The “Kaisha Shikiho: Industry Map” source of information on issues in DX and an example of business analysis in the manufacturing industry.

Kaisha Shikiho: Industry Map” as a source of information on specific issues in DX

Sources of information on specific challenges in digital transformation (DX) include the following

• News articles and industry reports By checking the latest news and industry reports related to DX, you can learn about issues facing companies and industries and examples of initiatives. For example, ITmedia, Nikkei BP, BCN Ranking, etc. handle this information.
• Corporate websites and IR information Corporate websites and IR information provide information on issues faced by the company, its stance on DX, and specific examples of DX initiatives. For example, major IT companies Microsoft, Google, and Amazon have publicly announced their stance on DX.
• Seminars and Conferences By attending seminars and conferences on DX, you can learn about the latest trends and issues. Also, by interacting with people in the same industry or field, you can get ideas and hints on DX. Examples include Japan IT Week, Interop Tokyo, and CEATEC JAPAN.
• Specialized books and papers By reading specialized books and papers on DX, one can learn more in-depth knowledge and specific solutions to problems. Examples include “DX Compendium” (Shoei-sha), “Digital Transformation Strategy Theory” (Nikkei Publishing Inc.), and “Digital Transformation at Scale” (MIT Press).

Kaisha Shikiho: Sangyo Chizu” is one of the special issues of Kaisha Shikiho, a corporate information magazine published by Nihon Keizai Shimbun, Inc. It is published annually in March and September and can be purchased at bookstores and online for several thousand yen per copy, and is a map-like information magazine summarizing market trends and company performance evaluation by industry.

This special issue explains the market size and market share of each industry, sales and profit margins of major companies, as well as the latest industry trends and issues. It also presents the characteristics, strengths, and competitive environment of each company, making it an important source of information for investors and corporate strategists.

In these, for 174 industries and 4,000 companies, information and trends of companies by industry are clearly illustrated, for example, as follows.

In these, issues for each industry and company are also analyzed. When considering DX, various specific issues can be extracted by extracting issues for companies in similar business categories and generalizing issues for industries in specific domains.

Using this information as a seed, conduct further detailed analysis by using general issue analysis methods such as SWOT analysis, PEST analysis, Porter’s Five Competitive Advantages analysis, KJ method, etc., as shown below. Based on these analyses, KPI, KGI, and OKR are quantified as target values using KPI and other quantification methods as described in (1) Methods for clarifying issues, and problems are solved by making full use of “machine learning technology” “artificial intelligence technology” and “ICT technology” as described in the following.

• SWOT Analysis SWOT analysis is a method to analyze a company’s strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats. Analysis
• PEST analysis PEST analysis is a method of analyzing the impact of DX on companies by focusing on the four factors of politics, economy, society, and technology. Porter’s five competitiveness analysis
• Porter’s Five Competitive Analysis Porter’s Five Competitive Analysis is a method for analyzing the competitive environment of an industry, which analyzes the competitive situation within the industry, barriers to entry, existence of substitutes, bargaining power of customers, and bargaining power of suppliers. The DX issue analysis will analyze how competitive relationships within an industry and barriers to entry change as a result of DX, and how the existence of substitutes may change as a result of DX.
• KJ method The KJ method is a method for organizing complex problems and coming up with solutions, and by organizing the results of brainstorming, the essence of the problem can be clarified and solutions can be derived. ideas for solutions.

Kaisha Shikiho: Sangyo Chizu” can be one of the easily usable information sources for such analysis.

Specific Business Analysis Steps

The general steps of the business analysis are as follows

• Definition of Purpose and Scope: Define the purpose and scope of the business analysis. Specifically, define what is to be analyzed, what problems are to be solved, and who is to be involved. Refer to “Problem Solving Methods, Thinking Processes, and Experimental Designs” for more information on extracting and quantifying the solutions to these problems.For example, the manufacturing industry is facing the following labor-saving and personnel issues, which require measures to solve them.

• Understand the business process: Understand the details of the business process under consideration and document the purpose, flow, procedures, stakeholders, risks, etc. of the process. This step requires gathering, organizing, and analyzing information about the business process.

Taking the manufacturing industry as a subject, for example, a before/after workflow like the one shown below can be considered. Here, it is shown that inefficient man-hours due to human work and rework are hidden in the existing workflow, and that a significant reduction in man-hours can be expected by reducing these inefficiencies.

• Problem identification: Identify problems related to business processes and analyze their causes. To identify problems, it is necessary to document and analyze the situation in which the problem occurs, its cause, and its impact.In the aforementioned example of a manufacturing company, it is analyzed that inefficient processes are caused by insufficient accumulation and utilization of know-how.

Even if those knowhow information is centralized by DXing, it is not possible to retrieve the desired information due to unclear search keys and fluctuating expressions of information.

• Proposed Solution: Propose a solution to the identified problem. Solutions can vary from process improvements, technical improvements, organizational improvements, etc. The proposed solution should address the cause of the problem.The aforementioned problems can be solved by combining AI technology with the search technology described in “About Search Technology” including “Artificial Intelligence Technology” described in “Natural Language Processing Technology” and “Machine Learning Technology” described in “Theory and Implementation of Topic Models.

The various examples described in “Artificial Intelligence Technology as a Case Study for DX” can also be used as a reference.

• Prototype Implementation: develop a plan for the actual implementation of the proposed solution. The implementation plan should include who is responsible, deadlines, resources needed, budget, and evaluation methods.

Based on the aforementioned AI and search technologies, specific specifications, budget, and evaluation methods should be defined and implemented using Programming Technologies as described in “Python and Machine Learning.

• Monitoring of results: Monitor the results after implementation to ensure that no unexpected problems occur, and if monitoring results indicate that improvements or adjustments are needed, take appropriate action.

If the results of the business analysis meet the initial expectations, we will build a production system using cloud computing, DeveOps technology, etc. as described in “IT Infrastructure Technology“.