Sumitomo Chemical to Embark on Global IoT Initiatives with Support from the Singapore Economic Development Board

Nov. 29, 2016

Sumitomo Chemical will embark on new initiatives of an Internet of Things (IoT) project in Singapore with support from the Singapore Economic Development Board (EDB). The project, which is vast in scope and involves some of the Company's affiliated companies in the country, is a first-of–its-kind initiative to Sumitomo Chemical Group, seeking to bring greater visibility and sophistication to the Group's global supply chain information management and to digitize production plant-related work by employing crowdsourcing and other related latest technologies more extensively.

Through this project, a production sector, among others, is expected to yield advancement in various quarters, which include improving work efficiency, standardizing operations, raising plant capacity utilization and optimizing energy conversion efficiency by means of strengthening predictive maintenance of equipment based on data analysis with a number of sensors installed in production plants or promoting the use of smart devices by on-site workers. In addition, the new initiatives aim to innovate work process or a way in which work is done by introducing various specific measures. For one thing, a digital platform capable of utilizing information on Sumitomo Chemical Group's entire value chain will be built to realize real-time management of the Group's global supply chain and enhance data analytical capabilities further.
At the same time, an operational environment of back-office functions will be upgraded by employing intelligence technologies actively, such as artificial intelligence and robotics. In implementing the project, Sumitomo Chemical will work closely with Accenture, a leading global professional services company, which will provide project management services, fully leveraging its ample experiences of having participated in multiple cooperative projects with EDB in the past. Sumitomo Chemical believes that this new undertaking will provide a strong impetus for promoting a visionary initiative in the chemical industry.

Sumitomo Chemical's Three-Year Corporate Business Plan stresses the importance of "Business and Work Process Innovation Through IoT" as one of its strategic themes. As Sumitomo Chemical strives to cultivate and establish various technologies through this project in Singapore, the Company will make the best use of such specialized expertise from a global perspective and accelerate broader application of IoT within Sumitomo Chemical Group, thereby promoting innovation in the workplace and in how we do business every day.

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