PHC Group is focused intently on utilizing the voice of the customer (VOC) to respond to the needs of society. Rather than regarding VOC merely as a “request for improvement,” we see it as a source of corporate value improvement that generates awareness, trust, improvement, and growth. To this end, we are promoting VOC activities in three areas, which we call Miraidane (Collection), Cotodama (Analysis and Visualization), and Tsunagaru (Utilization).

1. 1.Miraidane Activities: Preserving Customer Feedback—Collection and Accumulation

   We collect and accumulate VOC from a variety of touchpoints, including sales, maintenance services, business meetings with domestic and global partners, and social media. Information gathered through these activities is centrally registered in a database, ensuring that primary customer feedback is fully captured and can be quickly utilized.

2. 2.Cotodama Activities: Visualizing Customer Feedback—Analysis and Sharing

   We analyze accumulated VOC data using tools such as text mining and AI. Through both quantitative and qualitative evaluations, we visualize trends in customer needs and identify issues. These results are then shared internally via dashboards and departmental reports, contributing to faster and higher-quality decision-making.

3. 3.Tsunagaru Activities: Utilizing Customer Feedback—Integration into Business Activities

   Analyzed VOC is immediately fed back into the development of new products and services, as well as the improvement of existing businesses. We also constantly work to entrench a customer-centric mindset as part of our organizational culture. This includes conducting employee training on VOC and enhancing FAQs at customer service touchpoints.

   Through this cycle of collection, analysis, and utilization of VOC, PHC Group maximizes our use of VOC as intellectual capital, leveraging it to drive sustainable value creation.

An All-in-One Approach: From Collection to Analysis and Visualization to Utilization

To efficiently collect and utilize customer feedback, we have introduced survey cards as part of our Miraidane (Collection) activities. Printed with a 2D barcode the survey cards are provided directly to customers, allowing us to gather their perspectives directly. Responses are aggregated online, then analyzed and visualized through Cotodama (Analysis and Visualization) activities, before being transformed through Tsunagaru (Utilization) activities into improvement actions that connect front-line operations with management.

Accumulated VOC information circulates throughout the entire organization, like capillaries delivering oxygen to every part of an organism. This cyclical operation of collection, analysis and visualization, and utilization boosts frontline motivation, improves service quality, deepens trust with customers, and drives sustainable corporate value creation.

Employee Voices

Every day, I am impressed by how important VOC activities are for creating a better future for our customers. Through active collaboration across PHC Group, we are striving to ensure that our products and services deliver an even higher value experience to our customers. Above all, we are dedicated to contributing to a better future for healthcare through our VOC activities.

Kenshiro YamamotoGlobal VOC Promotion Section, Corporate Planning Department

Transforming Customer Feedback into Future Value Creation:
Messages from the Head and Deputy Head of the Diagnostics & Life Sciences Domain

Nobuaki Nakamura Head of Diagnostics & Life Sciences Domain

VOC activities are the engine driving PHC Group’s business forward. These activities are a vital input to maintaining kaizen (continuous improvement) activities with fresh enthusiasm every day, seeking to never become complacent. We believe that taking concerns and suggestions seriously—not only about quality and usability, but also about products, services, customer support, ESG, and sustainability—and giving them diligent consideration leads us toward fulfilling our corporate Mission and Vision. Looking ahead, we aim to expand the focus of our VOC activities from Japan to our global customers, broadening their scope to encompass customer feedback on all PHC Group products and services.

Steven Lynum Deputy Head of Diagnostics & Life Sciences Domain

At Epredia, we take pride in offering a seamless portfolio of precision cancer diagnostics solutions that supports the entire pathology workflow. Our extensive range of products means that every second of every hour, 48 of our products are employed in the battle against cancer. With more than 1.5 billion interactions annually with researchers and clinicians, respecting the voices of our customers is essential. By systematically collecting VOC information, we transform these interactions into innovations for future products and services. The voice of the customer remains our most critical input in the evolution of our solutions that support precise cancer diagnostics.