Asahi Kasei selected as "DX Brand 2021"

Since 2015, the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI) and the Tokyo Stock Exchange have been recognized as a "competitive IT management company" that has actively engaged in the use of IT to bring about management innovation, improved earnings levels and productivity. Since 2020, companies that have transformed their business models with digital technology and are working on "DX" that will lead to new growth and enhanced competitiveness will be selected as "DX stocks."

In the medium-term management plan “Cs+ for Tomorrow 2021” that we have been promoting since 2019, we have set the promotion of DX as one of the actions for business sophistication. We are promoting DX initiatives in a wide range of areas such as maintenance, sales, marketing, business strategy, and new business creation, and have produced many results. In addition to training and acquiring digital professionals, we are strategically implementing and promoting stratified training, such as implementing DX education for business managers. In recognition of these series of DX-related initiatives, we were selected as a “DX Brand 2021”.​

1.Materials informatics We have achieved many results that lead to the development of innovative materials in a short period of time. 2.Innovative production technology AI has been used to automate product inspections, detect signs of equipment abnormalities, and advance operations using IoT tools. . In addition, amid restrictions on movement due to the coronavirus pandemic, in order to fulfill our responsibility to supply products while protecting the safety of our stakeholders, we will utilize smart glasses and other devices to remotely connect overseas production bases with our mother factory in Japan. Assisted with lifting and driving.

Examples of DX utilization in production technology │ "Material handling technology": Material handling technology. Technology for effectively transporting and managing raw materials, work-in-progress, products, etc. “Driving KH”: Driving know-how

3. IP landscape

We are promoting company-wide IP landscape activities that utilize intellectual property information (big data) for business enhancement, new business creation, and M&A. As a runner, the management themselves disseminate the importance and good examples of this initiative both inside and outside the company. In April of this year, the Asahi Kasei Group's overall intellectual property activities, including its IP landscape, were highly evaluated, and received the Minister of Economy, Trade and Industry's "Intellectual Property Achievement Award" sponsored by the Patent Office of the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry.

Asahi Kasei's Core Technology Patent Map | Created by Asahi Kasei using "TechRadar Vision" (a tool provided by VALUENEX Co., Ltd.). Each dot represents a patent held by the Asahi Kasei Group in Japan.

4. Taking on the challenge of creating new business models through DX Utilizing blockchain to advance the logistics of pharmaceuticals and perishables, remote monitoring of patients using the wearable automatic defibrillator "LifeVest™" We are working on various initiatives. 5. Digital co-creation lab "CoCo-CAFE" A place to gather digital human resources from marketing, R&D, and production technology departments, promote exchanges inside and outside the company, and aim to strengthen the DX infrastructure and create businesses. opened "CoCo-CAFE" in Minato-ku, Tokyo.

CoCo-CAFE