Ursystems Supports Idemitsu Kosan in Harnessing Generative AI

Ursystems, a company headquartered in Tokyo's Chuo Ward, has collaborated with Idemitsu Kosan, a leading oil-related enterprise also based in Tokyo, to implement generative AI technologies in the latter's advanced materials division. This partnership demonstrates how generative AI can transform traditional business practices within an industry that is rapidly evolving.

Idemitsu Kosan's Innovations in Energy and Materials

Idemitsu Kosan specializes in developing, manufacturing, and selling fuel oils, basic chemicals, high-performance materials, and renewable energy. The company has established a generative AI working group aimed at identifying the inherent value of generative AI and exploring business-impactful applications. They focus particularly on the Retrieval Augmented Generation (RAG) technology, which utilizes both internal and external data to enhance generative AI knowledge. This initiative has led to fruitful collaborations between various industry sectors and their solution development teams.

Implementation of Generative AI in Business Operations

Recently, Idemitsu Kosan's advanced materials division integrated generative AI into two key business operations. Firstly, they automated the preparation of competitive product analysis reports. By gathering and analyzing information from the internet and patent databases, they can assess whether new materials in development possess competitive advantages.

Secondly, generative AI has been deployed for technical support. When customer inquiries about product defects arise, the system efficiently searches through customer management systems and cloud storage to uncover similar queries or causes. The introduction of this technology has allowed Idemitsu Kosan to process large volumes of data quickly and accurately, significantly enhancing operational efficiency and effectiveness. The optimization of RAG technology played a crucial role in achieving the required precision in practical applications.

A Robust AI Development Platform

The applications mentioned above run on a generative AI platform that Ursystems and Idemitsu Kosan jointly developed. This platform integrates various tools and services, including Microsoft Azure's cloud offerings like Azure OpenAI Service, an open-source AI app development tool named 'Dify', and various data source collaboration tools owned by Idemitsu Kosan. By utilizing this platform, Idemitsu can develop AI applications tailored to their specific knowledge base in a shortened timeframe.

In addition to report preparation and technical support, the collaboration is beginning to yield results in discovering potential market opportunities and streamlining intellectual property-related operations—areas in which innovation and creativity are essential.

Ursystems is committed to continuing its support for Idemitsu Kosan's transformation through generative AI applications, fostering greater innovation within the energy sector.