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ClimateAi Enables Global Supply Chain Risk Model for Hitachi

February 11th, 2025

Challenge: Hitachi requires seasonal weather and extreme event forecasts.

  • Hitachi, Ltd. is a multinational conglomerate headquartered in Tokyo, Japan. While active across a number of industries, they have built their global organization by applying data and technology for social innovation.
  • One of Hitachi’s active digital innovation projects is building a digital observatory model in collaboration with the University of Tokyo.
  • This digital model will ingest diverse streams of data to inform supply chain disruption risk to Hitachi’s global network of suppliers.
  • A key data stream Hitachi requires is seasonal weather and extreme event forecasts.

Solution: ClimateAi’s API

ClimateAi’s API provides access to weather (1 – 14 day), sub-seasonal (2 – 6 week) and seasonal (1 – 6 month) forecast data at both 1 km and 25 km resolutions globally. Seasonal tropical cyclone projections forecasting accumulated cyclone energy and expected number of storms to make landfall are also available via API for all relevant oceanic basins.

Example:

This screenshot from ClimateAi’s platform, shows that the probability of tropical cyclone impact from Oct 1 – Dec 31 2024 is elevated in Chennai, India (located in yellow-green shaded map region). With this ClimateAi forecast, a Hitachi procurement officer could consider increasing relevant stock from Chennai-based suppliers in advance of projected storm impact.

 

 

Key Results:

  • The on-demand availability of accurate forecasts at multiple time horizons and spatial resolutions enables Hitachi’s R&D team to drive their project forward.
  • The procurement officers this model is built to inform, are already seeing value. Given the number of supplier relations a single procurement officer can own, ClimateAi’s six-month forecast is critical to supply management and short-term contract negotiation prioritization.

“This [forecast horizon] is very critical for our procurement officers because during the six month [timeframe] they can change stock controls and also negotiate with our suppliers and change the volume of contracts.”

– Dr. Ken Naono, Principal Researcher, Digital Services Platform Innovation Center at Hitachi, Ltd

 

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