DENSO CORPORATION, a leading mobility supplier, hosted a software strategy briefing. In recent years, demand has grown for enhanced development of large-scale and advanced onboard software to support intelligent vehicle functions, such as automated driving, electrification, and connected driving. In this context, Atsushi Hayashida, Executive Officer and Chief Software Officer, explained DENSO’s software strategy and how the company is approaching on-board software development based on its vision.
Basic Strategies
DENSO aims to expand the technology cultivated for vehicles to a wide range of fields and commits to supporting the development of a future mobility society as a whole. With software playing a crucial role in realizing this vision, DENSO will enhance its value and support the evolution of vehicles through three key strengths: integration capabilities, human resource capabilities, and deployment capabilities.
Integration Capabilities: Leveraging Comprehensive Automotive Expertise to Apply to Product Development
Until now, on-board computers called Electronic Control Units (ECUs) have been installed for each specific function, such as controlling the engine or air conditioning system. However, from now on, to support the advancement of Software Defined Vehicles (SDV), a large-scale cross-domain ECU capable of cross-functional control is essential.
With over 40 years of experience in various domains of on-board software, including thermal technology (such as air-conditioning systems and heat management), powertrain, safety, and information communication systems, along with experience and expertise, DENSO has a portfolio of software intellectual property (IP). Utilizing these, DENSO is capable of designing optimal software solutions while understanding the needs of various car manufacturers, and combining them with hardware to create finished products. Furthermore, by leveraging expertise of semiconductors, DENSO is proactively developing automatic optimal code conversion tools to effectively harness hardware performance, reinforcing its integration capabilities based on comprehensive software solutions.
Human Resource Capabilities: Strengthening Global Development Structure
DENSO aims to expand its software business to 800 billion yen by 2035 and further enhance its development by increasing its software talent pool to 18,000 employees by 2030.
In June 2024, DENSO signed a basic agreement on strategic partnership with NTT DATA Japan Corporation in the software field to expand global software resources and cultivate highly skilled software professionals.
Additionally, the company will leverage the knowledge and insights gained from different regions to drive global development. This includes incorporating standardized automotive software specifications from Europe, adopting IT techniques from China, such as image analysis and a focus on agile development, and implementing cutting-edge digital solutions from North America. DENSO aims to transition from its conventional approach of Japan-led development to a global project management system, with the goal of cultivating and deploying highly skilled software professionals in each region. By doing so, the company will establish a platform for smooth project management on a global scale.
Moreover, DENSO is currently collaborating with members within the DENSO Group and partners from other industries, making the company possible to provide a wide range of solutions for the future mobility society.
Additionally, DENSO will actively introduce automation through AI to enable everyone involved in DENSO’s product development to easily and efficiently utilize the insights gained from its extensive experience in automotive software development. Specifically, DENSO will accelerate the utilization of AI in the design process, such as requirement analysis, to enhance design capabilities. DENSO will also leverage AI in evaluation, such as log analysis, to a greater extent than before, promoting automation and optimize workforce efficiency. By utilizing AI throughout the entire software development process, DENSO aims to reduce human errors and achieve high-quality software, which enables the company to establish a structure that allows to focus on initiatives for business growth and strengthen its software development.
Deployment Capabilities: Contribution to the Industry Through Software Talent Development Programs and Standardization of Technology
As the demand for software development increases with the advent of SDVs, DENSO is committed to ensuring the global competitiveness of Japan’s mobility industry. Leveraging its trusted relationships with car manufacturers, DENSO is taking the lead in software standardization to foster a collaborative ecosystem within the industry.
In terms of talent development, DENSO has initiated efforts to establish its Career Innovation Program and SOMRIE Certification System as the industry standards for the entire mobility sector.
On the technical front, DENSO is actively participating in all working groups of JASPAR (Japan Automotive Software Platform and Architecture) as the organizing body dedicated to enhancing development efficiency and ensuring high reliability through the standardization of software and networks in automotive electronic control systems. DENSO is working together with various industries and research institutions to promote standardization efforts, aiming to contribute to the entire automotive industry.
Reference
For more information about DENSO’s Career Innovation Program and SOMRIE Certification System, please visit “DRIVEN BASE,” which is part of DENSO’s website, to read the following article:
“The story behind auto component manufacturer DENSO’s pursuit of software innovation, and a look at the engineers who support it” https://www.denso.com/global/en/driven-base/career-life/yano-hirose_2203/ UX introduction video “D-EXPERIENCE” https://ux.system.denso.info/en/d-experience/
DENSO CORPORATION, a leading mobility supplier, today announced changes in responsibility and personnel for a Executive Officer and an Senior Director, effective July 1, 2024.
About DENSO CORPORATION
Globally headquartered in Kariya, Japan, DENSO is a $47.2 billion leading mobility supplier that develops advanced technology and components for nearly every vehicle make and model on the road today. With manufacturing at its core, DENSO invests in around 180 facilities worldwide to provide opportunities for rewarding careers and to produce cutting-edge electrification, powertrain, thermal and mobility electronics products, among others, that change how the world moves. In developing such solutions, the company’s 162,000 global employees are paving the way to a mobility future that improves lives, eliminates traffic accidents, and preserves the environment. DENSO spent around 7.7 percent of its global consolidated sales on research and development in the fiscal year ending March 31, 2024. For more information about DENSO’s operations worldwide, visit https://www.denso.com/global.
DENSO CORPORATION and its group company, Certhon Build B.V., will begin accepting commercial orders for the fully automated cherry truss tomato harvesting robot, “Artemy,” in Europe starting today, May 14th.
Artemy is an innovative robot that can perform a series of cherry truss tomato harvesting tasks in a fully automatic manner. The basic functions are as follows.
Automatic Harvesting Function: It automatically runs on a running lane (a hot water tube installed in a greenhouse) and uses AI to determine the ripeness of cherry truss tomatoes. Only ripe tomatoes are selected, and cherry truss tomato peduncles are cut using scissors attached to the top of the harvesting robot arm and stored in the loaded crates.
Automatic Lane Change Function: Artemy uses sensing technology to recognize obstacles in the path and the running lane to which it is traveling so it can move safely and accurately to adjacent running lanes even in trackless environment. (Photo 2)
Automatic Crates Replacement: Artemy automatically replaces a full crate.
Automatic Crates Transfer: When all six crates are loaded, Artemy automatically moves to the trolley where the empty crates are placed and replaces all the crates at once. (Photo 3)
In addition, since Artemy has replaceable batteries, it can run for longer periods without down time for charging. It is also equipped with a cluster and a peduncle detection LED to achieve a highly accurate harvest under direct sunlight during the day and under supplemental lighting during the night. These functions enable continuous operation throughout the day and night, helping increase operational efficiency, address potential labor shortages and significantly reduce heavy work for farmers.
Artemy is scheduled to exhibit at “GreenTech Amsterdam,” the world’s largest horticultural trade show, held from June 11th to 13th in the Netherlands (Hall 5, stand 05.250).
In the future, DENSO and Certhon will develop productivity-enhancing solutions starting with Artemy, which is capable of handling multiple crop varieties and tasks. Also, the two companies will innovate greenhouse solutions by revolutionizing agricultural greenhouse structures and cultivation methods such as automated cultivation systems, aiming to deploy them globally. Through these efforts, DENSO and Certhon aim to contribute to the sustainable agriculture worldwide.
Hidehiro Yokoo, Senior Executive Officer in charge of the Food Value Chain Business Development Division at DENSO, said, “DENSO’s expertise in mobility and manufacturing, encompassing image recognition, safe driving, and robotics, is integrated into all of Artemy’s operations, from the automatic harvesting of cherry truss tomato to the automatic lane changes. Going forward, DENSO will continue to combine its technology with Certhon’s cultivation know-how and horticulture technology to achieve the stable production that DENSO and Certhon aim for worldwide, making it possible for ‘Growing anything, anywhere. For everyone.’”
Lotte van Rijn, CEO of Certhon, said, “Artemy, developed through extensive discussions with DENSO engineers and incorporating all of our cultivation expertise, is seamlessly and safely collaborating with humans on existing greenhouse. We are confident that Artemy will play a central role in the new agricultural production systems. Leveraging the expertise and technologies of both companies, we will continue to contribute to agriculture worldwide.”
DENSO CORPORATION and other partners have been chosen by an industry-government-academia collaborative project aiming to expand the recycle content for automobile in the fiscal year 2023 supported by Ministry of the Environment, Japan. The project, titled “Demonstration of Manufacturing-and-Recycling Integrated Process for Horizontal Cycle* Enabled by Automated Sophisticated Dismantling of ELVs, (end-of-life vehicles)” has begun in early March and is scheduled to conclude by the end of January 2025.
Project participants include REVER CORPORATION, DIC Corporation, UACJ Corporation, Kaneshiro Sangyou, KYUSHU METAL INDUSTRY CO., LTD., SUMITOMO CHEMICAL COMPANY, Daido Steel Co., Ltd., Toray Industries, Inc., Toyoda Gosei Co., Ltd., TOYOTA BOSHOKU CORPORATION, Nomura Research Institute, Ltd., Furukawa Electric Co., Ltd., MATEC Inc., Mitsui Chemicals, Inc., Waseda University, and others.
In recent years, the automotive industry has sought to transition to a circular economy to achieve a more sustainable society. In the effort, it is necessary to significantly expand the use of recycled materials in automotive products, helping reduce the need for freshly cultivated natural resources.
Even so, current global processes often involve shredding ELVs and separating the remaining materials for use in recycled products, a process that can make acquiring high-purity material a challenge. Further compounding the issue is a lack of shared standards between the manufacturing and recycling industries. Moreover, the recycling industry responsible for ELV processing faces business challenges such as severe labor shortages and the need to optimize work environments. Addressing these challenges requires a shift towards new processing methods for ELVs that not only solve these issues but also ensure the quality and quantity of recycled materials.
In this project, participating companies such as ELV dismantling and shredding operators, dismantling system providers, material manufacturers, automotive parts manufacturers, and research institutions are collaborating to realize a new ELV processing method based on automated sophisticated dismantling and conduct a technology demonstration of an integrated process.
Through this demonstration, the group will identify the challenges involved in implementing this integrated ecosystem that combines manufacturing and recycling industries within society. Specifically, the project will include the technology demonstration of the automated sophisticated dismantling process, the high-purity and re-resource processes for various materials extracted through advanced dismantling, and the prototyping and evaluation of parts made from these recycled materials. Additionally, the project will verify the sustainability of the whole process, evaluating how much carbon output it can reduce compared to current processes.
We will aim to contribute to the expansion of recycled materials in automotive parts and the realization of a circular economy in the automotive industry through this demonstration.
*Horizontal Cycle: A recycling system that utilizes used products as resources to produce the same product.
DENSO, a leading mobility supplier, today announced global financial results for its third quarter, ending December 31, 2023, for its 2024 fiscal year, ending March 31, 2024:
Consolidated revenue totaled 5,354.9 billion yen (US$37.8 billion), a 15.5 percent increase from the previous year.
Consolidated operating profit totaled 238.6 billion yen (US$1.7billion), a 11.0 percent decrease from the previous year.
Consolidated profit attributable to owners of the parent company totaled 175.6 billion yen(US$1.2billion), a 11.2 percent decrease from the previous year
“Revenue in the third quarter increased compared to the previous year due to the strong vehicle sales mainly in Japan and North America, foreign exchange gains and expansion of products for electrification, safety and peace of mind areas. Operating profit in the third quarter decreased compared to the previous year due to the continuing rise in the cost of materials, especially electronic components, and the adding provision for quality, though production volume, foreign exchange gains and improvement.” said Yasushi Matsui, CFO, Vice President and member of the Board of Directors of DENSO CORPORATION. “In this fiscal year, we forecast 7,120.0 billion yen (US$50.2 billion) in revenue and 495.0 billion yen (US$3.5 billion) in operating profit. Forecast of revenue will be based on actuals of foreign exchange gains in the third quarter and forecast in the fourth quarter. Forecast of operating profit will be based on the adding provision for quality.”
In Japan, revenue increased to 3,148.3 billion yen (US$22.2 billion), up 17.0% from the previous year, and operating profit was 22.4 billion yen (US$157.6 million), down 84.8% from the previous year.
In North America, revenue increased to 1,286.0 billion yen (US$9.1 billion), up 18.8% from the previous year, and operating profit was 27.5 billion yen (US$194.0 million) (Operating loss of 15.0 billion yen in the same quarter of the previous year).
In Europe, revenue increased to 570.4 billion yen (US$4.0 billion), up 16.2% from the previous year, and operating profit was 22.4 billion yen (US$157.9 million), up 145.6% from the previous year.
In Asia, revenue increased to 1,521.2 billion yen (US$10.7 billion), up 3.5% from the previous year and operating profit was 149.4 billion yen (US$1,053.6 million), up 31.6% from the previous year.
In other areas, revenue increased to 81.9 billion yen (US$0.6 billion), up 6.6% from the previous year, and operating profit was 15.1 billion yen (US$106.3 million), down 2.3% from the previous year.
The above forecasts are created based on information obtained by the date of this announcement and the actual results may differ due to various causes in the future. U.S. dollar amounts have been translated, for convenience only, at the rate of 141.84 yen = US$1, the approximate exchange rate prevailing in the Tokyo Foreign Exchange Market on December 29, 2023. Billion is used in the American sense of one thousand million. Foreign exchange rates of the Forecast for Fiscal Year Ending March 31, 2024, as a precondition are US$= 143.7 yen, Euro= 155.2 yen, CNY=20.0 yen.
About DENSO CORPORATION
Globally headquartered in Kariya, Japan, DENSO is a $47.9 billion leading mobility supplier that develops advanced technology and components for nearly every vehicle make and model on the road today. With manufacturing at its core, DENSO invests in around 200 facilities worldwide to provide opportunities for rewarding careers and to produce cutting-edge electrification, powertrain, thermal and mobility electronics products, among others, that change how the world moves. In developing such solutions, the company’s 165,000 global employees are paving the way to a mobility future that improves lives, eliminates traffic accidents, and preserves the environment. DENSO spent around 9.0 percent of its global consolidated sales on research and development in the fiscal year ending March 31, 2023. For more information about DENSO’s operations worldwide, visit https://www.denso.com/global.
