Mitsubishi Chemical Holdings Corp. (TYO:4188) is gearing up to making full use of artificial intelligence (AI) and Internet of Things (IoT) technologies in new projects. Leading the way on this is Kazuo Iwano, who joined the company this April as chief digital officer (CDO) after having previously worked with IBM Corp., Mitsubishi Corp. (TYO:8058) and...
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Mitsubishi Chemical to Utilize Latest ICT for New Projects
Mitsubishi Chemical Holdings Corp. (TYO:4188) plans to step up its use of artificial intelligence (AI) and other cutting-edge information and communication technology (ICT). Soon the chemical manufacturer will start up five or six flagship projects. These projects involve focus areas such as carbon fiber and the company’s Mizushima Plant, a petrochemical facility in Okayama Prefecture....
Chemical Industry at the Forefront of Digital Push
The chemical industry is at the forefront of a push to digitize business operations for the sake of greater productivity. In 2015, Japan’s Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI) touted materials informatics (MI) as a way to incorporate information science into materials design. Since then, four general chemical companies and others have come together...
Japanese Chemical Giants to Leverage AI, Big Data for Joint Research Into Polymer Materials
Mitsubishi Chemical Corp., Sumitomo Chemical Co. Ltd. (TYO:4005), Asahi Kasei Corp. (TYO:3407) and Mitsui Chemicals Inc. (TYO:4183) plan to work with the National Institute for Materials Science (NIMS) on basic research into polymer materials. The four firms have agreed to contribute both basic research data on polyolefins and researchers in the hope of developing data...
Employing Cutting-Edge Digital Tech, Sumitomo Chemical Eyes Efficiency Gains
Sumitomo Chemical Co. Ltd. (TYO:4005) is implementing latest information processing technology and AI to increase supply chain and marketing efficiency. The company has used the three-year medium-term business plan that it introduced in fiscal 2016 to target projects of digital technology-inspired business innovations. The expectation is that this will make for significant changes in its...
Zeon, Furukawa Electric to Work With NEDO on CNT Commercialization Project
Zeon Corp. (TYO:4205) and Furukawa Electric Co. Ltd. (TYO:5801) have announced that they will participate in a project spearheaded by the New Energy and Industrial Technology Development Organization (NEDO) to build a technological base for advanced materials. The project looks to commercialize carbon nanotubes (CNTs) by making full use of advanced technologies such as computational...
Mitsui Chemicals Looks to Harness IoT in Plant Maintenance
Mitsui Chemicals Inc. (TYO:4183) is applying the Internet of Things (IoT) to the safe and stable operation of its chemical plants starting this fiscal year. The company sees advancements in information and communications technology (ICT) such as IoT, AI and big data analysis dramatically changing how chemical plants are run. It will begin tapping the...
METI Releases Outline of New Industrial Structure Vision
The Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI) on May 18 released an outline of the New Industrial Structure Vision during a meeting of the Industrial Structure Council. The vision calls for the building of systems that will create new technologies stemming from the Fourth Industrial Revolution in such fields as data, AI and robotics....
Philips Pursues Global Health Care Solutions in Japan
Philips Electronics Japan Ltd., a subsidiary of Koninklijke Philips NV, is seeking to develop global health care solutions from Japan. The plan is to network an array of medical equipment through Internet of Things (IoT) technology, then leverage AI to analyze the harvested big data. The company will also go beyond just solutions catering to...
JPO Report: Global Patent Applications, Cross-Sectoral IoT Technology See Growth
A Japan Patent Office (JPO) report on technology trends in patent applications shows year-on-year growth in filings worldwide. Technology closely linked to the Fourth Industrial Revolution is a particular driver of this growth. A marked rise is being seen in filings for technology based on the Internet of Things (IoT) — regarded as the key...
METI to Launch New Accreditation System Encouraging High-Tech Safety at Petroleum and Petrochemical Plants
Japan’s Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI) will launch a new accreditation system on April 1 to promote high-tech safety at oil refineries and petrochemical plants. A ministerial ordinance was issued on March 22 to revise the associated regulations. The new system will encourage the adoption IoT at plants so that facility data can...
Mitsubishi Chemical Taps Former Sharp Labs of America President to Accelerate IoT and AI Utilization
Mitsubishi Chemical Holdings Corp. (TYO:4188) announced on Feb. 23 that it is bringing on board Larry Meixner, former president of Sharp Laboratories of America. He will head the company’s Emerging Technology and Business Development Office, which is set to be established on April 1. The new outfit will both promote the utilization of cutting-edge digital...
METI to Develop AI Chemical Safety Prognosis Method, Aims to Eliminate Animal Testing
The Japanese Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI) will launch a project to develop a method for using AI to predict the safety of chemical substances. This method could eliminate animal testing in chemical screening, thereby significantly reducing costs associated with safety assessments. The project also aims to drastically shorten the time needed for...
Industry Outlook 2017: Digital Transformation
The Internet of Things (IoT), cloud computing, AI and other innovative technologies have been hot topics around the world. The term that applies to the use and application of these technologies is digital transformation, or DX. The idea behind DX is to accumulate digital data on physical phenomena, analyzing and providing feedback on it in...
Chemical Research Consortium to Develop New IoT-Based Business Models
Chemical companies in Japan are looking to develop new business that utilizes the Internet of Things (IoT). This includes business models that will allow for high-precision diagnostics, making use of artificial intelligence (AI) to process big data obtained from biochemical sensors. The new business models are to be all-encompassing, featuring high-performance sensor devices, signal processing...
Daihen Develops AI Robot that Fully Automates Product Handling in Factories
Daihen Corp. (TYO:6622) has recently developed a product-conveyancing robot with artificial intelligence (AI) that moves within factories on its own volition based on map information. The flexibly moving robot contributes to the full automation of product movement within factories, as well as to labor savings. The Yodogawa-ku, Osaka-based company is targeting a product launch for...
Mitsui Chemicals Implements Smart Technologies at Petrochemical Plants
Mitsui Chemicals Inc. (TYO:4183) is implementing smart technologies at its petrochemical plants. Using information from existing sensors that measure flow, temperature and pressure located all over a plant, Mitsui Chemicals will develop and gradually introduce models that predict anomalies and deterioration in the plant and product quality. The company has developed a method for a...
