Planbase Inc. (Headquarters: Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo; Representative Director: Takashi Bui), which provides management and subsidy consulting services for small and medium-sized enterprises, will host a free webinar on Wednesday, May 20, 2026. The webinar will be led by company director Nao Amuro under the theme “Move Beyond Handwriting and Excel: Taking the First Step in DX with AI.” Do you spend a significant amount of time each day transcribing information onto paper or managing data in Excel? This webinar will explain, in an accessible way and with real implementation examples, how companies can steadily transform on-site operations using AI without making large-scale system investments. Participation is free, and an archived recording will be made available after the event. The webinar is recommended for companies facing real operational challenges. As labor shortages become more severe, many mid-sized and small businesses still rely heavily on paper slips and manual Excel work in their daily operations. Common issues include daily work hours being consumed by transcription and aggregation tasks using paper and Excel, know-how being concentrated among specific veteran employees, difficulty with handovers and standardization, hesitation to make large-scale system investments despite interest in DX, and uncertainty about where to begin even when the need for DX is understood. According to a survey by Japan’s Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications in the 2025 Information and Communications White Paper, around 70% of SMEs said they have not implemented DX. One reason is the persistent image that DX means a system overhaul costing tens of millions of yen. In practice, however, starting with small operational improvements on the front line and steadily building results has been shown to lead to higher adoption rates and better return on investment. The seminar will first explain the “invisible costs” created by handwritten and Excel-based work, such as transcripti