Contributes to expanding customer businesses and resolving labor shortages
Fujitsu has announced the Japan launch of Fujitsu IoT Solution SMAVIA, an IoT utilization service platform upon which data can be put to new uses. It does this by linking data stored in various systems throughout a supply chain, such as data stored in sales and inventory management, transportation and delivery, and sensor data, such as employee location information and vital signs. Fujitsu plans to roll out the IoT service platform globally in the future.
SMAVIA aggregates and integrates in the cloud data stored in various operations systems, combining it with sensor data from people, things, and the environment at on-site locations, such as distribution warehouses. By analyzing such data as the status of sales and inventory, logistics costs, and the work efficiency of employees, this service platform enables users to address labor shortages, an issue in retail and distribution, and to implement optimal improvement measures to maximize sales. This further enhances the competitive strength of customers.
SMAVIA consists of two components. The first is Fujitsu IoT Solution SMAVIA Platform, which aggregates data from operational systems and from IoT devices such as sensors, and provides Fujitsu’s proprietary algorithms via APIs for such functions as optimizing distribution inventory and visualizing the efficiency of employees. The second are data utilization services that analyze, visualize, and support improvements in customer processes based on that data. Fujitsu is now launching in Japan both the SMAVIA Platform and three different data utilization services, with plans for a future global roll out.
By expanding the number of data utilization services and promoting data utilization across the entire supply chain, including data analysis and prediction using Fujitsu Human Centric AI Zinrai, Fujitsu’s AI technology, the company will continue to support the digital transformation in retail and distribution.
Fujitsu will exhibit SMAVIA at RETAILTECH JAPAN 2018, which will be held at the Tokyo Big Sight March 6-9, 2018.
Background
Retail and distribution has in recent years seen diversification of consumer preferences, more varied products, and increasingly sophisticated sales and delivery methods. At the same time, problems such as aging employees or even a shortage of labor have grown more severe, raising the burden on each individual worker. In order to resolve these sorts of issues, there has been a desire to accelerate digital transformations, including the collection and analysis of not only data from operations systems, but also on-site data collected using IoT devices, such as sensors.
Building on its series of financial solutions, Fujitsu Financial Solution Finplex, and its “digital place” for manufacturing, Fujitsu Manufacturing Solution COLMINA, the company is launching SMAVIA, an IoT utilization service platform for retail and distribution, as the third in its series of industry platforms. Being rolled out over the Fujitsu Digital Business Platform MetaArc, SMAVIA will support the transformation of existing businesses and the creation of new ones.
SMAVIA Overview
“Structure of SMAVIA”
SMAVIA is an IoT utilization service platform that promotes comprehensive data utilization. It takes the wide variety of data stored in various systems throughout the supply chain, along with on-site sensor data about people, things, and the environment collected through IoT devices installed in places such as warehouses and storefronts, and combines that data on the basis of the experience Fujitsu has accumulated through providing services and solutions to customers in retail and distribution, from logistics companies to retail stores.
The system consists of the SMAVIA Platform, which collects and aggregates a variety of operational system and on-site sensor data from the retail and distribution industry, and features APIs to combine these data for analyses and predictions via proprietary algorithms, as well as data utilization services suited for a variety of usage scenarios.
The Newly Launched SMAVIA Platform and the Three New Data Utilization Services
1. Fujitsu IoT Solution SMAVIA Platform links data across the supply chain, creating new value
Based on the customer’s data utilization needs, SMAVIA Platform extracts and aggregates only necessary data from the variety of supply chain operational systems and on-site IoT devices. Using APIs developed based on the experience Fujitsu has cultivated in building and operating systems internally and for customers in the retail and distribution industry, as well as its Zinrai AI technology, Fujitsu supports the effective utilization of this data for customer processes.
Fujitsu can also build customer-specific systems using the SMAVIA Platform.
2. Fujitsu IoT Solution SMAVIA Warehouse Employee Performance analyzes and visualizes operational efficiency
Based on experience cultivated in Fujitsu’s internal deployments, SMAVIA Warehouse Employee Performance is a service that provides an objective look at work efficiencies by combining customer warehouse management data with sensor data recording the position and movement of warehouse employees, and then analyzing and visualizing that data.
With this service, data relating to operational instructions and performance data managed through customer operations systems, along with data collected through on-site sensors such as Fujitsu’s location badges(1) or vital-sign sensing bands(2), are collected in the SMAVIA Platform, visualizing task times, movement distance, and movement routes for each warehouse employee. Moreover, the service computes average task efficiencies based on that data, clarifying places each employee can improve by comparing those values, and thereby helping to standardize employee skills and improve productivity.
3. Fujitsu IoT Solution SMAVIA Storefront Inventory Search Assistant combines RFID and inventory management data to instantly locate products
SMAVIA Storefront Inventory Search Assistant is a service that can manage and monitor store inventory for each storefront and back room using RFID.
With this service, when products enter or leave inventory, the RFID tag attached to the product is read with a handheld terminal(3), and location information on whether the product is in the storefront or a back room is attached. By combining and managing this RFID data with data from inventory systems and POS systems through SMAVIA Platform, store staff can use a tablet or smartphone to instantly grasp the up-to-the-minute stock level of a product and its location. In addition, the system can prevent lost sales opportunities by significantly shortening time spent searching for a product compared with previous methods because, when employees holding their handheld terminal approach the product for which they are looking, the terminal will read the RFID tag and emit a sound.
4. Fujitsu IoT Solution SMAVIA Question Answering Assistant uses AI chatbot to enhance customer support
The SMAVIA Question Answering Assistant is a service that supports smooth answers for customer questions when employees are helping customers in stores through a text-based exchange between an employee and an AI chatbot, using Fujitsu’s Smart Communication(4), which supports more active engagement with customers.
If employees input a question they have been asked into the system using their smartphone, for example, an AI chatbot, trained using machine learning on FAQ data, including data from other stores in the company stored in the SMAVIA Platform, will automatically find and extract the correct answer. This will enable employees to smoothly answer even questions that they cannot immediately answer, speeding up customer support. In addition, this service enables the broader sharing of operational know-how. Moreover, this service can be useful in improving both marketing strategies and customer service quality by using machine learning to study the day-to-day question and answer data accumulated in the SMAVIA Platform, and then predicting trends in customer interest or which items will be hot sellers, analyzing different trends in customers among different locations, and even using this data in planning the company’s storefront lineup.
“Pricing and Availability”
Future Plans
Fujitsu will expand the list of data utilization service options to 13 during fiscal 2018, promoting the creation of new value through the utilization of a variety of data in the retail and distribution industry, and providing strong support for the digital transformations of customers.
Sales Target
Total revenue of 20.0 billion yen from SMAVIA-related business by fiscal 2020.
(1) Location badge
IoT device that can detect information such as location and if the user has fallen down.
(2) Vital-sign sensing band
An IoT device that can detect an employee’s location, vital signs, and whether they have fallen down.
(3) Handheld terminal
A portable, handheld RFID reader and writer and barcode reader.
(4) Smart Communication
A solution that includes a set of a smartphone-based IP transceiver service, a business SNS service, and a smartphone LCM service.
(5) Fujitsu IoT Solution SMAVIA Warehouse Employee Performance
The minimum number of employees is 50. In addition, the service will require the deployment of Microsoft Office 365, a Microsoft Power BI license, and devices to record the movement of employees, available by individual estimate depending on the customer’s usage environment.
About Fujitsu Ltd
Fujitsu is the leading Japanese information and communication technology (ICT) company, offering a full range of technology products, solutions, and services. Approximately 155,000 Fujitsu people support customers in more than 100 countries. We use our experience and the power of ICT to shape the future of society with our customers. Fujitsu Limited (TSE: 6702) reported consolidated revenues of 4.5 trillion yen (US$40 billion) for the fiscal year ended March 31, 2017. For more information, please see http://www.fujitsu.com.
