Mitsubishi Corporation's "Mill-Box" Exceeds 200 Construction Site Implementations

Mitsubishi Corporation (hereinafter, Mitsubishi Corporation), the Industrial Materials DX Team of the Materials Solutions Group, is pleased to announce that its cloud-based mill sheet electronic management system "Mill-Box" has surpassed 200 construction site implementations.

The system is being recognized for its ability to automate mill sheet verification, inspection document creation, and tabulation simply by photographing rebar labels with a smartphone. As a DX service tailored to on-site practical needs, its utilization is expanding across construction sites nationwide.

*Mill Sheet: A document certifying the quality of steel materials.

Background: Mill Sheet Management Operations Centered on Paper and Manual Labor

Construction sites require the storage, organization, and presentation of mill sheets during inspections to certify the quality of steel materials used. Traditionally, the common practice was to visually match paper mill sheets with rebar labels, file them, and manually compile information such as rebar diameter, manufacturer, and quantity.

However, construction sites receive a large volume of materials daily, generating a vast amount of related documentation. Checking for missing mill sheets, matching them with rebar labels, creating inspection documents, and searching for necessary documents placed a significant burden on site employees, consuming their work hours.

Mill-Box digitizes these management operations, which were previously based on paper and manual labor, to support the efficiency of document management and the advancement of quality control at construction sites.

Main Features of Mill-Box

The Mill-Box service for general contractors allows for the verification of mill sheet information by simply photographing rebar labels with a smartphone. This reduces the burden of visual confirmation, data entry into Excel, and the creation of inspection documents that were previously done manually.

The main features are as follows:

Verification of mill sheets by photographing rebar labels with a smartphone

Electronic storage, search, filtering, and sorting of rebar mill sheets

Automatic creation of inspection documents, lists, and tabulation sheets

Confirmation of rebar label matching status and identification of omissions

Electronic management of mechanical joint mill sheets

Automatic creation of mechanical joint count tabulation sheets

By digitizing mill sheet information, not only is paper storage space reduced, but necessary information can be searched instantly. Furthermore, filtering and sorting by conditions such as work section, manufacturer, diameter, and delivery date, according to site operations, streamlines confirmation work and document preparation before inspections.

No app download or initial setup required. Usable anywhere with an internet connection.

Expanding Implementation at Construction Sites Nationwide as On-Site Practical DX

Mill-Box is developed with a focus on intuitive and easy-to-understand operability, making it user-friendly even for those without specialized IT knowledge. Its adoption is spreading because it steadily improves the efficiency of daily tasks such as document organization, matching, and tabulation, rather than requiring large-scale business reforms.

Implementations span both private and public works, and the system is utilized in various construction sites, including both building and civil engineering projects. Positive feedback has also been received from supervisors and inspection companies regarding the digitization of mill sheets, offering a new option for managing quality certificates in construction sites where paper management has long been the norm.

Towards Realizing Mill Sheet Digitization Across the Steel Supply Chain

A key feature of Mill-Box is its ability to electronically transfer mill sheets not only for improving efficiency at individual construction sites but also across the supply chain, from steel manufacturers and trading companies to intermediate companies like processors and wholesalers, and finally to general contractor sites.

Mill sheets pass through multiple companies during the circulation of steel materials before reaching construction sites. Therefore, even if only construction sites digitize their processes, efficiency gains are limited if paper or PDF-based management remains in upstream and intermediate companies.

In addition to its service for general contractors, Mitsubishi Corporation is also promoting the expansion of Mill-Box for steel manufacturers and intermediate companies such as trading companies, processors, and wholesalers. By advancing data linkage of mill sheets across the entire supply chain, the company aims to reduce the burden of document management for each company and improve the productivity of the entire steel distribution industry.

Expanding Scope from Rebar to Steel Frames and Ready-Mixed Concrete Related Documents

In addition to the electronic management of rebar mill sheets, Mill-Box is expanding the range of materials and documents it can handle.

For steel frames, a service for electronically managing steel frame mill sheets is provided to steel frame fabricators. This allows steel frame fabricators to improve the efficiency of tasks such as mill sheet storage, organization, and the creation of tabulation sheets. Furthermore, by linking with the Mill-Box for general contractors, general contractor site offices can perform searches, filtering, and editing of steel frame mill sheets using data, leading to improved efficiency in the confirmation and submission of steel frame mill sheets.

Additionally, a function has been developed to streamline the organization of ready-mixed concrete related documents, which are often cited as a challenge at construction sites. Documents such as placement reports, fresh concrete test results, and compressive strength test results can be digitized and organized, with automatic creation of tabulation sheets showing results by placement lot. If administrative or supervisor-specified formats are required, transcription into these formats can also be automated.

This enables more comprehensive efficiency improvements in quality management documents at construction sites, not only for rebar but also including steel frames and ready-mixed concrete related documents.

Future Outlook

Through Mill-Box, Mitsubishi Corporation will continue to promote DX rooted in the practical needs of construction sites.

Moving forward, the company will reflect the voices of a wide range of stakeholders involved in construction and steel distribution, including general contractors, steel manufacturers, trading companies, processors, wholesalers, design companies, and inspection companies, into product development, and will continue to expand the range of materials and documents it supports.

By transforming quality certificates and inspection-related documents, which have long been managed by paper as the norm, into data that is easier, more accurate, and more manageable, we will contribute to the operational efficiency of construction sites and the improvement of productivity across the industry.

About Mill-Box

Mill-Box is a cloud-based mill sheet management system that digitizes the management of mill sheets in steel distribution and at construction sites. It streamlines a series of operations online, including the receipt, storage, search, and disclosure of mill sheets, as well as matching with rebar labels, tabulation of quantities and dimensions, and support for the creation of inspection-related documents.

It also provides a mechanism for electronically transferring mill sheets among stakeholders in the supply chain, such as steel manufacturers, trading companies, processors, wholesalers, fabricators, and general contractors, thereby reducing the burden of paper work, manual input, searching, and storage for each company and supporting DX throughout the steel distribution industry.

Official Website: Digitize Manual Mill Sheet Management | Mitsubishi Corporation's Mill-Box (Mill Box)

Inquiries Regarding This Matter

Mitsubishi Corporation Materials Solutions Group, Industrial Materials DX Team Email: [email protected] Phone: 070-7593-6196

Inquiries from Media and Press

Mitsubishi Corporation, Public Relations Department, Press Team Phone: 03-3210-2171