Introducing an Asia DX Company that Uses Digital Technology to Solve Social Issues in Asia

June 25, 2024

The Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI) has been promoting the Asia Digital Transformation (DX) project to create new industries in which large Japanese companies or startups collaborate with other companies in Asia and solve social issues by taking advantage of digital technologies. METI will feature these Asia DX companies that are successful in advancing businesses overseas through a series of articles.

Willer Marketing Corporation, a company operating highway-express bus services in Japan, has been working on co-creation businesses jointly with regional areas, mainly focusing on DRT; Demand Responsive Transit, or Japanese “AI-on-demand transportation”* and autonomous driving, aiming to re-design regional public transportation. In recent years, the company also started the development of new, convenient and environmentally-friendly transportation services in the ASEAN region, including intercity buses, AI-on-demand transportation, and autonomous driving.

*Note: AI-on-demand transportation: A system in which a company that employs share vehicles uses AI to dispatch vehicles to users in real time and transports individual users to their respective destinations

Demonstrating new mode of transportation in Viet Nam, a country where motorcycles reign supreme

Just book a bus seat via the mobi application, and a bus will come and take you to your destination. The company has been engaging in the deployment of mobi, an AI-on-demand bus transportation service, across Japan, and, at the same time, it embarked on a demonstration test of the service in Viet Nam ahead of other companies.

Viet Nam has been facing worsening traffic congestion and air pollution caused by the popularization of motorcycles as transportation. To address this, the company started an AI-on-demand bus transportation service as a first- and last-mile transportation of intercity buses. The company aims to realize public transportation that helps users seamlessly travel from the point of departure to the destination, transforming public transportation in Viet Nam. To date, Singapore and Malaysia have also been advancing the introduction of this service and making use of it as a secondary means of transportation in addition to railways and buses, as is the case of Viet Nam.

Solving inconveniences people face in their everyday lives

Willer embarked on a demonstration test in Viet Nam in order to optimize transportation and improve logistics efficiency. In 2022, the company conducted the demonstration test in which it helped transportation operators who were seeking demand for non-passenger transportation to connect with the food supply chain, which requires manual labor and high cost, and then it tested passenger-freight mixed vehicles that carry people and vegetables together in a large bus. Following this, the company applied its inventory management system for bus seats, a strong point of the company, to freight and achieved DX in receiving freight at local bus terminals. The company confirmed that this service not only reduced the workload from users in shipping and receiving freight—which had only previously been possible with the use of suburban bus terminals—, such as online booking and online estimates, but also improved profits of the partner transportation operators.

The company will aim to build a public transportation platform mainly for AI-on-demand bus transportation services in several countries in Southeast Asia.

The Government of Japan supports companies in taking on the Asia DX project

METI has been supporting companies participating in the Asia DX project to create new industries in which large domestic companies or startups collaborate with other companies in Asia and solve social issues by taking advantage of digital technologies.

Willer’s efforts have been adopted in the Asia Digital Transformation (ADX) Promotion Project in Japan and ASEAN (Secretariat: JETRO). For more information on support measures, visit the webpages on the Asia DX project on the METI website.

Policy Office for Co-creation of New Industries in Asia, METI

Related Links

• Official Website for Willers Pte. Ltd.
• Asia Digital Transformation (METI Website)
• Overview of the demonstration project for “AI-on-demand bus transportation” running along predetermined routes in Viet Nam
• Overview of the DX project for developing a platform for driving passenger-freight mixed vehicles to/from bus terminals between cities in Viet Nam