[Part Two]
Targeting Maximum Competitive Advantage for Businesses

In Part One of this article, we explored FUJIFILM Business Innovation’s DX support strategy, focusing on the fundamental infrastructure-development phase. We highlighted the importance of building a solid digital backbone – from securing an information entry point using multifunction printers to stabilising IT operations through managed services.

True digital transformation, however, does not stop there. Once data has been accumulated and systems stabilised, companies must take the next step – shifting to offensive DX. In Part Two, we delve deeper into the implementation of more advanced, strategic solutions.

Continuing our conversation with Kikuchi and Takizawa of FUJIFILM Business Innovation, we examine concrete approaches to strengthening organisational competitiveness – from rethinking business processes and transforming work styles to designing hybrid workspaces that seamlessly integrate the analogue and the digital.

DX Solutions That Unleash an Organisation’s Potential

With both hardware and software infrastructure in place, companies are ready to move into full-scale operational efficiency and AI-driven innovation (corresponding to Phases 3 and 4 in the four-phase list introduced earlier). “This is where advanced DX measures come into play – solutions like RPA, general-purpose AI, and even company-specific AI,” explains Takizawa. He highlights several key solutions at this stage: “For instance, optimising the work environment for each employee, integrating physical workspaces with cloud-based systems, and reengineering entire business processes are all possibilities.” Let us explore each of these in more detail.

Transforming Employees’ Daily Work

Employees undertake a wide range of tasks every day, and boosting their productivity starts with a well-structured software environment. Leading platforms like Microsoft 365™ and Cybozu’s Kintone™ can significantly streamline daily operations. Another standout is DocuWorks, a document-handling application developed by FUJIFILM Business Innovation, which is gaining traction particularly in countries where paper- and fax-based workflows remain prevalent, such as Thailand and Japan. This application’s ability to digitally replicate analogue work makes it ideal for smooth digital transitions in such environments.

Promoting Digital Transformation Without Relying on IT Literacy

DocuWorks facilitates a seamless shift from analogue to digital by replicating the tasks employees perform daily, removing the need for advanced IT skills. “One of its strengths is that it allows anyone, regardless of their IT literacy, to readily adopt digital workflows,” says Takizawa. For example, stamping approval documents, jotting down virtual sticky notes, and forwarding materials to other departments – all these and more can be handled through this intuitive application. “This user-friendly experience has been well received by employees across many companies,” he adds. “Once people grow comfortable with digital workflows, it becomes much easier to automate routine tasks.”

The benefit of this is twofold: It lowers the barrier to digital adoption by employees and accelerates the company’s overall digital transformation. “By streamlining the small everyday tasks employees handle, you improve both the speed of work and the quality of information processing across the entire organisation,” says Kikuchi. Better-organised documents and faster access to needed information also enhance cross-departmental collaboration. “Introducing software with an intuitive UI/UX^* helps raise awareness of digital transformation at every level of the organisation,” Kikuchi continues. “It’s one of the fastest ways to improve company-wide productivity.”

^*UI: User Interface, UX: User Experience

Managing All Information Assets with an Integrated Platform

Along with building a user-friendly software environment, it is equally important to create an integrated workspace and cloud ecosystem. While collaboration tools like Teams™, SharePoint™, and Slack™ are widely used, FUJIFILM Business Innovation offers its own platform called FUJIFILM IWpro. “FUJIFILM IWpro is designed to comprehensively manage and optimise the operation of MFPs and other hardware that we’ve developed over the years, as well as to manage document flow and workflows,” explains Takizawa. “It’s a unified platform that enables companies to efficiently manage and utilise all their information assets.”

With this platform, organisations can adopt flexible work styles, free from the constraints of location or time. “While tools like Teams™, SharePoint™ and Slack™ are great for streamlining communication between people, FUJIFILM IWpro optimises the interconnection and management of information within the organisation. For example, documents of all kinds – paper contracts, faxed orders, email attachments – can be digitised, structured, and made accessible to anyone in the company. From there, they can be routed through automated workflows or used by teams to collaborate in real time.”

Companies using the platform have reported tangible results, such as drastically shortened approval processes and fully automated data-entry tasks. “Looking ahead, we expect to see more companies combine their well-organised internal data with AI to build proprietary AI models,” adds Takizawa.

Rebuilding Business Processes from the Ground Up

While improvements to the digital work environment help boost productivity and streamline communication among teams, Kikuchi points to a broader objective: fundamentally redesigning the business processes themselves. “Our strength lies in reevaluating the underlying structure of operations and rebuilding them for greater efficiency,” he explains. “Core business activities like billing, order processing, customer support, inventory management, and delivery often contain inefficiencies or structural losses. Once digital transformation is underway, these problem areas become much easier to identify.” Though positioned as a solution, FUJIFILM Business Innovation also draws on its extensive expertise in manufacturing to eliminate waste and drive process improvement. “Our knowledge and solutions allow us to redesign workflows to be faster, leaner, and more resilient – directly enhancing a company’s competitiveness,” says Kikuchi.

The company also has dedicated teams equipped to manage process transformation in sectors like finance and government, where high-level security and compliance are critical. “We can safely reconstruct complex processes involving the collection and management of personal data – in full compliance with local laws, audit requirements, and strict regulatory standards. Each industry has its own workflow patterns, and we know them inside and out. That comprehensive understanding enables us to deliver tailored solutions quickly and reduce the time taken to see results.”

Information Assets: A Competitive Advantage in the AI Era

How should businesses respond to the rapid advancement of AI? “Companies that have their information assets digitised, well organised, and stored in searchable formats will have a major advantage,” says Kikuchi. Let us explore what this means in practice with some concrete examples.

Unique AI Built from In-House Data

FUJIFILM IWpro Intelligent Assistant Option is an AI solution designed to work seamlessly with the FUJIFILM IWpro platform. “This system enables companies without specialised AI expertise to create their own AI models using internal data and to embed them directly into their operations,” explains Takizawa.

Typically, building an AI model requires skilled personnel, along with significant time and investment. This solution eliminates those barriers by automating data cleansing, algorithm creation, and verification within a single platform, allowing businesses to easily build AI models tailored to their own processes. “This is only possible because FUJIFILM IWpro organises and accumulates data in a structured, usable form,” Takizawa notes. What makes the system particularly practical is its integration. Because the AI runs on the shared FUJIFILM IWpro platform, it can be embedded directly into existing workflows, ensuring ease of use without disruption. “If companies can’t use AI easily and meaningfully in their day-to-day work, there’s no point in introducing it,” he emphasises.

Revolutionising Accuracy Beyond the Limits of Conventional OCR

Another notable feature of the FUJIFILM IWpro platform is the enhanced data extraction enabled by FUJIFILM IWpro Intelligent Data Capture Option. This system significantly improves the processing of documents in different formats entering the organisation, delivering faster, more accurate conversion into structured data.^*

“By accurately recognising blemishes and blurs that often trip up conventional OCR, we can dramatically reduce the time spent on manual error checking. In addition, improvements in content search and prediction accuracy make it much easier to handle one of the more tedious tasks, such as setting up templates in advance.” FUJIFILM IWpro Intelligent Data Capture Option is a fundamental technology for AI applications, providing high-quality, structured data from which AI models can effectively learn.

^*Functionality may vary according to service and region. Please enquire for details.

Dramatically Evolving Workflows Through AI Integration

By integrating multiple AI technologies within the FUJIFILM IWpro platform, companies can elevate their business workflows to an entirely new level. Intelligent Data Capture transforms unstructured inputs, such as paper documents and faxes, into accurate, structured data, which is then seamlessly distributed throughout the organisation via the FUJIFILM IWpro system. On top of that, the Intelligent Assistant enables the creation of company-specific AI models capable of making advanced, data-driven decisions. “By connecting data generation, organisation, distribution, and analysis within a single platform, we offer an unprecedented level of integration,” says Takizawa.

(Left) Shiro Kikuchi, Corporate Vice President, (Right) Motoru Takizawa, General Manager, Marketing Business Solution Division

The Power of Combining Countless Solutions

“What I’ve introduced here is only a small part of what we offer,” says Kikuchi. FUJIFILM Business Innovation has access to hundreds of internal and external solutions, with virtually limitless combinations tailored to each company’s needs. “Looking ahead, we’ll continue to harness the power of AI and expand our portfolio of solutions to further strengthen organisational capabilities,” Kikuchi adds. “We’re just getting started – and there’s much more to come.”

FUJIFILM Business Innovation transcends the traditional roles of vendor, system integrator, and manufacturer – positioning itself as a true one-stop DX partner that can identify business challenges, establish operational frameworks, and shape future visions. What began with multifunction printers has now evolved into a broader business scope that includes document solutions, Business process outsourcing, cloud services, and AI. Today, the company serves as a comprehensive partner, empowering organisations to harness their information assets and drive meaningful business-process reform. Its longstanding expertise across the APAC region, combined with a keen understanding of rapidly shifting technology trends, continues to fuel its success. “No matter how much the business landscape changes, we’ll remain by your side, developing the optimal solutions for what comes next,” says Kikuchi. “When our clients are ready to take the next leap, we want to be there to help chart the course.”

_{Microsoft 365, Teams and SharePoint are trademarks or registered trademarks of Microsoft Corporation
Slack is a trademark or registered trademark of Salesforce
Cybozu Kintone is a trademark or registered trademark of Cybozu, Inc.}

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[Part Two]Targeting Maximum Competitive Advantage for Businesses

A Team of Experts Who Transform System Chaos into Strategic Assets The True FUJIFILM Business Innovation: Part 2