Fujitsu noted that the digital annealer offers users access to powerful combinatorial optimization problem-solving capabilities for challenges that prove difficult for conventional hardware
Japanese ICT company Fujitsu and compatriot firm Toyota Systems announced the launch of a new automobile production instruction system at Toyota‘s Tsutsumi plant which make use of Fujitsu’s “quantum-inspired” digital annealer technology.
In a release, Fujitsu noted that the digital annealer, which offers automated decision-making capabilities within set parameters rather than programming-based decisions, offers users access to “combinatorial optimization problem-solving capabilities for challenges that prove difficult for conventional hardware.” The firm said that Toyota Systems and Fujitsu previously used the technology in 2020 in a project to optimize supply chain and logistics network operations essential to support automobile production. Fujitsu also said that this latest project represents the first use case in Japan in which Fujitsu’s digital annealer technology has been applied to streamline automobile production operations.
Fujitsu explained that the new system “enables efficient and high-speed solution searching by utilizing constraint processing technology to express complex business constraints in equations and inequalities”, which it says is a proprietary technology that has been available since the third generation of its digital annealer. The processing technology was developed by Fujitsu Research based on its long-time expertise in manufacturing.
“The new vehicle production instruction system will enable Toyota Motor Corporation to respond quickly to production fluctuations and also reduce the workload of its employees,” Fujitsu said. “Moving forward, Toyota Systems and Fujitsu plan to expand the system to Toyota Motor Corporation’s other plants in Japan and, in the future, to Toyota Motor Corporation’s overseas plants,” the firm added.
Starting this month, Fujitsu will commercially launch its Fujitsu Computing as a Service (CaaS) service portfolio in Japan, which delivers advanced computing technologies such as the digital annealer and software technologies to regular commercial users, lowering the barrier to access high performance computing resources and technologies like AI. Fujitsu plans to roll out the service globally to markets outside of Japan from fiscal 2023.
Earlier this year, Fujitsu had announced a strategic collaboration agreement with Amazon Web Services (AWS) to accelerate the digital transformation of customers in the financial and retail industries with new services to be built on AWS.
Under the terms of the deal, Fujitsu will deploy these new services for customers in Japan and globally in AWS Marketplace. Fujitsu also said it will additionally leverage AWS Professional Services to help customers develop and operate new systems, as well as modernize their existing systems by using AWS services.
Fujitsu had signed a cooperation agreement with AWS to accelerate digital transformation in the mobility industry in May 2021. This new agreement, focusing on the financial and retail industries will create new offerings that are an integral new part of the Fujitsu Hybrid IT Service, Fujitsu’s cloud service.
The Japanese company said it will provide mission critical system development and operation services for customers in the retail or financial services industry, as well as modernization and in-house development of support services for existing systems by using AWS.
