What kind of “DX” company is Fujitsu aiming for?

The word DX that you often hear.
Today, DX is becoming established as a business term.

I have a question for all of you here.

I think there are many different answers.

In this article, I would like to answer this question by focusing on Fujitsu Limited, which was selected as one of the “2021 DX Featured Companies” in the “DX Brands” selected by the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry and the Tokyo Stock Exchange.

Therefore, this time, we will explain in detail from the DX solutions provided by Fujitsu to Fujitsu’s internal reforms.

After reading this article, you should be able to answer the question, ” How does Fujitsu specifically promote DX? “
Please read to the end!

Table of Contents 

• Review of DX (Digital Transformation)
• About Fujitsu | 3 Features
  • Breadth of business
  • High market share in Japan
  • Focus on promoting DX
• Four field-specific DX solutions provided by Fujitsu
  • Manufacturing DX Solution
  • Pharmaceutical DX Solution
  • Construction DX Solution
  • Distribution DX Solution
• What is Fujitsu’s DX project “Fujitra”?
  • One Fujitsu Program | Data-Driven Management
  • “Ridgelinez” Co., Ltd. | Fujitsu’s new company promoting DX
  • DUCNET Co., Ltd. | New company invested in by Fujitsu to accelerate DX in the machine tool industry
  • VOICE Program | DX promotion based on the voices of customers and employees
• “Fujitsu = DX company” Fujitsu’s future image
• summary

Review of DX (Digital Transformation)

Before getting into the main topic, let’s review DX (Digital Transformation) first.

DX is a concept proposed by Professor Eric Stolterman of Umea University, Sweden in 2004. Its philosophy was that “the permeation of IT will change people’s lives for the better in every aspect.”

More specifically, let’s check the definition of the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry.

Fujitsu defines DX as “making full use of advanced digital technology and data to bring about innovative services and transformation of specific business processes.”

About Fujitsu | 3 Features

Fujitsu is a comprehensive IT vendor representing Japan. In the ICT service market, Fujitsu boasts the No. 1 position in Japan and the No. 7 position in the world.

Breadth of business

One of Fujitsu’s strengths is that it operates in 180 countries around the world and operates globally in cooperation with approximately 400 group companies.

Approximately 130,000 Fujitsu Group employees work seamlessly between Japan and overseas bases to strongly support customers around the world.

High market share in Japan

Fujitsu ranked first in the 2020 domestic vendor share ranking (server/storage products for corporate information systems) announced by IDC Japan.

In terms of vendor share, in order, Fujitsu, NEC, Dell Technologies, HPE, Hitachi, and IBM. The server/storage market in 2020 will decline by 5.4% year-on-year, and only two of the top six companies, Fujitsu and Dell, will post positive year-on-year growth rates amid sluggish economic activity due to the COVID-19 epidemic. I was.

Focus on promoting DX

In October 2020, Fujitsu launched the company-wide DX project “Fujitsu Transformation” (commonly known as Fujitora).

Fujitsu will invest 100 billion yen in this project over the three years until March 2023. The targets of reform include the creation of new businesses, the strengthening of the profitability of existing businesses, the streamlining of business processes, personnel systems, and working environments.

We anticipate that the know-how we have acquired while promoting our company’s transformation will be reflected in our services and solutions and provided to our customers.

Four field-specific DX solutions provided by Fujitsu

Manufacturing DX Solution

One of Fujitsu’s DX solutions for the manufacturing industry is the COLMINA sound analysis diagnosis that uses AI to analyze sound and vibration data and monitor normality.

Until now, in the manufacturing industry, skilled workers sensed differences in sounds and vibrations and judged normality. However, there were problems such as variations in results due to individual differences and difficulty in reviewing inspections.

COLMINA Acoustic Analysis Diagnosis collects acoustic and vibration data and analyzes and diagnoses them with AI, enabling normality monitoring that does not depend on the skill of the worker.

Pharmaceutical DX Solution

One of the DX solutions in the pharmaceutical industry provided by Fujitsu is the actual digestion solution. “Actual consumption” refers to the actual sales of products by pharmaceutical manufacturers through wholesalers.

Actual consumption data, which means the results of delivery from wholesalers to medical institutions and dispensing pharmacies, is the basic data for important indicators in pharmaceutical manufacturers, such as sales performance management, analysis, marketing operations such as strategy formulation, and personnel performance evaluation.

Until now, each pharmaceutical manufacturer had built and operated a system to convert sales performance data obtained from pharmaceutical wholesalers into a format that could be used by the company.

The actual digestion solution is a system that collects wholesale delivery information for performance evaluation, production planning, and sales expansion activities of pharmaceutical companies, and processes it as data handled by pharmaceutical companies.

The processed data has made it possible to “visualize” information that is effective for management decisions and sales strategies.

Construction DX Solution

COLMINA construction and maintenance is one of the DX solutions in the construction industry provided by Fujitsu.

COLMINA Construction/Maintenance improves the efficiency and accuracy of maintenance operations by integrating and managing facility ledgers, equipment information, inspection plans, maintenance/construction histories, etc. as “structure charts.”

“Structure chart” is a record that associates various information with a structure. Based on the structure, we centrally manage a series of information such as facility ledger, maintenance plan/history, cost information, and related materials related to the structure.

In addition, information can be aggregated by directly collecting information from the field, such as work reports and referrals not only from the company but also from business partners.

Work instructions, performance reports, etc., which were conventionally output on large volumes of paper, can be managed on the data by attaching drawings and checking the repair history. This enables paperless operations.

Distribution DX Solution

Brainforce AI cashless store is one of the DX solutions in the distribution industry provided by Fujitsu. This service has been introduced in Recruit Co., Ltd.’s employee convenience store “BeeThere Go”.

This system makes full use of IoT devices such as cameras and sensors installed on shelves to determine the movements of customers and the products they purchase, and then automatically makes payments.

Visitors download the app in advance, register their credit card information, and enter the store by holding the QR code displayed on the app over the sensor at the entrance gate.

The movement of customers after entering the store and the products they purchase are determined by processing the data collected by the cameras and shelf sensors installed in the store with AI on the cloud.

As a result, customers who come to the store pick up the products they want to purchase and simply leave the store, and the payment is automatically completed. An electronic receipt will be sent to your smartphone after you leave the store, so you can check your purchase history.

With this system, customers can make purchases quickly without the stress of waiting at the checkout counter, while reducing the chances of contact between store employees and customers, creating a safe and secure shopping environment.

In addition to these functions for customers visiting stores, we will provide new functions that allow you to easily check sales by month and week and change product prices on a daily basis from the management web screen.

These new functions will make it easier to quickly respond to customer needs and analyze top-selling products.

In addition, it is possible to implement flexible sales measures according to daily sales while reducing the work of store employees.

What is Fujitsu’s DX project “Fujitra”?

Next, let’s delve deeper into Fujitra, which was taken up in the three characteristics, through four specific measures.

One Fujitsu Program | Data-Driven Management

Fujitsu is proceeding with plans for the “One Fujitsu Program.”

The plan is to utilize IT to standardize the seven points of “strategy,” “organization,” “institutional rules,” “data,” “business processes,” “applications,” and “infrastructure” throughout the Fujitsu Group.

As a result, we aim to realize a one-function, one-system system and create a “Fujitsu digital twin” with standardized data, aiming for a company-wide shift to data-driven management.

“Ridgelinez” Co., Ltd. | Fujitsu’s new company promoting DX

Fujitsu established Ridgelinez Ltd. (Ridgelines). Ridgelines is working to solve essential and fundamental issues such as management and business issues from the customer’s point of view.

In addition, through partner alliances with a wide range of companies in Japan and overseas, we support DX with Fujitsu Group products and optimal technology.

Ridgelines has launched a personalized skin care project with ORBIS Co., Ltd. to realize smart aging, and announced a personalized skin care service “cocktail graphy” using IoT digital devices that measure skin. 

“Skin Mirror” that allows you to know the condition of your skin while staying at home

We have developed a small IoT digital device “skin mirror” that completes skin measurement just by placing it on the skin for about 5 seconds, realizing an experience that allows you to know the changes in your skin correctly at any time while staying at home.

Skin condition is analyzed using AI analysis technology for skin images and ORBIS’s unique skin analysis theory, and by automatically linking the captured skin image and analysis results to a dedicated app, you can check the condition of your skin correctly at any time. . 

“Three personalized skin care products” delivered according to the condition of the skin

Based on the data obtained by measuring the skin condition, it comprehensively analyzes the weather data, skin troubles, lifestyle data, etc. of the area where the user lives.

We offer a total of three bottles each month, two of which are selected from a large number of combinations, and one of which is a moisturizing liquid. In addition, it is a specification that the combination of three will be updated according to the change of the skin.

“Information about caring for your own skin” through a dedicated app

We design stories that increase continuity and lead to habituation, such as recommended care information that arrives daily, care proposals based on skin measurement results, and reports that analyze skin trends for each season, and continue to improve even after the service launch. .

Through this mechanism, we have realized an “evolving service” that is different from the conventional monthly service.

DUCNET Co., Ltd. | New company invested in by Fujitsu to accelerate DX in the machine tool industry

In November 2020, Fujitsu, Fanuc Corporation, and NTT Communications Corporation established DUCNET Co., Ltd., a new company that provides cloud services that support DX in the manufacturing industry. Did.

In the future, DUC Net will contribute to further strengthening the manufacturing capabilities of each company using the “Digital Utility Cloud”, and participating companies such as machine manufacturers, machine users, trading companies, and IT vendors will be service providers and service providers. We aim to realize an ecosystem that allows users to become users.

VOICE Program | DX promotion based on the voices of customers and employees

Fujitsu started the VOICE program (VOICE) as a specific measure for Fujitra. This program is an all-employee participation program to collect opinions of employees and customers.

By collecting opinions on specific themes and combining them with business data, etc., it is used to obtain insights such as identifying issues.

Since the employee’s affiliation and attributes are also collected at the time of answering, it is possible to save labor for data aggregation. VOICE has already collected employee opinions on the impact of COVID-19 on remote work, work styles, and productivity, and is trying to analyze the answers.

“Fujitsu = DX company” Fujitsu’s future image

The current Fujitsu, which has declared its transformation into a DX company, is trying to expand its DX business as we have seen so far. Keep an eye on Fujitsu, which is aiming for a business model that provides a one-stop service from consulting to DX system construction and operation.

In July 2021, Mr. Vivek Mahajan from IBM was appointed as Chief Technology Officer to oversee next-generation technologies, replacing Vice President Furuta. Attention is focused on what kind of technology he will focus on, as he has experience in infrastructure services at IBM Japan.

Also, in Japan, which is aiming for Society 5.0, the recognition that Fujitsu is a DX company will spread more and more.

Society 5.0 refers to a series of initiatives to realize a “super smart society” that fuses virtual space and real space. This is what the Cabinet Office advocated in the 5th Science and Technology Basic Plan.

In order to realize Society 5.0, the power of supercomputers such as the world’s highest level supercomputer “Fugaku” jointly developed by Fujitsu and RIKEN is indispensable.

As a high-performance computing (HPC) infrastructure, “Fugaku” will demonstrate the feasibility in various fields in virtual space by analyzing big data and fusing with AI.

Fujitsu will probably provide a series of solutions as a service rather than Fugaku alone. This provides a significant differentiation from other companies in the same industry.　

summary

This time, from the DX solutions provided by Fujitsu, we introduced some DX businesses that Fujitsu is working on in line with Fujitsu’s internal reform “Fujitra”.

For those who had an image of Fujitsu as an IT company, it must have been an initiative that overturned that image.