The International Trade Business Operations Department No.2 of MIZUHO Bank, Ltd. plays a central role in MIZUHO Bank's international trade business. The department supports smooth trade transactions and risk mitigation in overseas transactions by providing specialised international trade business services to meet the diverse needs of a wide range of clients, from individuals to small and medium-sized enterprises and major corporations.
It is an international business practice to exchange some of the documents involved in trade transactions on paper originals rather than in digital format. The International Trade Business Operations Department No.2 of MIZUHO Bank, Ltd. was aiming to go paperless by scanning paper originals and displaying them on a monitor or similar device.
MIZUHO Bank has considerable experience working with paper documents and was understandably concerned about the transition from paper to digital data. The bank was looking for an optimal secondary display to present documents with reduced blue light, which can be harmful to the eyes.
The RICOH Portable Monitor is slim, lightweight, and easy to carry around. It can be laid flat like paper, making it simple to achieve a smooth paperless transition. A4 documents can be displayed vertically, showing the page in its entirety, and even handwritten text is clearly visible, helping to improve work efficiency. Additionally, the reduced blue light display helps in reducing eye strain.
Key Features:
A large number of documents need to be handled in a trade transaction. In addition to contracts between importers and exporters, domestic and foreign carriers and insurance companies are also involved in trade, and many documents are exchanged. It is an international commercial practice to deliver documents in paper originals, and MIZUHO Bank receives and processes a vast amount of paper documents such as invoices, B/Ls (bills of lading), and I/Ps (insurance policies). As a result, it was difficult to divide the workload when checking the contents of the documents, and inputting them into the system resulted in a long waiting time. In addition, paper originals require careful handling and storage.
The bank introduced a high-speed scanner with the aim of going paperless to improve business efficiency, but there was a problem with small text when viewing PDF documents on a computer screen. Since using a large monitor would cause a feeling of oppression and fatigue, the bank was interested in the RICOH Portable Monitor, which is as easy to use. The reasons for adopting the RICOH Portable Monitor include the sharpness with which even small letters can be seen clearly and the fact that it does not cause eye fatigue even after long hours of work. In addition, the monitor’s size is similar to A4 documents, and allows them to be viewed in portrait.
Currently, 140 units have been installed and are used mainly for legal inspection work. Documents are converted to PDF, uploaded to the server, and then displayed on the RICOH Portable Monitor for each employee to work on. When the monitor was first introduced, the bank assumed it would be used in a fixed position, but in reality, it is being used flexibly in a way that is easy for employees to work with, such as by placing it flat on their desks, bringing it to meetings and using it to share documents.
In the past, it was difficult to efficiently divide work due to the use of original documents, but by converting documents into data and sharing them on the server, each person can now display them on the RICOH Portable Monitor and proceed with their work. This has improved productivity by allowing each process to proceed at the same time.
Many employees say that the tension of handling original documents and the pressure of post-processing has been reduced, making it easier for them to concentrate on their work, and the paperless system has been utilised as they had wished.
In the future, MIZUHO Bank plans to use RICOH Portable Monitors as a display for document checking, settlement, and remote work. MIZUHO Bank is also considering using two RICOH Portable Monitors for each PC in the International Trade Business office, where there are many documents.