We aim to brush up the business plan and succeed in on-site exhibitions, all for the longer-term goal of entering into the Indonesian market.

Q.Why did your company decide to take on interns? What did you aim to achieve?

Since the establishment in 2006, we have been engaged in the internal maintenance of the silos (cylindrical grain storages) used for grain storage, quarantines, and customs clearance. We use our self-developed scaffolding, Stage-tower, to conduct the overall maintenance and management of the internal silos safely and efficiently. We are the only company in Japan that specializes in the field. We decided to enter the Indonesian market around 2015 with a view to further expanding our business scope. Although we were aware that we must gain knowledge of local countries before moving on with the business, recruiting workers from abroad was quite challenging for us. Then, we joined a seminar that introduced a series of success stories in the internship program and learned about interns, the great selection of the contents, and the achievements of the hosting companies, which were all great and appealing. We felt that we could learn a lot through the program. We applied for this internship program to further motivate and inspire the employees toward the global development initiative and cooperation with people from abroad. Working with an intern will surely help us embody the strategy for the market launch in Indonesia. With the first exhibition project in 2019, we also hope to review and tailor the contents to the situation and the needs of the country during the internship period.

We strive to do advance preparation for entering business in Indonesia by using human networks and investigating the regulatory environment.

Q.What kind of internship did you run? What difficulties did you face and how did you resolve them?

We visited to several silo sites in Japan and carefully explained our business to help deepen their knowledge of our business field. Then, we asked them to conduct research on the Indonesian companies owning silos and potential customers for the coming exhibition. They were also involved with an active role in a range of fields, such as translating promotional materials for local use, conducting promotional activities through SNS and providing us with the effective ideas to achieve maximum results in the exhibition project in Indonesia. Esteriana, who studies civil engineering in university, utilized the internship network effectively in approaching to the local companies in a proactive manner. Humannisa, who studies management marketing in university, conducted investigations of the regulatory environment in Indonesia. We reviewed and discussed further business based on the collected data. Since Humannisa also had a teaching experience for the technical interns, we learned from her more about the knowledge and know-how necessary for the recruitment of people from abroad. We put a lot of thought into bringing out the skills of each intern by leaving the decision up to them as much as possible in our daily activities. Also, we clearly explained the purpose of this internship program to the employees and asked for their kind cooperation based on respect and compassion for the interns. Our support system was confirmed this way before their first day.

We are more motivated and committed to the expansion into overseas markets than ever before and now have a solid foundation for the success of our exhibition project in Indonesia.

Q.Comparing before and after the internship, what effects did it have on you, your employees, or your organization?

The awareness for the overseas business and the opinions about workers from abroad have improved greatly throughout the company. We believe this was the biggest achievement of this program. The utilization of workers from abroad will be the critical step towards overcoming the severe shortage of human resources in the industry. We actively tried to start a conversation with others, and the interns were friendly in introducing their culture to us by making Indonesian cuisine for us. The mutual efforts to enhance collaboration definitely bore fruit. As for the preparation for the exhibition in Indonesia, we secured companies coming to the event by using the network of the interns. They were also helpful in strengthening the basement for the success of the exhibition project; they translated the brochures and flyers into Indonesian to distribute during the event period, posted Information through SNS and created a website for local use. The exhibition is scheduled after the internship period but they will be there to support us as a business partner. There must be a large number of construction companies that are reluctant to expand their business abroad due to the difficulty posed by on-the job accidents. Our anxiety to expand abroad gradually turned into expectations by understanding the gaps in our cultures, thoughts, and customs. We hope to take a positive approach toward everything we do just like them and familiarize ourselves with the region.