#Japan #AI Development #Fukuyama #Kong #Kongo Shipbuilding

Kong Supports Kongo Shipbuilding's Revamp of Core Systems

Kong, a prominent company specializing in API and AI connectivity technologies, has announced its collaboration with Kongo Shipbuilding Co., Ltd., located in Fukuyama, Hiroshima. Together, they are embarking on a modernization project for Kongo's procurement system, employing Kong Konnect as the chosen API and microservices platform. This initiative aims not only to enhance the existing infrastructure but also to effectively organize systems and data by business domain, laying the groundwork for the future integration of AI agents and large language models (LLMs).

Background: Addressing Legacy System Challenges

For over 15 years, Kongo Shipbuilding has operated its current procurement system, which underpins critical operations such as purchasing, steel ordering, and inventory management. However, due to the complexity accumulated over many years of operation and a lack of documentation, any attempts to refresh the system have posed significant challenges. The existing system presents risks of operational disruptions that could affect the entire factory, making investment decisions increasingly difficult. In the context of strengthening group management and facilitating overseas expansion, challenges such as integrating procurement operations across the group and optimizing resource costs have become imperative.

In this landscape, Kongo Shipbuilding’s adoption of AI-driven development not only streamlines initial assessments and reduces costs but also creates a viable environment for actually modernizing a longstanding core system.

Accelerated Analysis and Modernization through AI-Driven Development

With the support of Scalar Inc., the modernization project employs AI agents for refactoring, enabling a rapid analysis of thousands of existing code structures along with visualizing technical debts. Within just two days, they managed to complete preliminary redesigns while significantly shortening the overall development timeline. Overall, it is anticipated that the entire development timeline will be reduced by over 70% compared to traditional approaches. By redesigning business domains and splitting functions into nine microservices, Kongo Shipbuilding can more effectively isolate data and functionality. This strategy is designed to ensure safe and effortless access to essential business contexts by future AI agents and LLMs, thereby creating a robust foundational architecture for a new generation.

Choosing Kong: API and Microservices Integration

Kong Konnect has been selected as the API platform to connect and manage the newly microservices-oriented systems securely and flexibly. The decision to adopt Kong Konnect was based on several key factors:

• - Robust API Management and Security: Centralized application of authentication, authorization, API control, and security policies for the segmented microservices.
• - Support for Gradual Transition to the New System: Ensuring a smooth and safe transition from the legacy system to the new, using a flexible operational approach with gateways (e.g., Blue/Green releases).
• - High Expandability through Plugins: The capability to incrementally add plugins according to different phases of the transition, covering initial authentication up to future AI token management and agent integration.
• - Context Control for Future AI Applications: Establishing safe pathways for LLMs and AI agents to access organized operational data (such as procurement, inventory, purchasing, and accounting) adjusted by domain.

Future Perspectives

Kongo Shipbuilding plans to leverage the insights gained from modernizing its procurement system for broader rollouts to surrounding systems. The ultimate goal is to develop an environment where AI assistants facilitate data utilization and business support through natural language interactions. By utilizing the organized data infrastructure, decision-making can be enhanced significantly based on historical data throughout the procurement process. As they build upon this microservices framework, Kongo Shipbuilding envisions creating an integrated procurement foundation across the entire group.

In the words of Kongo Shipbuilding's Executive Officer, Satoshi Mori, "To maintain competitiveness in procurement, the cornerstone of the shipbuilding industry, it is essential for us to control our IT completely in-house. By combining advanced technologies like Kong Konnect and ScalarDB with AI-driven development, we can anticipate a reduction of over 70% in the design and testing phases, unlocking unprecedented development speeds and enabling not just a system upgrade but also paving the way for a shared DX platform across the group."

Scalar Inc. CEO Wataru Fukatsu echoed this sentiment, stating, "AI-driven development is making the once-daunting task of modernizing long-standing core systems more feasible. Through our support in system analysis and microservice design, we are dedicated to aiding enterprises in their modernization efforts. Together with Kong Konnect, we will create a flexible system foundation that anticipates future AI applications."

Kong's President, Daiki Ariizumi, emphasized, "This initiative showcases the reality of long-neglected core system modernization through AI-driven development. We continue to offer infrastructure to realize what’s necessary for AI connectivity in this new era. The flexible API platform built through this project will serve as a strong foundation for Kongo Shipbuilding's future AI applications. We remain committed to robust support of DX and modernization in Japan’s manufacturing sector."

About Kongo Shipbuilding

Kongo Shipbuilding is a core company in the Kongo Group, primarily engaged in shipbuilding and maritime operations. They construct a variety of vessels, including bulk carriers and tankers, from their bases in Japan, Philippines, and China.

About Scalar

Scalar Inc. envisions 'Creating the Future of Data Management' while providing software that supports reliability, flexibility, and scalability in data management.

About Kong

Kong leads the way in API and AI connectivity technologies, dedicated to building infrastructures that support the agent-based AI era. Trusted by organizations from Fortune 500 companies to startups, Kong Konnect facilitates secure connections, management, and governance across APIs and AI models.