ESG Library
Digital Transformation (Data Utilization)
Basic Approach
The DOWA Group recognizes that it is essential to promote data utilization through the use of digital technologies, including artificial intelligence (AI) and the Internet of Things (IoT), to transform manufacturing, the foundation of the DOWA Group’s business, and to evolve its operations and business activities. Based on this recognition, we have established a DX Basic Policy called Manufacturing Transformation (DOWA Transformation). We will promote DX by building IT infrastructure, strengthening information security, and developing DX-proficient human resources.
Promotion Framework
The Group formed a project team to promote digital transformation (DX) in FY 2021, and has been proceeding with Groupwide efforts to prepare for the promotion of DX. In April 2022, we formed the DX Promotion Working Group under the Sustainability Subcommittee. The DX Promotion Working Group sets targets for AI, the IoT, and other DX-related improvements; checks the needs, issues, and progress of DX projects underway at each operating site; and offers support by providing resources and through other means.
DX Promotion under Midterm Plan 2024
Under Midterm Plan 2024, we will promote three key measures aimed at driving our Groupwide DX business strategy building IT infrastructure, strengthening information security, and developing DX-proficient human resources. From the second half of FY 2023, we will start operation of a Groupwide cloud infrastructure that will serve as the basis for a full-scale DX rollout. Once this platform is established, we will take advantage of it to utilize data across businesses and coordinate data between different processes.
Achievements and Targets
| Key Measures | Indicators | Targets |
|---|---|---|
| Build IT infrastructure | Operation of a group-wide cloud platform | Start operation in the second half of FY2023 |
| Develop DX-proficient human resources | Number of personnel trained | 80 in total (FY2022 to FY2024) |
Building IT Infrastructure
In FY 2021, we began the development of a new Groupwide cloud platform to enable the use of data across the Group. This project has now been completed, and operations began in August 2023. The Group’s shared backbone core system will be implemented on this platform before the utilization phase. In the future, we will promote a wide range of utilization as a foundation for information management that facilitates the coordination of data and resources across the Group and the migration of production-related systems owned independently by each business to the cloud.
Developing DX-Proficient Human Resources
DX promotion requires human resources who can utilize digital technology at each business location. To this end, the Group is working to develop human resources capable of promoting DX within the Company. In particular, we have prepared a course that allows employees to learn more about AI, which can easily lead to on-site improvements in stages according to their development stage. We began training in the second half of FY 2022.
Establishment of Support Bases
To promote DX at each of the Group’s bases, major domestic bases have established support centers for production technology and information systems (Akita, Kanto, Chubu, Okayama). Each support center supports various AI-related improvements (image analysis, acoustic analysis, data science, natural language processing), conducts surveys of each company’s situation regarding cloud utilization and information security, and makes proposals to meet their needs.
Initiatives
Strengthening Information Security
To protect IT infrastructure from ever-changing cyber-attacks, we incorporate the latest technologies to (1) never bring threats in, (2) prevent invasions, and (3) prevent the spread of threats. We sequentially deploy these technologies in the Company-wide network and plant networks. In addition, in anticipation of the growing business risks posed by cyber-attacks, we began cyber incident response training at our major sites in 2023. On the other hand, it is also essential for the Group’s employees to deepen their understanding of security, including the dangers of cyber-attacks and emails ridden with viruses, before going about their daily work to strengthen security. To this end, materials and videos explaining the fundamentals of information security that everyone should know, such as ransomware and business email fraud, in an easy-to-understand manner are available on the company intranet. They are also disseminated to overseas offices to improve information literacy among employees.
AI-based Detection of Surface Defects in Copper Rolled Products
DOWA METANIX CO., LTD. manufactured copper rolled products. Since copper rolled products must be free of surface defects, automatic image-based inspection is used to detect defects. However, conventional image inspection cannot distinguish defective images that lead to serious quality anomalies from others, so human operators ultimately reconfirm many images. Aiming to improve productivity, we have now built a system that reads existing defect images and outputs the classified results using AI technology. As a result, the number of images requiring reconfirmation by human operators was reduced by approximately 97%. In addition, the Company has achieved a 100% reproducibility rate of defect classification using AI technology while achieving zero missed critical defects as we have in the past. These efforts were made possible with internal resources, including using an internal cloud. In addition, by enhancing the user interface and other aspects of the system, we were able to build a system free of mystery that is easy for operators to use.
AI-based Detection of Surface Defects in Copper Rolled Products
DX Certification
In July 2022, the Company was recognized as a DX-certified operator by the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry. The DX Certification initiative is a government-sponsored initiative that grants certification to businesses ready to promote DX in accordance with the requirements specified in the Digital Governance Code formulated by the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry.