Fujitsu and NYK Streamline Stowage Planning for Car Carriers by Leveraging Quantum-Inspired ‘Digital Annealer’

Fujitsu Limited and Nippon Yusen Kabushiki Kaisha (NYK), a major global shipping company, today announced the introduction of Fujitsu’s quantum-inspired Digital Annealer technology to significantly streamline complex stowage planning for car carriers, leveraging the technology’s world-class combinatorial optimization capabilities. The Digital Annealer will play a role in automating aspects of the stowage planning process for NYK’s dedicated car carriers, an enormously complex task involving a vast number of possible stowage patterns depending on the number of vehicles loaded, models of vehicles, and the number of ports called along the shipping route. After successful initial tests, Fujitsu and NYK have launched a real-world operational trial of the technology on September 1st with an aim to commence full-scale operational use in April 2022.