At the beginning of April, a cheerful commercial was broadcast on various media in Japan. In it, a girl goes to a store to buy the same pair of red-and-white socks her friend is wearing but becomes disappointed when she finds they’re sold out. A sensor in the store captures the expression on her face and notifies the staff, who respond to the situation quickly and put the girl at ease. In the meantime, the girl’s back order travels through a “corridor of light” to reach the sock factory, where robots and people work together to produce the socks in efficient, flowing movements. The socks then enter a “moving warehouse” designed to respond flexibly based on demand, leading to the use of “autonomous logistics” represented by an image of drones. Almost instantly, the girl receives the socks she wanted, completes a biometrically authenticated payment and goes dancing with her friend in the matching socks, sharing her joy with a diverse crowd of people.
This is a visualization of the future that Panasonic Connect Co. aims to achieve by making entire supply chains autonomous through its Autonomous Supply Chain technology. The company, established in Tokyo’s Chuo Ward in April, will play a central role in growing the Panasonic Group’s B2B solutions business.
The scene in the store triggers a positive chain of events in its frontline operations that is made possible by the fusion of people, artificial intelligence and other technologies. The unique ways this is expressed, including the corridor of light and moving warehouse, make the story look as if it is taking place in a magical world. But it is not magic that fulfills the girl’s wish. It is the smooth interactions and innovations made possible in the future supply chain, which was expressed as a lively dance relay. This creative video aims to depict a future of frontline operations in which manufacturing, transport and retail are seamlessly connected in a society where people and technology work hand in hand.
Hideyuki Tanaka, a noted film director and graphic designer who has produced numerous groundbreaking works, and Joe Brown, a world-renowned choreographer who has worked with such artists as Lizzo, Khaled, and Beyonce, teamed up to shoot the video remotely. To visualize Panasonic Connect’s purpose of “Change Work, Advance Society, Connect to Tomorrow,” various efforts were made to link the two filming locations in Japan and Los Angeles.
For example, the dance relay was shot in a single take as crews moved the set around to depict the seamless supply chain. Professional dancers of various races, body shapes, sexual orientations and gender identities, as well as a wheelchair user, were cast to represent a future of frontline operations where people of all kinds are working together. This is in line with the values Panasonic Connect considers important — diversity, equity and inclusion. The video ends by showing everyone who participated in the various stages of the frontline operation rejoicing over the girl’s wish coming true. This is the world Panasonic Connect is aiming to achieve, and efforts to realize it have already begun.
Goals of Panasonic Connect
As part of the Panasonic Group’s switch to an “operating company system” under Panasonic Holdings Corp. in April, Panasonic Connect was established as an independent company to take over Panasonic Corp.’s former Connected Solutions Co. and play a central role in the group’s B2B solutions business. In 2021, Panasonic completed the acquisition of Blue Yonder, the world’s leading maker of supply chain software, with Yasu Higuchi serving as both CEO of Panasonic Connect and chairperson of Blue Yonder Japan.
At a news conference on April 4, Higuchi declared that the company will grow its corporate value by classifying its operations into two segments: a software-based “growth business” and a hardware-based “core business.”
The core business consists of four categories: Process automation, media entertainment, avionics and mobile solutions.
The growth business will support digital transformations by combining Blue Yonder’s software, which enhances the efficiency of supply chains in a wide range of industries with advanced technologies such as AI and machine learning, sensing and the Internet of Things, as well as edge devices installed in close proximity to users — a domain in which the Panasonic Group has been especially strong.
The company’s purpose and reason for existence, “Change Work, Advance Society, Connect to Tomorrow,” is aimed at creating a world centered on sustainability and well-being in which people can coexist with nature and find something to live for with a sense of safety and security. Panasonic Connect aims to realize its purpose by driving innovation in the supply chain, public service, infrastructure and entertainment sectors, offering solutions based on a combination of Panasonic’s 100 years of engineering and manufacturing experience with software, while providing highly distinctive hardware products.
Company overview
Name: Panasonic Connect Co.
CEO: Yasu Higuchi
Sales: ¥818.2 billion* (approx. $7.5 billion)
Head office: Sumitomo Fudosan Shiodome Hamarikyu Bldg., 8-21-1 Ginza, Chuo-ku, Tokyo 104-0061, Japan
Registered place of incorporation: 4-1-62 Minoshima, Hakata-ku, Fukuoka 812-8531, Japan
* FY2021 sales recorded as Panasonic Corp., Connected Solutions Co.