KUALA LUMPUR, April 19 — Nippon Express Holdings Inc has recently acquired an equity stake in SWAT Mobility (SWAT), an artificial intelligence (AI) technology startup company as an investment by NX Global Innovation Investment Limited Partnership (NX Global Innovation Fund).
According to a statement, by investing in SWAT, which is strong in cutting-edge mobility solutions in Singapore and other countries, the Nippon Express (NX) Group seeks to accelerate its digital transformation (DX) and resolve global-scale social issues in the logistics industry.
The NX Group has been pursuing DX as a tool for resolving these issues and has been actively exploring the use of external resources, including co-creation with startup companies in Japan and overseas, to attain greater logistics efficiency.
The logistics industry is facing global social challenges such as driver shortages, rising fuel costs, and carbon dioxide (CO2) emission cuts required to combat climate change. Companies are expected to take concrete steps to address these challenges and help achieve sustainable societies.
Japan in particular is likely to see a labour shortage due to stricter work regulations for truck drivers that go into effect in 2024, making improved logistics efficiency an urgent issue.
SWAT’s dynamic routing algorithm technology and advanced development capabilities will be utilised at NX Group locations and projects in Japan and overseas to verify the digitalisation and global standardisation of vehicle dispatch operations.
Utilising the transport performance data accumulated through verification processes, NX Group will analyse the parameters required for vehicle dispatch operations and calculate pickup and delivery costs as well as CO2 emissions.
The group will work to develop new services by making strategic use of the data and will continue leveraging its domestic and international networks to co-create with promising startups. — Bernama
