HACARUS completed its first project in Singapore in August 2022. This project expanded the capabilities of YCH Group, Asia’s leading supply chain and logistics provider. HACARUS used video analysis and insights through drone-mounted data for inventory management at warehouses using AI to detect and count cartons located on pallets.
YCH Group sought the IMDA Open Innovation Platform (OIP)’s professional consultancy services to identify the business opportunity to further expand video analysis and insights through drone-mounted data. As part of YCH’s digital transformation efforts, drones have been deployed with cameras to capture images and videos in several work processes. This includes routine inventory cycle counting to enhance the accuracy and efficiency of its counting. After a five-minute set up of the drones, it takes 14 minutes to capture the environment row by row. This replaces manual stock-taking by the staff at the warehouse, which can take up to eight hours for two people per aisle of at least 700 pallets as the items have to be brought down, checked, and accounted for. These costs can be reduced with more targeted manual intervention powered by an improved drone analytic system that starts with inventory counting.
Through the OIP’s crowdsourcing, HACARUS was successfully matched with YCH and successfully completed the first phase in August. HACARUS built and tested a concept which trained an AI model, using YCH’s drone video data to accurately detect and count cartons located on pallets. This can reduce the time taken by up to 85% when fully implemented. HACARUS is building an AI solution that works with YCH Group’s warehouse management system (WMS) to verify the system information against the video data collected through drone-captured sensors.
Result images showing the solution detecting and counting cartons in drone video data
“At YCH, we innovate to thrive and continuously seek to challenge the status quo. In our tireless quest to optimise and elevate supply chain management for the future, we have been delving into image analytics to improve our autonomous inventory management solutions. We are thus pleased to collaborate with an innovative and capable partner, HACARUS , to enable us to excel and adapt to the ever-changing digital business landscape.” – Ryan Yap, Head of Growth, Innovation & Partnerships, YCH Group
“HACARUS’ mission is to bring the next generation of AI-enabled instruments to all industries and we have now completed our first project in the logistics industry and in a new market, Singapore, with the completion of our project with YCH Group. We look forward to our continued work with YCH Group and other local entities such as IMDA to further bring digital transformation solutions to Southeast Asia and other parts of the globe.” – Kenshin Fujiwara, CEO of HACARUS INC.
“We are heartened to see the successful partnership of YCH and HACARUS. The IMDA OIP’s mission is to democratise corporate innovation. We have created just that, with YCH, a strong local champion getting access to game-changing solutions to super-charge their business. HACARUS, an innovative overseas start-up, has also seen the exciting business opportunities in Singapore, the hub of one of the world’s fastest growing regions.“ – Ng Kaijie, Director (Innovation) of OIP, IMDA.
YCH Group and HACARUS are moving forward with the verified concept and building a more robust AI model using more drone data. They will begin integrating the new solution into YCH Group’s existing WMS, taking the concept into reality in 2023. Both companies expect immediate value and cost reductions for warehouse operations with the deployment of the initial system with further capabilities being planned for development ranging from defect detection to smarter inventory reconciliation.
About HACARUS
HACARUS INC. provides big insights from small data and has since its founding in 2014 supplied solutions in 100+ AI projects across the Medical and Manufacturing fields. Headquartered in Kyoto, Japan, and backed by Osaka Gas and Miyako Capital (Kyoto University) among others, its technology enables humans to make better, faster, and more reliable decisions, based on data-driven insights. HACARUS’ proprietary AI engine is built using Sparse Modeling, a method that understands data like a human would – by its unique key features and is far more resource, time, and energy-efficient when compared to Deep Learning. To learn more, visit https://hacarus.com
About YCH
Founded in 1955, YCH Group Pte Ltd (YCH) is Singapore’s largest home-grown supply chain solutions company. YCH has grown from a passenger transportation company to an integrated supply chain and logistics services provider, with services such as warehousing and freight management among others. Today, it is also a regional supply chain management partner to several global leading brands across Asia Pacific which includes 80% MNCs who are among Fortune 500 or S&P 500.
About the IMDA OIP
The IMDA Open Innovation Platform (OIP) by the Infocomm Media Development Authority of Singapore is the national platform for digital innovation. The OIP provides corporates a structured, high-touch support to diagnose their business problem, define their problem statement, crowdsource innovative solutions from a network of 12,000 tech solution providers, and evaluate their proposals to ensure an impactful outcome. Since 2018, OIP has facilitated over 300 challenges worth more than $9M in prize monies covering sectors such as financial services, healthcare and manufacturing. It has covered tech domains such as AI, the Internet of Things, and AR/VR.
