Panasonic Enhances Mobile Solutions Business Division with Blue Yonder Luminate™ Planning

Blue Yonder’s solutions and support enable enhanced sales & operation planning strategy, leading to greater customer satisfaction and competitiveness

OSAKA, Japan & SCOTTSDALE, Ariz.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Panasonic Corporation and Blue Yonder announced today that Panasonic’s Mobile Solutions Business Division (MSBD) has implemented several Blue Yonder Luminate^™ Planning solutions focusing on sales & operations planning. Gradual operation of these supply chain solutions began in October with full operation planned for December 2020.

Part of Panasonic’s Connected Solutions Company, MSBD manufactures and sells the “Lets note” brand of notebook PCs for enterprise users in Japan, and the TOUGHBOOK brand of rugged mobile computers which are sold around the world. The company has the No.1 shares of both the domestic and global notebook PC markets^*1 by providing customized products to enterprise users with high quality and close customer service. However, providing a wide range of customizable models resulted in long lead times and difficulty in calculating available to promise (ATP).

With Blue Yonder’s Luminate Planning solutions, MSBD expects to shorten lead times for product deliveries to enterprise customers, expedite ATP time and reduce inventory disposal losses. Through this, Panasonic aims to further increase its customer satisfaction levels^*2 and strengthen its competitiveness.

MSBD will also realize increased accuracy of its global supply chain operations, which previously had relied on labor-intensive coordination of planning management systems that differed by region.

To accomplish this, Blue Yonder met with Panasonic to assess the state of operations, analyze the issues, and understand the business vision and direction. From this collaboration, they identified the three key areas of focus for this project: supply chain efficiency, agility and automation.

“From the initial assessment all the way to implementation, at each step Blue Yonder’s global team worked closely in unison with us,” stated Hiroaki Sakamoto, director of Panasonic’s Mobile Solutions Business Division. “Their deep understanding of our frontline operations and strong consultation drove the success of this project. More than just a software vendor, Blue Yonder was an invaluable partner in realizing our global supply chain process innovation.”

With Blue Yonder, MSBD anticipates it will heighten production planning accuracy, reduce global delivery lead times, simplify the planning process and realize 10% reduction of inventory disposal loss compared to FY2018 levels. In addition, MSBD will be able to provide even greater customer satisfaction and strengthen its competitiveness.

“By implementing our Luminate Planning solutions, MSBD is on track to meet three key objectives: enhance customer satisfaction, reduce inventory and disposal losses, and increase sales by thoroughly meeting order promises,” said Wayne Usie, executive vice president, Market Development, Blue Yonder. “Panasonic has not only been a customer and partner, they became an investor into our company as well. We are looking forward to continuing to support Panasonic and MSBD as they further automate their supply chain to meet the needs of their business and customers.”

Going forward, MSBD is also looking into deploying additional Blue Yonder Luminate^™ Platform solutions to further enhance and automate its supply chain management through the use of artificial intelligence (AI), machine learning and data analysis.

¹ 16 consecutive years No.1 share of business mobile PC market in Japan (Source: IDC Japan, Japan Personal Computing Quarterly Model Analysis 2020Q2 Share By Company, for PC smaller than 13inch, excluding ultra slim models)

18 consecutive years No.1 share of global rugged mobile PC market (Source: VDC Quarterly Tracker, 2020Q2）

² Panasonic ranked No.1 in NIKKEI COMPUTER’s customer satisfaction survey in Japan in the 2020-2021 notebook PC category (August 24, 2020)

About Panasonic

Panasonic Corporation is a global leader developing innovative technologies and solutions for wide-ranging applications in the consumer electronics, housing, automotive, and B2B sectors. The company, which celebrated its 100th anniversary in 2018, operates 528 subsidiaries and 72 associated companies worldwide and reported consolidated net sales of 7.49 trillion yen for the year ended March 31, 2020. Committed to pursuing new value through collaborative innovation, the company uses its technologies to create a better life and a better world for customers. Learn more about Panasonic: https://www.panasonic.com/global

About Blue Yonder

Blue Yonder is the world’s leading, end-to-end, digital supply chain platform provider, enabling companies to better predict and pivot to quickly fulfill customer demand. Blue Yonder’s intelligent platform empowers companies to make smarter, faster business and commerce decisions to deliver more growth, profitability and reimagined customer experiences. With Blue Yonder, you can Fulfill your Potential.^™ Visit blueyonder.com.

“Blue Yonder” is a trademark or registered trademark of Blue Yonder Group, Inc. Any trade, product or service name referenced in this document using the name “Blue Yonder” is a trademark and/or property of Blue Yonder Group, Inc.

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