Fujitsu, METRON Collaborate to Drive ESG Success

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Fujitsu Limited and METRON SAS, a French cleantech company specializing in energy management solutions for industrial decarbonization, today announced a strategic initiative to contribute to the realization of carbon neutrality in the manufacturing industry.

By combining Fujitsu's unique technological capabilities in areas like quantum-inspired computing and AI with METRON's expertise in energy management, the two companies have jointly developed a new environmentally-conscious energy management service "Energy Consumption Optimization" to help customers improve productivity. Fujitsu and METRON plan to launch the service, prioritizing the Japanese and German markets starting from April 2024.

This move marks the latest milestone in ongoing collaboration between the two companies, following an initial investment through a fund managed by its subsidiary Fujitsu Ventures Limited (1) in March 2023.

Fujitsu and METRON will exhibit details of the new service at Hannover Messe 2024, one of the world's largest international manufacturing exhibitions, to be held in Hannover, Germany, on April 22, 2024.

Vincent SCIANDRA, CEO of METRON, comments:

“This alliance with the world class IT leader Fujitsu will enable METRON to accelerate its international development. We are proud to reach a new milestone in Europe by launching our services in Germany for the first time and strengthen our presence in Japan, a country where METRON already has a local footprint with measurable achievements towards industrial decarbonization.”

Yoshinami Takahashi, Corporate Executive Officer, Corporate Vice President, COO, Head of Global Solutions, comments:

“Fujitsu's Digital Annealer executes complex simulations that can only be achieved with quantum-inspired technology, making it possible to offer solutions to our customers that not only help to increase productivity, but also reduce environmental impact and energy expenditures. Partnering with METRON, we look forward to delivering comprehensive energy management solutions to manufacturers in Japan and Germany, to help promote carbon neutrality through innovation.”

Background

To realize the global common goal of a carbon neutral society, companies worldwide are increasing their focus on measures to reduce their carbon footprint and comply with environmental laws, regulations, standards and information disclosure, such as the Carbon Disclosure Project (CDP).

Under Fujitsu Uvance, Fujitsu’s business model to contribute to the solution of societal issues, Fujitsu has been providing a platform for the management of ESG initiatives that supports customers in their decision making by proposing measures using tools like generative AI.

METRON has been supporting customers in visualizing energy consumption and increasing operational efficiency of various manufacturing facilities in factories with its "METRON Energy Management and Optimization System" (hereinafter EMOS) tool and its expertise in the energy business.

The new, jointly developed energy management service combines Fujitsu’s know-how in ESG management and its quantum-inspired Digital Annealer (2) technology with METRON's EMOS tool to enable both energy cost reduction and productivity improvement. Leveraging METRON’s EMOS to visualize power information for various facilities and Fujitsu’s Digital Annealer to utilize data including the amount of electricity used by facilities, electricity prices, production volume, and time required for production, Energy Consumption Optimization enables high-speed simulations based on multiple variables and indicators, including peak electricity and production efficiency, that cannot be performed using conventional technologies. In this way, the new service supports timely management decisions by formulating a production schedule optimized to maximize efficiency and reduce the environmental footprint of operations.

Future Plans

Moving forward, Fujitsu and METRON will apply the new service in use cases including the visualization of energy data and energy optimization of electricity consumption not only for manufacturing plants with high GHG emissions, but also in commercial facilities and offices. Together with their customers, the two companies will work to contribute to the realization of carbon neutrality and a more prosperous and livable society.