Announcement of Expansion of Initiative to be Paperless
―SHIFT’s Environmental and Social Initiatives in the New-normal Era-

SHIFT Inc. (“SHIFT,” headquartered in Minato-ku, Tokyo, Japan; Masaru Tange, CEO and Representative Director) announced today that it will expand its initiative to be paperless, in order to promote a new work style, to improve productivity and to make the most use of resources. SHIFT would appreciate your cooperation.

■Background of the Expansion of the Initiative to be Paperless
SHIFT introduced an electronic contract system (one of paperless initiatives) in 2020, when the pandemic began, and has promoted the work from home for employees, the improvement of productivity, and the efficient use of resources. As of May 2022, about 70% of contracts that SHIFT had signed was paperless, with which SHIFT found it has largely contributed to a significant improvement in productivity. Now that more than two years have passed since the introduction of the electronic contract system, SHIFT have reviewed this initiative again and confirmed its intention to further strengthen or expand the initiative. SHIFT therefore would ask for your cooperation. In addition, it will commence an initiative aimed at “Hanko-less*” with the aim of expanding similar initiatives.

Besides the contracts, more than 550 hanko-stamping operations were performed per month, mainly in the preparation of estimates (as of May 2022). SHIFT believes that the launch of “Hanko-less” will lead to further promotion of the work from home, improvement of productivity, and expansion of its initiative to be paperless. Moreover, efforts to address environmental issues including climate change, are also being questioned by SHIFT engaged in the information technology industry. As the business size expands rapidly, it will actively work on what we can do as a citizen, such as the efficient use of resources through paperless operations.

As a company that supports customers’ development of software services and products that sell, SHIFT will take the active initiative in improving productivity by digitalizing its own operations, and work together as the SHIFT Group to return the value to its customers. SHIFT would like to ask for your understanding and cooperation.

* Hanko is Japanese stamp which has traditionally played a role of signature in paper documents. It is still commonly used in contracts or other types of documents, which is a big reason why companies have to use paper.

■A new initiative to be paperless (Hanko-less: Elimination of Hako stamping)
In principle, SHIFT will abolish the Hanko stamping for the following documents and promote paperless operations accordingly. Please contact your SHIFT Sales Representative if you need the stamp of SHIFT representative.
[Target documents]
Quotation, order acknowledgment, delivery note, invoice, work schedule, and work completion report

■Conventional initiative to be Paperless (Utilization of Electronic Contracts)
As for contracts between companies, SHIFT has been promoting the electronic contract instead of paper-based contract. Reviewing the revision of the Electronic Book Preservation Act, SHIFT would like to thank you for the use of electronic contracts in advance.