Freeing Attendance
from Human Memory
and Constant Vigilance.

Around 1995, I saw HR staff compare paper time cards and attendance sheets with “eyes like plates.” That scene began a system we grew with AS/400 and the people in the workplace for nearly thirty years.

35SITE STORIES

5MAIN PARTS

2RECOVERED

COMPLETE INDEX

From paper time cards
to a system that kept running.

This English reader’s edition preserves the complete 35-story structure: 33 archived LinkedIn posts and two stories reconstructed from saved drafts.

PART 01It Started with Eyes Like Plates.HR compared paper time cards and attendance sheets line by line. That scene started the DX journey.6 STORIES

01How I Think About WorkARTICLE 012 · LINKEDIN 02The Day HR’s Eyes Turned into PlatesARTICLE 013 · LINKEDIN 03Even After Digitization, Their Eyes Were Still StrainedARTICLE 014 · LINKEDIN 04Were the Department Heads Careless?ARTICLE 015 · LINKEDIN 05Leave Management at Super-Saiyan LevelARTICLE 016 · LINKEDIN 06Design Begins with RequirementsARTICLE 017 · LINKEDIN

PART 02Teaching the AS/400 to Play Cards.One day of leave became one virtual card. The HOLCOUP database connected policy, law, and daily work.9 STORIES

01Teaching the AS/400 to Play CardsARTICLE 018 · LINKEDIN 02Teaching the AS/400 to Play Cards, Part 2ARTICLE 019 · LINKEDIN 03Dealing the Cards Was Not EnoughARTICLE 020 · LINKEDIN 04The Trap in ‘Just Write the Dates on the Cards’ARTICLE 021 · LINKEDIN 05HOLCOUP: The Virtual Leave Card Is BornARTICLE 022 · LINKEDIN 06HOLCOUP in Practice I: Special and Substitute LeaveARTICLE 023 · LINKEDIN 07HOLCOUP in Practice II: Annual Paid LeaveARTICLE 024 · LINKEDIN 08Paid Leave Was Not ‘Grant It and Forget It’ARTICLE 025 · LINKEDIN 09The 80% Attendance Test Was Far Trickier Than It LookedARTICLE 026 · LINKEDIN

PART 03People Are More Than a Percentage.Part-time schedules, eligibility, explainability, and payroll: the system had to absorb the gap between contracts and reality.10 STORIES

01The 80% Test for Part-Time EmployeesARTICLE 027 · SITE EDITION 02Measure Part-Time Attendance in Hours, Not DaysARTICLE 028 · SITE EDITION 03Part-Time Work Rarely Follows the Contract ExactlyARTICLE 029 · LINKEDIN 04When Contracted Hours and Reality Drift ApartARTICLE 030 · LINKEDIN 05In the End, It Was About ExplainabilityARTICLE 031 · LINKEDIN 06Making ‘Why Didn’t I Receive Paid Leave?’ ExplainableARTICLE 032 · LINKEDIN 07How I Actually Explained a Denied Leave GrantARTICLE 033 · LINKEDIN 08The Complaint That Turned Out to Be a Data-Entry ErrorARTICLE 034 · LINKEDIN 09Calculating One Day of Paid Leave for a Part-Time EmployeeARTICLE 035 · LINKEDIN 10Attendance Does Not End Until Payroll Is ConnectedARTICLE 036 · LINKEDIN

PART 04Between Group Policy and the Law.A parent-company order collided with statutory rights. The design had to protect employees without ignoring the mandate.6 STORIES

01When the Parent Company Ordered a Rule ChangeARTICLE 037 · LINKEDIN 02One Executive’s Misunderstanding Shook the WorkplaceARTICLE 038 · LINKEDIN 03A Tunnel with No Exit—Until We Made OneARTICLE 039 · LINKEDIN 04Making Forty Days Appear Without Taking Rights AwayARTICLE 040 · LINKEDIN 05The Parent Company Did Not Trust It. The Auditor Did.ARTICLE 041 · LINKEDIN 06Why ‘AS/400’ Earned an Instant ‘OK’ARTICLE 042 · LINKEDIN

PART 05What Standardization Took Away.Replacing field-grown systems with a group standard revealed the value that the old platform had quietly carried.3 STORIES

01What the Parent Company’s Standard Could Not ReplaceARTICLE 043 · LINKEDIN 02Do Not Digitize the Inconvenience of PaperARTICLE 044 · LINKEDIN 03The Attendance System That Kept Running After Maintenance StoppedARTICLE 045 · LINKEDIN

EXTRAStronger Security, Less Work.Individual IBM i accounts improved security and removed an extra login step at the same time.1 STORY

EXTRAStronger Security—and Easier Attendance EntryARTICLE 046 · LINKEDIN

This series reflects the internal rules, operations, and system design of its time. For current Japanese annual-paid-leave rules, consult an up-to-date official source such as the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare.

From paper time cardsto a system that kept running.

From paper time cards
to a system that kept running.