Deploying IoT Technology in Vehicle Systems, Factory Management and Elderly Care

「The IoT business posted higher sales and income as sales of D-Drive and Work Mate progressed steadily. For the current consolidated fiscal year, net sales were ¥1,024 million, up 20.6% year on year, and segment income was ¥277 million, compared with segment income of ¥57 million in the previous fiscal year.」

「The IoT business posted higher sales and income year on year as sales of D-Drive and Work Mate progressed steadily」

「IoT operations recorded higher net sales and profit year on year as sales of D-Drive and Work Mate progressed steadily. During the interim consolidated accounting period, net sales were ¥565 million, up 96.5% year on year, and segment profit was ¥157 million, compared with a segment loss of ¥38 million in the previous interim consolidated accounting period.」

「Following the amendment to the Ordinance on Industrial Safety and Health in June this year, all businesses became required to establish measures for early detection of heatstroke-related abnormalities when workers perform tasks that may cause heatstroke-related health problems. Against this backdrop, the number of installations and inquiries has been steadily increasing.」

「The main activities during the interim consolidated accounting period included improving the Work Mate safety monitoring service and D-Drive safe-driving support service, while continuing active public-relations activities through web marketing from the previous fiscal year to acquire new customers. The number of installations has been increasing steadily. From the second quarter, D-Drive began integrating its proprietary alcohol interlock function with Alkiller NEX, provided by Pi R Co., Ltd., which holds the leading share of Japan's market for alcohol-checking management systems for white-license vehicles. This is expected to further increase new customer acquisition going forward.」

「In addition, we will work on developing indicators for detecting drowsiness by integrating Work Mate and D-Drive to capture changes in drivers' physical condition that may lead to dangerous driving.」

「In addition, new customers are adopting the explosion-proof system for Work Mate, which began sales in the third quarter and can be used in hazardous areas at plants such as chemical facilities and oil refineries. D-Drive has also been updated to enable more businesses to use its alcohol interlock function, which prevents a vehicle's engine from starting when alcohol above a certain concentration is detected in the driver's breath, and integration with other companies' alcohol-checking services is under way.」

「For Work Mate, development of explosion-proof capabilities has been completed, making the service newly available for use in hazardous areas at plants such as chemical and petroleum-refining facilities.」

「In the car-sharing business, we began developing a new in-vehicle device aimed at achieving high safety and versatility.」

「Work Mate, a worker safety monitoring service, has been expanded into a hazard-prediction service covering more than half of workplace accidents by newly adding a function that detects signs of unsafe behavior to its heatstroke early-warning function.」

「Work Mate installations have increased, particularly among major manufacturing and construction companies, including new adoptions by SUMITOMO CHEMICAL COMPANY,LIMITED, TOYOBO CO.,LTD., Kirin Brewery Company, Limited, and Shoei Chemical Industry Co., Ltd., contributing to performance.」

「Work Mate installations have increased, particularly among major manufacturing and construction companies, including new adoptions by SUMITOMO CHEMICAL COMPANY,LIMITED, TOYOBO CO.,LTD., Kirin Brewery Company, Limited, and Shoei Chemical Industry Co., Ltd., contributing to performance.」

「Work Mate installations have increased, particularly among major manufacturing and construction companies, including new adoptions by SUMITOMO CHEMICAL COMPANY,LIMITED, TOYOBO CO.,LTD., and Kirin Brewery Company, Limited, contributing to performance.」

「In addition to increased orders for car-sharing in-vehicle devices, orders for Work Mate were also steadily trending upward as a result of active promotional activities. However, the substantial impact of telematics in-vehicle device shipments being suspended since the second quarter of the previous year led to another year-on-year decline in revenue in the second quarter. On the profit side, the change in the sales mix increased the profit margin, narrowing the loss compared with the same quarter of the previous year. Development of the successor to the car-sharing in-vehicle device was completed in the third quarter, and shipments of it as a new in-vehicle device began.」

「We are actively pursuing promotional activities to acquire new customers by enhancing the safety and hygiene support service Work Mate and the product-defect improvement service D-COLLECT, exhibiting at Smart Factory EXPO and online exhibitions, and disseminating information through web marketing, webinars, and other channels. The number of Work Mate installations, particularly at factories and construction sites, has increased and contributed to performance.」

「We are actively pursuing promotional activities to acquire new customers by enhancing the safety and hygiene support service Work Mate and the product-defect improvement service D-COLLECT, and disseminating information through web marketing, webinars, and other channels. The number of Work Mate installations, particularly at factories and construction sites, has increased and contributed to performance.」

「Orders for Work Mate and D-COLLECT have been steadily increasing, partly as a result of active public-relations and promotional activities.」

「Going forward, we will focus on business expansion by concentrating management resources on Work Mate and D-COLLECT.」

「In addition to beginning development of a successor to the car-sharing in-vehicle device, we focused on enhancing and rolling out “Work Mate,” which monitors the health and safety of workers, “D-COLLECT,” which uses AI analysis to identify the causes of product defects for manufacturing customers and supports quality improvement and the transfer of technical expertise, and the meeting-room management service “ROOM CONCIER.”」

「For Work Mate, we conducted a proof-of-concept test at Kirin Beverage Co., Ltd.'s Shiga plant from September 2019 to verify its effectiveness in building a safe workplace. We also secured multiple new orders from domestic factories and received numerous inquiries for Work Mate and other products. However, the spread of COVID-19 prevented active sales activities from April 2020 onward, and many business discussions were carried over to the following fiscal year and beyond.」

「Specifically, development of the successor telematics in-vehicle device was completed, and shipments began in September 2019 under the name Gazelle. The work-style reform support tool Next Work, launched in 2018, was revamped and launched in September 2019 as Work Mate, a health and safety monitoring support service. Together with D-COLLECT, the real-time factory equipment monitoring system, the Company exhibited at the 2nd Nagoya RoboDEX—Robot Development and Utilization Exhibition—in September 2019. In February 2020, it also exhibited at the 4th Smart Factory EXPO with ROOM CONCIER, its meeting-room management service. Through these and other activities, it worked to raise awareness and expand sales channels. For Work Mate, in addition to conducting a field trial at the Shiga Plant since September 2019 to verify its effectiveness in creating a safe workplace environment, the Company secured multiple new orders from domestic factories and was receiving numerous inquiries for this and its other products.」

「For Work Mate, in addition to conducting a field trial at the Shiga Plant to verify its effectiveness in creating a safe workplace environment, the Company secured multiple new orders from domestic factories.」

「Specifically, development of the successor telematics in-vehicle device was completed, and shipments began in September 2019 under the name Gazelle. The work-style reform support tool Next Work, which was launched in 2018, was also revamped and launched in September 2019 as Work Mate, a health and safety monitoring support service. Together with D-COLLECT, the real-time factory equipment monitoring system, the Company exhibited at the 2nd Nagoya RoboDEX—Robot Development and Utilization Exhibition—in September 2019, among other efforts to raise awareness and expand sales channels. For Work Mate, a field trial has been under way since September 2019 at the Shiga Plant of Kirin Beverage Co., Ltd. to verify its effectiveness in creating a safe workplace environment.」

「Our group provides a range of IoT-related products and services to help solve customers' issues, using IoT and AI technologies to optimize their use of management resources and promote work-style reform. These include next-generation car solutions, work-style reform support solutions using wristband devices, and real-time factory-equipment monitoring systems that support productivity improvements.」

「Against this backdrop, our group has focused on various development activities and product deployments, including next-generation car solutions, visualization of factory-equipment operations, and safety and hygiene management systems using vital sensors, with the aim of optimizing customers' use of management resources and promoting work-style reform through IoT and AI technologies. In November 2018, we exhibited at the 4th IoT/M2M Expo held at Makuhari Messe and worked to raise awareness of our products Next Work, a work-style reform support tool, and D-COLLECT, a real-time factory-equipment monitoring system. In February 2019, we began sales of ROOM CONCIER, a renewal of our existing meeting-room management service, expanded our proprietary product lineup, and opened a showroom at Ubiteq's head office where visitors can experience our IoT technology.」

「Against this backdrop, our group has focused on various development activities and product deployments, including next-generation car solutions, visualization of factory-equipment operations, and safety and hygiene management systems using vital sensors, with the aim of optimizing customers' use of management resources through IoT and AI technologies. In November 2018, we exhibited at the 4th IoT/M2M Expo held at Makuhari Messe and worked to raise awareness of Next Work, a work-style reform support tool launched in the previous consolidated fiscal year, and D-COLLECT, which was under development as an enhanced version of the factory IoT kit.」

「Our group has focused on various development activities and product rollouts, including next-generation automotive solutions, visualization of factory equipment operations and safety and hygiene management systems using vital sensors, with the aim of optimizing customers’ use of management resources through IoT and AI technologies.」

「The IoT business secured orders for factory IoT solution projects from several companies, contributing to sales growth. However, the substantial impact of lower sales of telematics in-vehicle devices resulted in year-on-year declines in both revenue and profit.」

「Against this backdrop, our group has continued to focus on deploying products using IoT technology, including advanced factory IoT systems that improve production efficiency and safety and hygiene systems using vital sensors for drivers and factory employees. In November 2017, we jointly exhibited with Hosiden Corporation at the 3rd IoT/M2M Expo held at Makuhari Messe, where we introduced the latest IoT solutions provided by Ubiteq. In December, we established the IoT Innovation Office to expand our IoT solutions, and actively worked to strengthen IoT-enabled services and build the necessary organizational structure in cooperation with the Orix Group. We are currently receiving many inquiries about our IoT solutions and are identifying customer needs and issues through proof-of-concept testing and other activities.」

「In November 2017, we jointly exhibited with Hosiden Corporation at the 3rd IoT/M2M Expo held at Makuhari Messe, where we introduced the latest IoT solutions provided by Ubiteq. In December, we also established the IoT Innovation Office to expand our IoT solutions, and actively worked to strengthen IoT-enabled services and build the necessary organizational structure in cooperation with the Orix Group.」

「Our group has continued to focus on deploying products using IoT technology, including advanced factory IoT systems that improve production efficiency and safety and hygiene systems using vital sensors for drivers and factory employees.」

「Going forward, progress is expected from the anticipated entry into mass production of the Bluetooth-type consumer drive-recorder telematics in-vehicle device, jointly developed with a major electronics manufacturer and capable of recording all video and driving operations; stable orders for the new-factory IoT kit, which is expected to make a substantial contribution to production-efficiency improvements; sales of the newly developed Medical Tag, which supports monitoring drivers' health and the daily lives of older people; and the wider adoption of digital-twin technology in IoT.」

「Going forward, improvement is expected from anticipated growth in sales of the new consumer telematics in-vehicle device, increased orders for the new-factory IoT kit, which is expected to make a substantial contribution to production-efficiency improvements, and the wider adoption of the newly developed Medical Tag, which supports monitoring drivers' health.」

「Our group is currently focusing on developing next-generation in-vehicle devices using IoT technology, AI-powered factory management systems, and monitoring systems using vital sensors for senior housing. Drawing on our strong technological capabilities in each field, we are undertaking development work to address the detailed needs of each customer.」