Mitsui & Co., Ltd.
Mitsui & Co. has positioned sustainability as a key management issue and continues to address it through diverse business activities.The company offers "farmers 360° link," which creates a new sustainable experience by connecting cotton farmers (producers) in Zambia, Africa with consumers in Japan. This system utilizes blockchain technology to visualize the journey of raw materials used in products, and also enhances product value by communicating the producers' thoughts and stories to consumers. It also allows consumers to directly support producers through the platform. The key to achieving this success was developing mobile apps suitable for both the producers, who are often largely unfamiliar with smartphones due to poor communication environments, and the consumers, who have access to the products, and linking both sides. The company selected IBM as its co-creation partner for app development. The system, realized thanks to thorough user testing and the extensive experience of IBM Garage experts, attracted a great deal of attention, and is now being used by a number of leading apparel brands.
Mitsui & Co. provides "farmers 360° link," a traceability system for agricultural products that via blockchain directly connects farmers in Zambia, Africa who cultivate cotton using sustainable farming methods with Japanese consumers who purchase apparel products made from the cotton. The challenge in realizing this system was to develop a mobile app ("field app") for use by cultivation managers in Zambia who purchase cotton locally alongside a consumer app for use by Japanese consumers. The former needed to be easy to use, even for people in the field unfamiliar with smartphones, and had to work without issue, even in areas with poor signal coverage. The latter required a user experience (UX) and user interface (UI) that was simple for users in developed countries and harmonized with the apparel products' image.
Mitsui & Co. announced its selection of the SaaS-based traceability system Transparent Supply alongside IBM Supply Chain Intelligence Suite as blockchain platform. The company also chose IBM as its co-creation partner for app development. The reason for selection was that the proposal offered a high degree of completion, including detailed knowledge of local areas in Zambia, alongside many technical ideas and pieces of knowledge to create the best app possible. Development of the field app was carried out by IBM experts who visited the site to conduct repeated tests and modifications, taking into account the IT literacy and communication environment of local users. The consumer app was built while implementing feedback from test users, and IBM experts also provided skill conversion to local engineers for in-house production.
In April 2022, the field app began use at approximately 3,000 farms. In April 2023, the fashion brand Ron Herman, and in August of the same year, BEAMS, both started selling apparel products that use "farmers 360° link." Activities to support other local farmers will also be launched in the future. The concept has received support from many companies, and Mitsui & Co. intends to expand collaboration further. To this end, the company will continue to enhance app functionality, and is also considering expanding "farmers 360° link" to other regions such as Europe, as well as applying it to other crops like cacao beans and coffee beans.
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In the fields of Mineral & Metal Resources, Energy, Infrastructure Projects, Mobility, Chemicals, Iron & Steel Products, Food, Food & Retail Management, Wellness, IT & Communication Business and Corporate Development Business, Mitsui (link resides outside of ibm.com) leverages its global sales bases, network and information capabilities to engage in diverse business from many angles, including a wide variety of product sales, the logistics and financing underpinning them, and the architecture and operation of international projects.
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September 2023
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