Quantum Cold Chain: Mitsubishi Logistics and Fujitsu Launch Quantum Pilot to Revolutionize Perishable Goods Distribution in Japan
December 20, 2021
The Quantum Need in Cold Chain Logistics
Cold chain logistics is among the most complex subsectors of supply chain management due to stringent requirements for temperature stability, rapid transit, and regulatory compliance. Small deviations can result in spoiled goods or noncompliance penalties—especially for pharmaceutical or vaccine transport.
Mitsubishi Logistics, one of Japan’s largest logistics providers, manages over 70 temperature-controlled warehouses and hundreds of refrigerated trucks. The company identified several persistent challenges:
Routing inefficiencies that led to fuel waste and delayed deliveries
Load balancing issues in trucks and containers with multiple temperature zones
Storage space optimization in urban cold warehouses with fluctuating inventory volumes
Conventional routing and planning systems struggled to meet the high-dimensional nature of these constraints. That’s where quantum-inspired optimization offered a new approach.
Fujitsu’s Digital Annealer: Bringing Quantum Speed to Today’s Hardware
The pilot was powered by Fujitsu’s Digital Annealer, a specialized computing architecture that mimics quantum annealing behavior on classical processors. Unlike general-purpose quantum computers, the Digital Annealer is:
Stable and commercially deployable
Exceptionally fast for solving combinatorial optimization problems
Usable with standard data inputs and accessible via API integration
Fujitsu designed a logistics optimization suite built on the Digital Annealer, tailored to cold-chain use cases.
Key modules included:
Temperature-sensitive route planning considering delivery time windows, truck capacity, and refrigeration zones
Cold warehouse space optimization, maximizing throughput while ensuring FIFO (first-in-first-out) inventory practices
Multi-compartment truck loading, optimizing how to assign goods with different temperature ranges to shared vehicle space
The Pilot Scope: Tokyo–Osaka Perishable Goods Corridor
The initial pilot covered deliveries between Tokyo and Osaka, one of Japan’s busiest domestic logistics corridors. The focus was on:
Seafood and fresh produce sourced from Tsukiji Market and bound for western Japan
Biopharmaceutical products delivered to hospitals and clinics
Warehousing at MLC’s Yokohama and Kobe cold storage facilities
Each delivery required:
Adherence to strict temperature limits (−20°C to +8°C)
Minimization of transit time to preserve freshness
Compliance with Japan’s national Good Distribution Practice (GDP) standards
Optimization Objectives and Constraints
The optimization engine had to process:
Real-time traffic data from Japan’s national highway network
Perishable item properties (e.g., required humidity, light protection)
Warehouse and vehicle availability
Delivery urgency rankings based on perishability and contract SLA terms
Fujitsu encoded these constraints into a QUBO (Quadratic Unconstrained Binary Optimization) model, which the Digital Annealer solved iteratively. The system could evaluate millions of route and load permutations in seconds, providing near-real-time suggestions to Mitsubishi Logistics planners.
Results from the Quantum Pilot
Over a 30-day test period in December 2021, the pilot yielded measurable operational improvements:
Metric
Improvement
Average delivery time
↓ 14.6%
Fuel consumption per delivery
↓ 11.2%
Cold storage utilization efficiency
↑ 18.4%
SLA compliance (on-time + condition)
↑ 9.7%
Additionally:
Truck idle time was reduced, especially for multi-drop routes with staggered appointments.
Spoilage rate for seafood and produce decreased by nearly 5%, attributed to tighter temperature-time adherence.
MLC logistics managers noted that the system allowed for dynamic replanning during peak periods, such as December’s holiday-driven food distribution spike.
Integration into Daily Operations
The pilot’s success encouraged MLC to expand the use of quantum-inspired systems in daily planning workflows.
By early 2022, they began:
Training dispatchers and planners to use the Fujitsu dashboard
Integrating the optimization engine into their TMS and WMS platforms
Deploying mobile route updates to refrigerated truck drivers in real time
The architecture supported full API-based integration, meaning planners could run "what-if" simulations when weather, traffic, or labor availability changed without delaying decisions.
Strategic Implications for Japan’s Cold Chain Industry
Japan has a highly advanced cold chain system, but the integration of quantum-inspired tools marks a shift toward cognitive logistics—where decisions are dynamically optimized using advanced computation rather than static rules.
Mitsubishi Logistics’ deployment sets a precedent in several ways:
It demonstrates quantum ROI today, without needing error-corrected quantum computers
It showcases how edge constraints (temperature, freshness, space) can be modeled in combinatorial frameworks
It opens the door for other sectors—like vaccine logistics, livestock transport, and frozen food exports—to benefit from similar optimization
Regulatory and Environmental Alignment
The pilot aligns closely with Japanese policy initiatives:
The Green Logistics Partnership Conference (GLPC) encourages CO₂ reduction in transport
The Smart Logistics Innovation Program from METI supports AI and advanced optimization in freight
MLC is a signatory to Japan’s 2050 decarbonization roadmap, seeking logistics emissions reductions through better load consolidation and routing
By improving route efficiency and cold storage turnover, the Fujitsu system helps MLC lower its carbon footprint without compromising on product safety or timing.
Global Context and Competitive Advantage
Japan’s use of quantum-inspired logistics is now ahead of many global cold chain players. In 2021–22:
Americold in the U.S. began exploring quantum routing pilots with D-Wave but had not moved to deployment
DB Schenker focused on temperature-compliant cryptography for medical shipments
Alibaba’s Cainiao applied AI optimization but had not yet adopted quantum-inspired techniques
Fujitsu’s Digital Annealer gives MLC a first-mover advantage in near-real-time perishable goods planning, positioning it as a technology leader not only in Japan but globally.
Challenges and Future Development
Despite the success, several challenges remain:
Solver tuning was needed to balance planning quality with computational speed
Data integration was slowed by disparate formats across warehouse systems and GPS sources
Planner confidence required time; initially, some operators were hesitant to trust algorithmic suggestions over manual intuition
Fujitsu responded by adding "confidence indicators" that explain how route or load decisions were derived, boosting user trust.
Future plans include:
Expanding coverage to refrigerated rail and air freight nodes
Integrating AI forecasting (e.g., spoilage risk or demand surges) upstream of quantum optimization
Potential export of the system to ASEAN logistics subsidiaries
Conclusion: A Quantum-Optimized Cold Chain
Mitsubishi Logistics and Fujitsu have demonstrated that quantum-inspired optimization can deliver real, tangible benefits in one of the most sensitive logistics domains—cold chain.
By combining classical logistics knowledge with advanced computational power, they’ve redefined what’s possible in planning for perishables. The December 2021 pilot not only proved technical feasibility but also showed economic and environmental value—setting a new standard for logistics innovation in Japan and beyond.