Inside Sumai: Optimizing Japan’s Real Estate Rental Market with Smart Engineering

Introduction

The Sumai project focuses on managing and optimizing real estate rental websites, including Smocca and Chintai, as part of a broader ecosystem supporting the real estate market in Japan. With over 2 million monthly visits per site, the project provides opportunities to work with performance optimization technologies and tackle complex infrastructure challenges.

This project is not just about technical execution but also about gaining a deeper understanding of business operations and the stringent requirements of the Japanese real estate market. Success is measured not only by system performance but also by the tight collaboration and efficient workflow of the entire Sumai team.

Key Requirements in the Project

The Smocca and Chintai projects provide a comprehensive view of large-scale system operations while also offering an opportunity for the Sumai team to continuously develop and improve. There are three critical requirements in this project:

1. Strict Processes:

   The project demands a high level of precision, especially in handling large-scale data and making system modifications. Since the system remains operational during the development phase, even a minor error could significantly impact millions of users' experiences.

2. High Performance During Peak Seasons:

   During peak seasons, particularly in March and April when rental demand surges, the system must be highly stable and capable of responding quickly to marketing campaigns. The Sumai team ensures that all features are deployed on time to support customer acquisition efforts effectively.

3. Deep Understanding of Customer Needs and Market Dynamics:

   This is a highly practical project, requiring the Sumai team to thoroughly understand business models, operational workflows, and the specific characteristics of the Japanese real estate market to optimize and enhance the system effectively.

Major Challenges in Implementation

1. Handling High Traffic Loads:

   During peak rental seasons, traffic spikes dramatically, requiring the system to process requests efficiently to maintain a seamless user experience. This necessitates a team with strong expertise, capability, and a well-structured, rigorous workflow.

2. Limited Input Information and Communication Barriers:

   One challenge in this project is that clients sometimes do not provide sufficient information or may request technologies that are not suitable. In the early stages, this occasionally made it difficult for the Sumai team to assess the situation and propose feasible solutions aligned with the existing infrastructure.

3. Stringent Quality Standards from Clients:

   The client expects an almost flawless product. This drives the Sumai team to set a Zero Bug target to ensure maximum customer satisfaction. While this poses challenges, the project has helped refine the team's quality control process and continuously improve their development standards.

Optimization Strategies Implemented by the Sumai Team

1. Prioritizing and Optimizing Client Requirements:

   • Clients typically submit 4-5 requests per iteration. However, implementing all these requests simultaneously would compromise both quality and timelines. Instead, the team carefully evaluates and prioritizes the most critical objectives to ensure timely and high-quality project delivery.
   • Minor, non-urgent requests are addressed later, helping to balance workload while maintaining overall progress.

2. Proactively Proposing Technological Solutions:

   • In cases where client requests involved unsuitable technologies, the team analyzed similar projects within the company and proposed better-suited alternatives.
   • This approach not only enhanced system performance but also ensured long-term compatibility and efficiency.

3. Performance Optimization:

   The team identified areas for improvement and proactively suggested enhancements to the client, such as:

   • Using Optimization Tools: Implementing specialized tools to enhance database query speeds, compress server requests, and optimize code.
   • Boosting System Performance: Infrastructure-related proposals, if fully implemented, could improve system performance by 30-40%. For instance, a website's Google PageSpeed Insights score could increase from 40 to 70 points. While these optimizations require significant effort, the client has been receptive and supportive of the team's recommendations.

4. Strengthening Collaboration with Clients and Partners:

   • To execute infrastructure-related changes, the Sumai team closely coordinated with the client's technical team in Japan. Despite communication challenges, the team leveraged meetings to convincingly explain the benefits of proposed improvements.
   • A strategic solution was to involve a native Japanese team member to help convey ideas more effectively, enabling the Sumai team to overcome language and cultural barriers.

5. Developing a Streamlined and Systematic Workflow:

   • The development and testing process has been continuously refined to meet the client's high standards. This includes regular meetings to document issues and implement targeted improvements.
   • Nguyen, the Project Leader, emphasized that assembling the entire team to brainstorm solutions has been the most effective strategy, allowing for shared learning and enthusiastic idea contributions.
   • With a strong sense of responsibility, each team member treats the project as their own product. This mindset has significantly contributed to performance improvements throughout the project.

"As a leader, whenever we face a challenge, I bring the team together to propose solutions. We then select the most optimal approach together."

"Our team frequently shares knowledge. Whenever we encounter a new issue or learn a new technique, we document it. This way, when similar projects arise in the future, we can apply our prior learnings and share insights with newer team members."

Achieved Results

Currently, the project is still in the implementation phase, so it is not yet possible to share all the achieved results in detail. However, the initial improvements have already brought some encouraging milestones. The system not only operates stably but also ensures smooth performance even during peak traffic periods.

The project team has received high praise from the client for their professionalism and ability to quickly resolve issues. Although some minor errors remain, the team has maintained customer trust through a rigorous testing process and a strong focus on achieving a Zero Bug goal.

Beyond performance enhancements, the project has also fostered a positive work culture, where team members continuously learn, innovate, and support one another—creating a well-coordinated and highly efficient work environment.

Key Takeaways

Understanding the business model plays a crucial role in the project, especially when working in the real estate sector in Japan. The Sumai project team not only needed to grasp how the market operates but also had to propose realistic and effective solutions that would ultimately enhance the overall value of the system.

Through daily interactions, familiarizing with Japanese business culture and work practices became an essential factor. This required strong communication skills, flexibility in implementing proposals, and the ability to adapt to new requirements. The Sumai team observed that as their communication and persuasion skills improved, collaboration with the client became significantly smoother.

Lastly, Kaizen meetings proved to be highly effective, especially in reinforcing a continuous improvement mindset. These meetings not only allowed the team to reflect on past challenges but also encouraged proactive problem-solving and process optimization. As a result, the project team was able to build a more structured and efficient system over time.