[Manufacturing industry] Learning "how to envision the future" from Kubota's DX

　This time, we will take up the Kubota DX, an agricultural machinery manufacturer. Labor shortage is a serious problem in the agricultural field, and a drastic productivity improvement method is required. Therefore, the use of IT in agriculture, which is called AgriTech and smart agriculture, is in full swing. Nomura Research Institute predicts that the AgriTech market will expand to 79 billion yen in 2026 (more than double the 2020 level).

　In this situation, the movement of agricultural DX is gaining momentum in the public and private sectors, and in addition to Kubota, agricultural machinery manufacturers such as Yanmar and Iseki Agricultural Machinery, as well as agricultural IT ventures, are actively working on DX. This time, I would like to start with an overview of the government's promotion of agricultural DX, and then consider what we can learn from Kubota's DX initiatives and future plans.

[Government Initiatives] Transforming Agriculture with Data-Driven Management

In January of last year, the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries launched the "Agricultural DX Concept Study Group". And as a result of the examination, the "Agriculture DX concept" was summarized in March. Through data-driven farm management, the goal is to transform agriculture into one that creates and provides value that accurately meets consumer needs.

In 2017, the government also established the "Agricultural Data Collaboration Infrastructure Council" (WAGRI Council). In April 2019, the agricultural platform system “WAGRI” began full-scale operation under the management of the National Agriculture and Food Research Organization. This includes companies that provide services to farmers (agricultural machinery manufacturers, IT companies, etc.) and private companies and organizations that provide various data that can be used in agriculture (weather, farmland, maps, growth forecasts, soil information, etc.).・A platform for exchanging information with government agencies, etc., for a fee or free of charge. By using WAGRI, it is expected that higher quality services will be provided to farmers.

[Kubota's DX] Achieving highly profitable agricultural management

　Kubota is aiming to revolutionize the productivity of Japanese agriculture with ``Agricultural Machinery x ICT''. ], we are developing and providing solutions for smart agriculture that enable highly profitable farm management. For this reason, they are actively working to robotize agricultural machinery (autonomous driving) to realize ultra-labor-saving and high-quality production, and to provide farming support services.

Last year, Kubota launched the long-term vision "GMB2030" up to 2030 and the "Medium-Term Management Plan 2025", which is positioned as the foundation for its realization. The medium-term management plan has five main themes, such as the promotion of ESG management and infrastructure development that supports sustainable growth, and the promotion of DX is set as an initiative to promote these efficiently and reliably.

There, we will develop a platform that will serve as the foundation for DX, bring about changes in "products/services/production sites", "business processes" and "communication & collaboration", and ensure the promotion of the medium-term management plan. policy. To that end, Kubota is reportedly planning to spend a huge amount of 100 billion yen over the five years up to 2025 on DX.

[Product development] Focusing on automatic operation of agricultural machinery

In 2016, Kubota launched the industry's first rice transplanter with a function to keep going straight. A model that enables straight and clean planting by steering) was released. The merit of being able to plant rice straight even for unskilled workers is great. After that, Kubota also released a tractor equipped with a straight-line automatic steering function.

Kubota has already developed and sold agricultural machinery that enables unmanned autonomous driving work under manned supervision.

・2017: Agri-Robo Tractor ・2018: Agri-Robo Combine Harvester ・2020: Agri-Robo Rice Transplanter

　Currently, we are working on a fully unmanned system. To that end, it is essential to use artificial intelligence (AI) such as image recognition to understand the surroundings and farmland conditions, and Kubota has chosen the path of partnering with NVIDIA.