UBE Adopts "TechTouch" to Promote Manufacturing Site DX and Advance Operations

TechTouch Inc., the developer and provider of the AI-powered next-generation DAP "TechTouch" and the No. 1 domestic share leader in the DAP market, announces that UBE Corporation (Headquarters: Minato-ku, Tokyo; President: Yuki Nishida; hereinafter UBE) has adopted "TechTouch" for its newly introduced operation management system to improve labor productivity at its manufacturing sites. This implementation aims to ensure system adoption, promoting manufacturing site DX and advancing business operations.

■ Background of Implementation
As one of the "Basic Policies and Priority Measures" of its current medium-term management plan, the comprehensive chemical manufacturer UBE has set the goal of "Enhancing corporate value and creating customer value through the promotion of DX." Aiming for "Business Transformation with Digital," UBE is promoting DX in 10 areas (*). Among these, as a priority measure in the "Smart Factory" area, the company introduced an operation management system to advance operations at manufacturing sites. This system centralizes the management of important daily recording and instruction tasks, such as work records, work instructions, and inspection records. It features high searchability by allowing multiple classifications for each record, enabling advanced data utilization. However, the company was not fully reaping the benefits of the implementation due to frequent input omissions in the standard format defined internally and operational errors. Furthermore, the issue of system administrators being burdened with manual creation and inquiry responses became apparent. To solve this, UBE was looking for a mechanism to maximize the effects of the system implementation while reducing the burden on administrators.

*The 10 areas are: "Smart Factory," "Digital Marketing," "Velocity R&D," "Digital Management," "Digital SCM," "Digital ESG," "Digital Back office," "Digital HR," "Branding," and "Data Analytics & AI."

■ Deciding Factors for Implementation
The biggest deciding factor was the ease and user-friendliness of being able to display operation guides and input rules directly on the screen without modifying the main system. In addition to the ease of creating guides intuitively with no-code, the flexibility to finely set the display conditions for the guides was also a key factor. Site staff can quickly update operation guides according to their work situation, allowing for operation independent of the IT department.

■ Effects of Utilization
The real-time display of input rules by "TechTouch" has suppressed input omissions and errors, promoting data utilization within the operation management system. It has also reduced the time system administrators spend on training for rule dissemination and handling inquiries, allowing them to focus on core tasks such as devising and promoting new production management operations and DX initiatives.

■ Comment from the UBE Corporation Ube Operations Site DX Promotion Representative
For the operation management system in use, the biggest challenge was how to ensure its adoption without increasing the burden on the site. The ability for site staff themselves to create and improve guides with no-code, without going through the IT department, is a perfect match for the speed-required manufacturing environment. We are continuing to make improvements in response to changes in our business situation, and we expect to expand its use to other systems as a means of quickly establishing system adoption and reaping the benefits of implementation in the DX that UBE is promoting.

■ About UBE Corporation

UBE Corporation is a company centered on the chemical business.