Fujitsu Unveils New GLOVIA ENTERPRISE Solution to Support Global Operations

Tokyo, February 22, 2012

Fujitsu today announced the development and availability, beginning this August, of GLOVIA ENTERPRISE, a new solution that supports a company's global operations by leveraging its numerous overseas production facilities to optimize production and sales according to global market trends.

GLOVIA ENTERPRISE consists of three product lines: Global Master, which integrates companywide master data files, thereby obviating the need to edit local component lists; Global Monitoring, which facilitates decision-making through visualization and alarm alert information; and Global PSI, which monitors gaps in projected vs. actual demand on a monthly basis and adjusts supply according to demand.

The new solution will enable customers in the manufacturing industry to improve the dynamism and flexibility of their global operations and management by leveraging global supply chains to expand production across multiple countries taking into account market growth and natural disasters. This is in addition to adjusting supply-and-demand across multiple production centers in response to demand fluctuations. In turn, this can lead to optimized production, sales, and inventory levels—and ultimately, increased earnings.

Fujitsu currently offers a broad portfolio of management and business process solutions for customers in the manufacturing industry. Through the delivery of GLOVIA ENTERPRISE, the company aims to support the global business expansion of manufacturing customers with global supply chains primarily in China and Asia.

In recent years, the manufacturing industry has undergone a shift—driven by the changing market environment—from the predominant managerial strategy of low-cost operations, in which companies concentrate production in emerging-market countries and sales in developed countries, to a global operations-based strategy of adjusting supply to demand across multiple overseas production facilities and pursuing sales in line with global market trends.

In light of these market environment changes, Fujitsu has developed GLOVIA ENTERPRISE, which provides global operational support by bringing together manufacturing industry solution know-how from across the Fujitsu Group and leveraging the company's INTARFRM⁽¹⁾ application framework to effectively build on existing customer systems and assets. By offering the new solution, Fujitsu aims to further contribute to the manufacturing operations of customers from Japan's manufacturing industry.

Positioning of GLOVIA ENTERPRISE

Three Component Products of GLOVIA ENTERPRISE

GLOVIA ENTERPRISE currently consists of the following three products. Going forward, Fujitsu plans to continue strengthening and expanding this product portfolio.

1. Global Master: Integrates local identification data lists into master data file without modification

In addition to globally managing important information, including customer contact information, organizational information, and factors that are required for analysis, the solution matches integrated global identification data lists with local data, while also converting series identification codes used by management and end-item codes used in the manufacturing plants. This, in turn, allows for greater global transparency from a wide range of perspectives—from management all the way to the production facilities.

In addition, the solution also manages global BOM⁽²⁾ data that describes multi-step product component information spanning across numerous countries.

2. Global Monitoring: Facilitates quick decision-making and action through visualization and alarm alert information

Global Monitoring visualizes data collected from various manufacturing centers using the global master data file provided by Global Master. Global Monitoring produces two different kinds of data for each organizational level—management, department and job administrator. The first category is performance indicators and inventory turnover rates and other KPIs⁽³⁾, and the second is alarm alert information provided when KPI values deviate from pre-determined thresholds. By centrally administering information extracted from production, sales, and accounting data, the system provides an integrated managerial viewpoint that allows companies to discover early-stage risks, quickly implement countermeasures, and uncover possible points for improvement.

3. Global PSI: Monitors gaps in projected vs. actual demand on a monthly basis

By cross checking data provided by Global Monitoring with operations plans overseen by business management systems, Global PSI⁽⁴⁾ enables increased transparency, on a monthly basis, of a company's projected vs. actual sales and production status. As a result, the solution supports companies in responding to demand fluctuations by improving the accuracy of supply levels, minimizing lost sales opportunities, and reducing inventory levels on a global level.

When adjusting supply according to demand, companies usually have to make adjustments to supply schedules that take into consideration overseas production facilities. Conventionally, BOM data has been analyzed individually for each facility, thereby making it difficult to manage key components on a global scale and making it challenging to quickly adjust supply schedules. Global PSI produces global BOM lists that cover a company's entire global supply chain, and as a result, customers can flexibly handle supply schedule adjustments and optimize their scheduling for key components. For example, if a change occurs in a company's assembly process in China, the company can immediately direct its plant in Thailand, which manufactures related components, to make appropriate production adjustments.

Made-in-Japan Manufacturing Solution to Dynamically Support Global Changes

Fujitsu offers a broad portfolio of approximately 60 different management and business process solutions for the manufacturing industry, including its GLOVIA smart PRONES production management solution, which boasts a deployment track record at roughly 1,400 companies. As part of the roll-out of GLOVIA ENTERPRISE, in addition to system deployment Fujitsu will also offer a menu of organizational design consulting services aimed at equipping and enhancing customers' local technology support infrastructure at their overseas facilities.

In an effort to help customers in the Japanese manufacturing industry enhance their competitive strengths in the global marketplace and increase earnings, Fujitsu will collaborate with affiliate companies outside Japan to fully leverage the company's unique cutting-edge technologies and comprehensive capabilities.

Sales Target

Sales of 15 billion yen within three years