Fujitsu’s Quantum-Inspired Logistics Platform Expands into Southeast Asia Supply Chains
February 26, 2021
Fujitsu Brings Quantum-Inspired Logistics Optimization to Southeast Asia
In February 2021, Fujitsu announced the expansion of its Digital Annealer-based logistics optimization platform into Southeast Asia, partnering with regional logistics firms and multinationals to improve route planning, warehouse slotting, and cross-border delivery efficiency. While not a pure quantum computer, the Digital Annealer leverages quantum-inspired techniques to tackle combinatorial logistics challenges at scale—bringing near-term performance gains to emerging markets with complex, fragmented supply chains.
As congestion, labor disruptions, and trade volatility continue to test supply chain resilience in Southeast Asia, Fujitsu's expansion reflects growing interest in using quantum-inspired algorithms to navigate logistical uncertainty.
What Is Fujitsu’s Digital Annealer?
Fujitsu’s Digital Annealer is a quantum-inspired computing architecture that mimics aspects of quantum annealing—a method for finding the global minimum of complex optimization problems. Unlike quantum annealers like D-Wave’s systems, the Digital Annealer runs on classical hardware but is built to solve Quadratic Unconstrained Binary Optimization (QUBO) problems—many of which are at the heart of logistics operations.
In logistics, such QUBO problems include:
Vehicle routing with time windows (VRPTW)
Dynamic warehouse slotting
Container and pallet loading optimization
Network flow scheduling
The Digital Annealer offers near-real-time optimization at a scale and speed that traditional solvers struggle to match, especially in dense or constraint-heavy networks.
Why Southeast Asia?
Fujitsu's decision to target Southeast Asia for early expansion was based on both logistical need and digital opportunity. The region is characterized by:
Archipelagic geography (Indonesia, Philippines): making route planning highly variable and multimodal.
Emerging e-commerce boom: particularly in Vietnam, Malaysia, and Thailand, which require faster fulfillment optimization.
Intra-ASEAN trade growth: increased cross-border freight needs across Singapore, Malaysia, Cambodia, and Thailand.
Logistics infrastructure gaps: where quantum-inspired algorithms can compensate for infrastructure inefficiencies by maximizing route and resource utilization.
By targeting this region, Fujitsu positioned its Digital Annealer as a tool for leapfrogging traditional logistics bottlenecks, rather than merely optimizing mature systems.
Key Partnership: Thai Logistics Pilot with SCG Logistics
One of the first commercial deployments of the Digital Annealer in Southeast Asia was a joint pilot with SCG Logistics, the supply chain subsidiary of Thailand’s Siam Cement Group (SCG).
Objectives of the Pilot:
Optimize last-mile delivery for construction and consumer goods across Bangkok and outlying provinces.
Reduce fuel usage and delivery times through multi-constraint route optimization.
Test performance under urban congestion, driver time windows, and variable delivery volumes.
Pilot Architecture:
Data Integration: Order data, vehicle locations, customer constraints, and real-time traffic updates fed into the Digital Annealer’s API.
QUBO Modeling: Fujitsu’s platform modeled the vehicle routing problem (VRP) with time window and capacity constraints.
Solver Output: In under 30 seconds, the system generated route configurations that balanced driver workload, vehicle utilization, and on-time performance.
Results:
Delivery time improvement of 13% on average across tested regions.
Vehicle fleet reduction of 6% without affecting delivery coverage.
Fuel savings of approximately 8.5%, contributing to SCG’s ESG targets.
According to SCG Logistics’ CIO, the pilot “demonstrated that quantum-inspired logistics can deliver tangible ROI today, not just theoretical gains.”
Use Case: Cross-Border Truck Routing between Singapore and Malaysia
Another notable application was in cross-border freight planning between Singapore and Johor Bahru, Malaysia, where customs wait times, route choices, and driver hours-of-service (HOS) constraints introduce complexity.
Fujitsu collaborated with a regional 3PL to:
Encode border crossing windows and delays into the optimization framework.
Model truck rest period requirements and slot-based loading schedules.
Generate optimized sequences for pickups and deliveries across the border, reducing idle time and bottlenecks.
This use case demonstrated the Digital Annealer’s suitability not just for urban distribution but for multi-jurisdictional logistics—where regulations, tolls, and real-time delays must all be harmonized.
Comparative Advantage Over Classical Methods
While the Digital Annealer runs on classical infrastructure, it brings meaningful advantages over traditional solvers for certain logistics applications.
Feature
Traditional Solvers
Digital Annealer
Solve Time (Complex VRP)
Minutes to hours
Seconds to sub-minute
Scalability (Nodes/Variables)
Limited by heuristics
Thousands of variables
Constraint Flexibility
High with expert tuning
Naturally embedded in QUBO
Re-optimization Speed
Slow to adapt in real time
Supports dynamic re-solving
Hardware Requirements
Server farms or HPC
Runs on compact classical servers
For logistics providers in emerging markets, the key appeal is performance without needing quantum hardware, allowing for scalable deployment today.
Strategic Implications for Logistics in Emerging Markets
Southeast Asia’s logistics sector is undergoing rapid digitalization. With the rise of AI-powered visibility platforms, real-time delivery tracking, and smart warehousing, optimization becomes a critical bottleneck. Fujitsu’s Digital Annealer can serve as a plug-in optimization layer for:
Transportation Management Systems (TMS)
Warehouse Management Systems (WMS)
Supply Chain Control Towers
Fujitsu also hinted at future cloud-native integrations, allowing logistics providers to run quantum-inspired optimization jobs from within existing ERP systems like SAP or Oracle.
Regional Expansion and Next Steps
Following February 2021’s initial pilot results, Fujitsu outlined its roadmap for further expansion in Southeast Asia:
Philippines: Exploring urban logistics applications with partners in Metro Manila and Cebu.
Vietnam: Targeting port-to-warehouse routing improvements near Hai Phong and Ho Chi Minh.
Indonesia: Collaborating with e-commerce fulfillment providers to optimize island-hopping delivery schedules.
The company also announced partnerships with several ASEAN governments and trade bodies to develop training modules and sandbox environments where logistics professionals can learn to formulate optimization problems using QUBO techniques.
Global Alignment and Competitive Landscape
Fujitsu’s approach is part of a broader global movement to bring quantum or quantum-inspired optimization into operational settings ahead of scalable quantum hardware.
Competitors include:
D-Wave: Commercial quantum annealers applied to air cargo and intermodal routing.
Zapata Computing: Hybrid quantum algorithms targeting pharmaceutical and retail logistics.
Multiverse Computing: Piloting quantum finance and logistics optimization in the EU and Latin America.
By emphasizing deployment-readiness, Fujitsu has carved a niche for organizations seeking performance gains without hardware constraints or steep learning curves.
Conclusion: A Quantum-Inspired Step Toward Smarter Supply Chains
Fujitsu’s expansion into Southeast Asia in February 2021 marked a practical milestone in the evolution of quantum-inspired logistics. In a region where infrastructure and demand patterns are in constant flux, the ability to dynamically optimize routes, resources, and schedules is not just valuable—it’s essential.
By combining the mathematical rigor of quantum annealing with the accessibility of classical hardware, the Digital Annealer offers emerging markets a powerful tool to improve efficiency, reduce emissions, and enhance delivery performance—all without waiting for full-fledged quantum computers to mature.
This move may signal a broader trend: the rise of quantum-inspired logistics platforms as a bridge technology that delivers measurable results today while preparing the groundwork for quantum-native supply chains tomorrow.