It’s a name change and so much more…

New ways of working

It’s an organisation dedicated to helping business and public sector to redefine and optimise the way they work to deliver savings, increased productivity and new competitive advantages. In addition, these new ways of working can also address the sustainability challenges that many organisations are grappling with today.  As an organisation that was founded on the principle of improving the lives of people and society, Panasonic Connect Europe is also committed to using its business understanding and technology know-how to help businesses address sustainability issues. For example, by optimising logistic routes we can reduce emissions. With demand accuracy systems and shortening supply chain lead times, we can reduce retail waste.

Bringing GEMBA Process Optimisation to Europe

Our solutions team draws upon Panasonic’s 100-year experience of building and optimising our own manufacturing operations and supply chains and using its GEMBA Process Innovation approach to help European businesses redefine and optimise business processes. The GEMBA is the physical site where value is created. This Japanese word literally translates to "the actual place". For example, in the supply chain the GEMBA is where things are made, moved, or sold; the site where value is generated and problems must be confronted: the factory floor, the warehouse, or points-of-sale; these are referred to as the GEMBA. 

In manufacturing, GEMBA Process Innovation can accelerate automation with the use of technologies such as robotics. In logistics, it can provide the ability to sort, schedule, track and monitor the condition of goods using Deep Learning and sensor technologies connected via the Internet of Things. In the retail sector, it can be used to adopt AI and camera technology to drive personalised digital marketing, as well as automated stock re-ordering to optimise product availability on the shelves.

The organisation also has the benefit of drawing upon Zetes, a wholly owned Panasonic business, which specialises in supply chain software and solutions; and Blue Yonder, which Panasonic recently acquired, the world leader in digital supply chain platform and omni-channel commerce fulfilment.

Backed by our innovative products

Alongside this service offering, we will of course continue to deliver our B2B technology products. These range from our rugged mobile notebooks, handhelds and tablets that help improve productivity in mobile workforces, to professional broadcast camera and AV equipment, including projectors and interactive displays for the entertainment, corporate and education markets, through to the latest smart factory solutions for manufacturers.

In addition, we will continue to innovate with our maintenance and service. The Internet of Things has provided massive opportunities to become more proactive. For example, we can monitor usage of products such as our projectors and mobile computing devices and even predict when maintenance will be required, enabling us to schedule service appointments in advance of any failure or issue occurring - removing downtime and increasing reliability in mission critical business operations. In addition, there is the opportunity to provide innovating service solutions, such as tailor-made financial products using an OPEX, rather than CAPEX approach.

Our new agile and business-focused organisation may begin with a name change to Panasonic Connect Europe but I urge businesses and public sector operations to speak to us and experience the new organisation for yourselves. It will feel very different from the Panasonic Business organisation of old.