DX at the Toyota Boshoku group
In April 2021, we established the Chief Officer and a DX (digital transformation) promotion system has been built under the Chief Digital Officer and the DX & IT Promotion Segment to further accelerate digitization and business process transformation.
As part of this process, we are working to streamline our operations by 2030 and double our business speed through DX in order to strengthen our MONOZUKURI competitiveness, which is the foundation of our 2030 Mid-Term Business Plan. Achieving this goal will require the maximum use of digital technology in all areas, including administration, engineering, and manufacturing. By thoroughly improving operational efficiency and accuracy, we aim to promote breathing room in work processes and solidify the foundation to support our growth strategy.
Initiatives to Double Business Speed
Promoting DX based on four pillars to provide comfortable mobility interior spaces as the Interior Space Creator and contribute to solving social issues
1. Strengthen our R&D capabilities
Engineering & Development
Become faster and more flexible. With connected development
We aim to improve our efficiency and speed of development by utilizing digital technology to support design while reforming the design and development processes. In addition, while making full use of digital technology, we will strengthen the competitiveness of R&D by rapidly responding to diversifying needs.
Streamlining of the development process
By standardizing components and compiling a database of procedures and expertise accumulated at the design stage as a “Design Navigation and Guidance System,” we are improving the completeness of drawings, thereby enhancing the efficiency and quality of design operations. We will expand the range of products to which this system is applicable and promote further streamlining of the development process.
Furthermore, we aim to realize autonomation of design operations by integrating the latest digital technologies such as generative AI, and by improving simulation technology.
Streamlining of the development process
Reliable cost planning
We are building a system that accumulates “basic product information” at development through to production, and are promoting the construction of a system that can calculate and visualize different types of information including CO2 emissions, cost, and mass, which is needed for prompt and highly accurate management decisions.
2. Strengthen MONOZUKURI competitiveness
Manufacturing.
Provide better, environmentally sound products, in a timely manner.
With connected factories
We aim to use DX, including AI, to solve issues facing the manufacturing industry, such as labor shortages and carbon neutrality.
We will promote MONOZUKURI reform and bolster our competitiveness by establishing highly efficient manufacturing processes and providing high-quality products.
Acceleration and evolution of MONOZUKURI autonomation
We are promoting the acceleration and evolution of MONOZUKURI autonomation using the latest digital technologies to address serious labor shortages in the future. We will make labor savings and improve the environment for on-site work through the use of collaborative robots utilizing digital technologies such as AI and IoT, strengthen preventive and predictive maintenance, and prevent quality defects through AI analysis and IoT data use.
Logistics reform
We are building a logistics operation system that integrates production and logistics planning, and aim to solve social issues such as reducing CO2 emissions and improving working conditions for truck drivers. We will achieve this by raising logistics efficiency through cargo volume leveling and optimizing drive routes, and by enhancing the efficiency of cargo handling operations.
3. Enhance the management information infrastructure
Business Platform
Visualize, realize, and take rapid action. With connected management
As well as consolidating and visualizing management information, we aim to accelerate management decision-making by quickly identifying and managing predictive indications, such as those signaled by changes in the market environment.
Speeding-up and refinement of management decision-making
We are building a system that enables the collection, accumulation, and visualization of all kinds of financial and non-financial information that contributes to management, and we are promoting the realization of faster and more refined management decision-making.
Derived from “basic product information” at development through to production, and “production performance information” at the sites of manufacturing, financial information such as sales and profits, and non-financial information such as CO2 emissions, is collected, accumulated, and visualized in a timely and accurate manner, leading to prompt and highly accurate management decisions.
4. Strengthen the mindset of all company members creating products together
Corporate Culture & Mind
Create products together, happily and. enjoyably. With a connected corporate culture and mindset
Toyota Boshoku’s DX places value on the awareness that each company member’s work is connected to MONOZUKURI, and on having a mindset of all company members creating products together. We are engaged in activities to promote reform from the three perspectives of people, systems, and work.
Creation of a secure and safe working environment where all company members are highly agile
We will create a secure and safe working environment for all company members by developing a robust infrastructure environment and systems that can withstand increasingly sophisticated cyber security risks, and by ensuring agility in response to changes in the external environment through the use of the latest digital technologies, such as generative AI.
In addition, by expanding opportunities to “touch” and “feel” digital technology, such as through digital training and in-house events, we aim to generate new value while promoting the creation of a culture of digital utilization.
Digital human resource development
To ensure our future competitive advantage, the Toyota Boshoku group is committed to promoting DX for operational reform. In particular, “digital human resource development” is an indispensable initiative for company members to work together to promote DX with a sense of urgency.
We believe the following are necessary for the group’s DX promotion:
- Promoting use of the optimal digital tools to support business process reform
- Developing human resources capable of making effective use in business of the growing volumes of data
- Acquiring knowledge for the safe use of digital tools/data
We will focus on education and other initiatives to develop human resources equipped with these capabilities.
We are also working to build a foundation for all company members to engage in digital use by creating a system that transcends organizational boundaries through in-house side jobs and personnel exchange programs, and by creating opportunities for exchange through in-house DX exhibitions, presentations, seminars, and other events.
DX certification
In May 2022, we obtained DX certified company status under the DX Certification System* established by the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry of Japan.
We will continue to contribute to solving various social issues by fusing our group’s strengths with digital technology.
- A government system for certifying companies that comply with the basic items of the Digital Governance Code and are DX strategy- and system-ready, based on the Act Concerning the Promotion of Information Processing