Komatsu Ltd. - Digital Transformation Strategies

Komatsu Ltd. - Digital Transformation Strategies

Summary

This report provides insight into Komatsu's tech activities, including its digital transformation strategies, its innovation programs, its technology initiatives, its estimated ICT budget, and its major ICT contracts.

Komatsu Ltd (Komatsu) is an equipment manufacturer company. It develops and sells construction, mining equipment, utilities, forest machines and industrial machinery. Through its manufacturing and technology innovation, it also supplies products, services, and solutions in response to social needs. The company provides construction and mining equipment such as excavating equipment, loading equipment, grading and roadbed preparation equipment, hauling equipment, forestry equipment, tunneling machines, recycling equipment, industrial vehicles, engines and components, casting products, and logistics other equipment.

In 2019, Komatsu Africa, the southern African business division of Komatsu, launched an industrial hub in South Africa. Komatsu Africa manages its operations across southern and South Africa from the hub. It consists of a state-of-art technical training center, parts distribution center, equipment workshops, and a remanufacturing center. The hub focuses on improving the safety and health of personnel and improving operational efficiency.

In 2019, Komatsu launched HITeC in Germany. The center is located near the company’s test and demo sites and consists of construction machinery simulators, state-of-the-art workstations, and virtual reality rooms. The center’s development, production and sales engineers focus on networking, digitalization, and construction 4.0.

Scope

• Komatsu uses a cloud-based Internet of Things (IoT) system called KOM-MICS which collects data from sensors installed on welding robots and machine tools deployed in its and partners’ production plants across countries. Hundreds of new machines are connected to KOM-MICS every year to optimize production. The data is then analyzed to predict equipment failure. This helps Komatsu improve machine operation rate. The cloud provides Komatsu with the flexibility to add machine tools and robots without worrying about server capacity.
• Komatsu Australia built a robotic process automation (RPA) solution by leveraging Microsoft’s Power Automate and AI Builder to automate over 1,000 invoices annually and realize an efficiency gain of 300 hours per year. Komatsu has equipped its excavators, drillers, loading equipment and other heavy construction equipment with NVIDIA’s artificial intelligence (AI) platform to prevent accidents at construction sites. The platform, which features surround cameras and real-time video analytics provides 360-degree images, allows drivers and operators identify people and other equipment in the vicinity and avoid collisions.
• Komatsu has expanded its Smart Construction solutions with Smart Construction Drone, to capture construction site’s topography data for tracking and billing production jobs. The solution replaces the manual task of personnel walking across the construction site to survey construction work. Smart Construction Drone collects and analyzes data of each project phase. Data collected by Smart Construction Drone is sent to Smart Construction Dashboard, which aggregates data from multiple sources to enable contractors visualize work progress.

Reasons to Buy

• Gain insights into Komatsu's tech operations.
• Gain insights into its tech strategies and innovation initiatives.
• Gain insights into its technology themes under focus.
• Gain insights into various product launches, partnerships, and acquisition strategies.