI)" of implementation.
At Beacapp, we have established a system, primarily through our customer success team, to quantify and provide feedback on the effects of implementation.
For example, specific data shows that for users with 100 employees, "time spent searching for people" is reduced by 271 hours per month, and for users with 700 employees, it is reduced by over 2,500 hours per month.
By digitally recording these reduction effects and reporting them regularly, busy managers in departments such as general affairs and human resources can easily see the benefits, creating a positive cycle that leads to expansion to other locations.
Furthermore, Mr. Okamura also mentioned the "psychological benefits" that location information utilization brings.
With the spread of free addressing and hybrid work, the situation of "not knowing who is in the office today" is a significant source of stress for employees.
Sharing location information makes it easier to initiate face-to-face communication and reduces unnecessary confirmation work, contributing to overall workplace stress reduction.
Mr. Kawashima, the interviewer, pointed out that achieving this "stress-free workplace environment" could ultimately lead to improvements in key performance indicators (KPIs), such as lower employee turnover and increased employee satisfaction.
It is anticipated that data utilization to enhance mutual convenience, beyond concerns about surveillance and privacy, will become added value in the B2B sector going forward.
Utilization for BCP measures and future prospects
As for future prospects, Beacapp is strengthening its use of data in the context of safety and security.
A symbolic initiative is its BCP (Business Continuity Plan) support service linked to earthquake information.
We have built a system that instantly identifies who is at which location and notifies administrators in the event of a major earthquake.
Knowing the exact number of people is extremely important for roll calls and safety checks during disasters.
We plan to enhance the value of positioning data not only as a tool for improving the efficiency of daily operations, but also as a foundation for safety management in times of emergency.
The company will continue to expand the locations where the service can be used and will continue to evolve as a positioning data service that solves on-site challenges, while also considering integration with AI.
Summary
Through this discussion, it became clear that indoor location information services are evolving beyond simply "identifying locations" and becoming an important data platform that supports the management foundation of companies.
By refreshing the system infrastructure, we have ensured stability that can withstand large-scale operations of more than 574 locations, and are accelerating its adoption in diverse fields such as medical care and logistics, not just offices.
In particular, it was shown that in addition to the direct cost-cutting effects such as reducing the time spent searching for things and travel time, the psychological value such as revitalizing employee communication and reducing stress is extremely important in modern work styles. In the future, positioning data is expected to be increasingly used in safety management, such as for business continuity planning (BCP), and will become an indispensable infrastructure for balancing corporate productivity and employee well-being.