TradeWaltz Has Received the Top Prize of the Sagawa Accelerator Program for Advancing the Digital Transformation of Trading

15 November 2021

TradeWaltz Inc.

TradeWaltz Inc. (here after referred to as TradeWaltz) has successfully tested and verified the benefits of digital logistics arrangement through their electronic trading system, TradeWaltz®. We are proud to announce that these results have been awarded the top prize of the Sagawa Accelerator Program, held by Sagawa Express Co., Ltd.’s (here after referred to as Sagawa Express) Hikyaku Labo. From now own, Sagawa Express will move forward together with the cutting-edge technology of TradeWaltz to further promote Japanese corporations’ entrances into international markets.

■　About the Sagawa Accelerator Program

Sagawa Express’s Hikyaku Labo is a project for start-up businesses to create new business through open innovation. Since starting with single package deliveries between Kyoto and Osaka with the ”spirit of Edo-era express messengers,” Sagawa Express has always aimed to meet the advancement of the customers’ needs through creating logistics of the future using their logistics system and business platform.

In the second quarter of 2021, TradeWaltz was chosen to collaborate with Sagawa Express for a 3-month trial experiment. On November 11th, when the results of the program were announced at the demo day, the top prize was also received.

Sagawa Express Press Release (Japanese only)
https://www2.sagawa-exp.co.jp/newsrelease/detail/2021/1112_1761.html

(Sagawa Express and TradeWaltz representatives after receiving the award)

■Experiment Content and Results

For this experiment, we partnered with Climbest, a Kagoshima company that started doing business in exporting, to test the export from Japan to Taiwan of a washable tatami, a new product that is produced in Kagoshima.

First the necessary trade documents were prepared digitally using TradeWaltz. SGH Global Japan Co., Ltd. (here after referred to as SGJ) shipped the tatami to Taiwan based on the information registered in TradeWaltz. TradeWaltz is connected to IoT Tracker, a position information platform of KYOCERA Communication Systems Co., Ltd. (here after referred to as KCCS) to provide real-time location tracking of the shipment.

The following are a result of using TradeWaltz in this experiment.
All the points were proven to be effective.

１．More efficient trading operations using TradeWaltz
By using digital data, there was a 44% reduction of work, such as document creation, printing, mailing, etc.,

２．Real-time position tracking using TradeWaltz + IoT Tracker
※Below is an example of the GPS location and details of the shipment

３．Recommended information to reduce shipping lead time

This shipment from Yokohama to Taiwan took 12 days, but spent most of the time waiting for a ship at Yokohama Port. If the product were a food that relied on freshness, this would have a huge influence on the product.

In addition, if the lead time of a large shipper is delayed one day, it is said that the extended CCC (cash conversion cycle) would cost billions of yen. This implies that if the cargo being held by a shipper is delayed for nine days, it would cost them well of 10 billion yen. (cause and solution discussed below)　

Here is a video regarding the details of this experiment. https://youtu.be/5IB-gkk5N8Q
※Another test experiment will be held in January – February.
Please contact us if you are interested in participating in the experiment.

■Cause of trading disorder and countermeasures to reduce lead time

For the experiment, we investigated the cause of the ship departure delay at the port. On October 19th, on the previous leg of the shipping route (Taiwan > Nagoya & Yokohama), the ship was influenced by global shipping delays that effected the whole route of the ship moving forward.

Furthermore, we interviewed an expert who told us that the majority of passenger flights that also carried cargo were not being operated due to COVID-19, resulting in more cargo having to be carried by ship with larger than normal shipments. Urgent containers get buried which leads to more time sorting through all of the containers. In the end, the schedules of these ships all get delayed.

With these current conditions, the following three countermeasures were thought of.

• Government & Airlines: Increase the number of flights to create faster shipping routes through the air, which will relieve the conditions in the ports.
• Ship Companies & Data Platformers: Find open space on the quickest ship or flight and match cargo to that schedule.
• Shipping Companies: Compare the financial losses of longer lead times and adjust accordingly if there is merit in moving a shipment to a later a flight.

■The World TradeWaltz and Sagawa Express Aim For

A common subject in international trade is the large amount of time required for communication between those involved in trading, such as companies and municipals, that is caused by the analog style of having to create paper-based trading documents. In addition, another topic is not being able to predict the lead time, because it is difficult to track a shipment real-time between countries. With paper-based operations, local conditions cannot be seen and unforeseen problems cannot be resolved quickly. This is a major problem around the globe.

That’s where the TradeWaltz system, using KCCS’s IoT Tracker, combined with the international logistics network of Sagawa Express aims to make trading business more efficient, advance logistic visualization, and speed up administration decisions resulting in the implementation of a better supply chain.

In more optimized trading, with fewer unneeded tasks, CO2 will be cut by reducing the number of unnecessary deliveries resulting in more eco-friendly logistics that is kinder on the environment. We hope to create this kind of future for the trade and logistics through promoting innovation and adding new entities such as small and medium-sized businesses.

【Comments from people involved】

Sagawa Express, Corporate Planning Manager, Kenzo Hashizume

Through collaborating with TradeWaltz, we were able to see the potential of connecting to our international network. Through finding solutions to troublesome international trade issues, we have improved the strength of our proposals towards businesses doing international logistics. As a partners with TradeWaltz, we aim to make international logistics better by taking it to the next level.

KYOCERA Communication Systems Co., Ltd., Research Department, Gaku Hibi

As our IoT Tracker system is used to visualize logistics, we are related to the solution provided by TradeWaltz to increase efficiency of the trading industry. It makes me very happy to see the positive results that TradeWaltz has shown through this experiment with Sagawa Express. We look forward to continuing to be connected to TradeWaltz and contribute to a more efficient trading industry.

Trade Waltz Inc., Managing Director, Head of CEO’s Office, Satoru Someya

I am very pleased to see the positive results of the digital international logistic arrangement experiment that was done together with small domestic companies and Sagawa Express who are strong with business logistics. Until now, there was a high hurdle for individuals and small businesses to get over to do trading. Now, with the cooperation of Sagawa Express and using our technology, that hurdle gets lowered and the great products of Japan can be sent to the rest of the world a little faster.

■About TradeWaltz

【Corporate Profile】
Company Name              Trade Waltz Inc.
Representative               Hirohisa Kojima, President & CEO
Headquarters                 2F, Marunouchi Nijubashi Building, 2-2 Marunouchi 3-Chome, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo 100-0005, Japan
Date Established             April 1, 2020
Main Operations             Delivery of the TradeWaltz® SaaS(*2), a trading-related information-sharing platform built with blockchain technology.
Employees                     Fulltime: 29
URL:                               https://www.tradewaltz.com
Register of shareholders:
NTT DATA Corporation
UTokyo Innovation Platform Co., Ltd.
Mitsubishi Corporation
Toyota Tsusho Corporation
Kanematsu Corporation
Tokio Marine & Nichido Fire Insurance Co., Ltd.
Mitsui-Soko Holdings Co., Ltd.
Nissin Corporation
MUFG Bank, Ltd.
Sompo Japan Insurance Inc.

（*1）「TradeWaltz」 is a registered trade mark in Japan of Trade Waltz Inc. Any other names of products, companies, groups, etc., are names and registered trademarks of their own.

（*2）SaaS stands for Software as a Service. It is a model that makes software available for use over the Internet.