DX Gamechanger

The RS Group has been inspiring the Thai entertainment culture since 1982 with businesses in television, radio, and lifestyle platforms. The RS Group has harnessed its media industry expertise to pioneer entertainmerce and develop its multiplatform commerce venture. Using storytelling as a key differentiator, the group delivers unique and memorable shopping experiences directly to consumers. Now running its own virtual RS Mall, the RS Group has pivoted from being a leader in the traditional media business to a multichannel digital business. The group’s digital transformation (DX) strategy leverages all media channels to facilitate cross-promotion, marketing, and sales initiatives of new products and services. By leveraging data of over 1.4 million clients from existing media channels, such as television and radio, the RS Group, along with its new digital platforms, uses additional insights on customer lifestyle and demand. In response, it has transformed viewers and listeners into repeat buyers through increased and targeted brand visibility of the company’s products and partners, achieving higher sales. Because of its robust response to the emerging digital economy and its inherent competitive advantage, RS Mall achieved record-breaking sales in 1Q20 with a revenue of THB586.2 million. As an exemplary case of change and innovation amid fast-paced market disruption, the RS Group remains committed in being a customer-centric and data-driven organization. 

PAL Acoustics Technology is an acoustic testing total solutions provider. Its core services include professional acoustic tests with third-party labs and acoustic testing total solutions, and the company constantly updates its services through conducting research in noise, vibration, and audio application fields. PAL Acoustics Technology also provides integrated solutions for acoustic testing capability buildup. Previously, its service model involves customers carrying samples to its facilities for one-way testing services. Through the development of the PAL Web Test Platform, the company extended its services and intellectual property (IP) to customers by leveraging cloud technology. Meanwhile, some laboratories use Artificial Intelligence of Things (AIoT) technology to establish a software-as-a-service (SaaS) service model. For PAL Acoustics Technology customers, a SaaS model with a pay-as-you-go billing method eliminates high costs related to purchasing expensive equipment and software when deploying laboratories. Through PAL Acoustics Technology, these required services can now be acquired at a very low cost. Business owners who want to deploy multiple laboratories only need to add Internet of Things (IoT) devices, which are much cheaper. 

Established in 1970, NTUC Income is the only insurance cooperative in Singapore aiming to make insurance accessible to everyone. In collaboration with GrabInsure, Grab Holdings (Grab)’s insurance arm, the cooperative launched Critical Illness Pay-Per-Trip (CIPPT), Southeast Asia‘s first stackable insurance proposition in August 2019. The proposition reimagines the way insurance is accessed, engaged, purchased, and used and is designed to make critical illness (CI) protection more accessible to Grab‘s driver-partners. Gig economy workers, such as Grab drivers, see the value of insurance protection but are hindered by a lack of affordable options offering flexibility in premium payment and coverage. Hence, CIPPT was designed for individuals who have flexible cash flows while wanting to benefit from insurance protection. Under the insurance product, drivers select to pay between SGD0.10 and SGD0.50 per trip and build insurance coverage commensurate with the micropremium paid after each trip’s completion — all up to an assured sum of SGD200,000. Unlike typical insurance plans calling for a commitment to a fixed premium amount over a set period of time, CIPPT is economical and conveniently applied to the insured‘s drive frequency and driver-partner platform, thereby allowing flexible cash flow. 

The Asian Development Bank (ADB) is committed to achieving a prosperous, inclusive, resilient, and sustainable Asia/Pacific while sustaining its efforts to eradicate extreme poverty. Launched in 2019, the Digital Innovation Sandbox Program is the transformative driver for the bank’s digital transformation (DX) strategy. The program was instituted to catalyze the infusion of new technologies to improve operations, accelerate growth, and transform the bank’s culture. The vision of the program is to prepare ADB for the future by experimenting with emerging digital technologies in a safe environment, separate from the organization’s IT systems in which the viability of emerging digital technologies can be tested and reviewed. Under this program, ADB has started to use emerging digital technologies, such as cognitive search, robotic process automation (RPA), and machine learning (ML). Within the first year, the program explored more than 200 ideas and solutions. So far, ADB has identified 13 initiatives to be a part of its pilot testing in 2020, which yielded promising outcomes, such as increased process efficiency, augmented quality and accuracy, and enhanced user experience (UX). Through the Digital Innovation Sandbox Program, ADB keeps its sights on new digital technologies that can open opportunities to improve its operations, accelerate growth, and transform the way the organization works. 

Established in 1988, Celcom is Malaysia’s first private mobile operator. To remain competitive in the telecommunications market, Celcom has revitalized customer journeys by initiating a new set of digital tools that enhance touch points, streamline processes, and create engaging experiences. Celcom’s vision of becoming a market-leading digital service provider is all-encompassing and requires an overhaul of its communications channels for end users and enterprise customers. Its digital transformation (DX) journey started with the inauguration of new front-end channels, including a web portal that catered to a more diverse customer base. Since the implementation of this portal, Celcom has now become the number 1 most visited telecommunications website in Malaysia, representing substantial growth in both awareness and engagement. Furthermore, it developed the Celcom Life mobile app, which consolidated the functionalities of its two existing mobile apps, and the Celcom Pulse app, which significantly enhanced its sales experience and back-office capabilities. With Celcom Pulse, revenues have increased fourfold in six months, whereas the app accounts for 84% of all key transactions. To date, Celcom’s DX efforts have resulted in an over 60% increase in online revenue and a 700% growth in monthly app users.  

With its expertise in mass–producing high-quality lithium-ion batteries, Samsung SDI is a global leader in providing advanced energy solutions. Despite this, it encountered difficulties managing contracts with overseas suppliers, particularly given its worldwide network and the overall manufacturing complexity of increasing and diversified products. Its global supply chain management (SCM) system relies on repetitive manual work and documentation, requiring contract-related process improvement. Thus, Samsung SDI developed an electronic contract system using blockchain technology, storing data with a distributed storage method, ensuring stability, and quickly performing detailed tasks. With this, numerous problems, such as loss, forgery, and alteration, that occurred through offline contracts were fundamentally eradicated. The company also improved reliability within the supply chain and reduced contract work lead time by 90%, enabling more rapid responses to market supply and demand changes. Not only did Samsung SDI reduce work and shorten lead time, but it also essentially eradicated compliance issues caused by the technical data agreement’s omissions, enhancing the reliability of cooperative development with suppliers. Annually, the system’s use saves billions because of the decreased issuance of general-purpose certificates and the supplier relationship management (SRM) system‘s requests, as well as declined travel expenses for contracts. Currently, the electronic supply contracts’ signature rate is at 99.7%, with the system presently used by Samsung SDI’s 2,000 overseas partners. 

Established in 1956, Bank Danamon is one of Indonesia’s largest financial institutions, serving consumers, micro, small, and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs), and enterprise banking segments. It also offers Sharia banking services and provides financing for automotive and consumer goods through its subsidiary, Adira Finance. The bank operates an extensive distribution network spread out across Indonesia, with 910 branches and subsidiary service outlets. In 2018, Bank Danamon established its digital strategy, accelerated by the strategic investments of the Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group (MUFG) and MUFG Innovation Partners in partnership with Indonesia’s prominent digital players. The strategy focuses on the three pillars of a digitally enabled integrated network, high-touch services, and a digital core and has shifted the bank’s traditional risk approach, marking its move into the digital lending arena. Bank Danamon launched its API Central in 2018. Notable strategic partnerships have also been established with GoPay, Tokopedia, and Carsome. It has also partnered with Investree and signed its first loan channeling agreement to cater to SMEs. Bank Danamon has also launched the D-Bank app for online account registration and D-BisMart app for business owners involved in the supply chain community. 

Relaunched in India in 2018 to position itself as a technology-led brand with a rich innovation heritage, MG Motor India adopted a digital-first approach using the MG Xperience Cloud, which leveraged numerous technologies, such as social and artificial intelligence (AI). Adhering to the mantra of “enabling exciting experiences every time,“ MG Motor India wants its customers to have a personalized and unique experience that existing automobile players do not provide with their digital platforms. MG Xperience Cloud delivers end-to-end solutions, helping the company reestablish the brand through consolidating all its online marketing initiatives, leading to faster time to market, customer touch-point integration to deliver personalized experiences and improved targeting capabilities, partner ecosystem establishment for increased engagement and conversion, and the creation of virtual showrooms to further drive experience-led engagement. By delivering consistent and omni-channel customer experience (CX), the company tripled its sales target for Hector, India‘s first Internet sport utility vehicle (SUV), in 45 days. Through Hector, MG Motor India extensively uses AI and ML to better understand drivers’ habits and patterns and plans to leverage data to better serve end customers and dealers. 

Mox Bank is the new virtual bank by Standard Chartered in partnership with PCCW, Hong Kong Telecom (HKT), and Trip.com. With the combined power of a leading international bank, the city’s telecom, and a lifestyle leader and Asia’s largest online travel agency, Mox Bank helps customers grow through a suite of retail financial services and lifestyle benefits. A new type of bank based on trust and on service, Mox Bank has implemented a new business strategy for the mobile-first, digitally empowered Hong Kong consumers. As one of the first banks to obtain a virtual banking license in Hong Kong in March 2019, Mox Bank reflects endless opportunities it can co-create with its customers — Mobile eXperience, Money eXperience, Money X (multiplier), eXponential growth, and eXploration. The Mox Card has been redefined with innovation, security, and privacy in mind. Its goal is to win “heart share“ rather than market share. Mox Bank believes that if it makes itself more relevant to customers’ daily lives, the business will simply follow. Its main services for its customers are smart banking, smart saving, and smart spending. Together with Mastercard, Mox Bank is the first bank in Asia to launch an all-in-one numberless bank card, reducing the risk of losing personal information and securing transactions for all customers.  

Established in 1984, Haier Group Corporation is a world-leading provider of solutions to better life. In the Internet of Things (IoT) era, Haier Group has transformed from a traditional manufacturing enterprise into an IoT community ecosystem, building the world’s leading IoT ecosystem brand. Haier offers its services to over 1 billion families in 160 countries and has also successfully incubated four listed companies, five unicorn companies, and 22 gazelle companies. Moreover, Haier Group has established over 10 open innovation systems, 25 industrial parks, 122 manufacturing centers, 108 marketing centers, and 143,330 sales networks globally, as well as several other ecosystem brands. It has penetrated the technical fields of artificial intelligence (AI), blockchain, cloud computing, data technology, edge computing, facial recognition, and 5G (ABCDEFG), digitized all business processes, and repeatedly attained increased user, enterprise, and ecosystem value through its COSMOPlat industrial internet platform. Through this platform, Haier Group has upgraded its seven major nodes comprehensively and implemented a mass customization model with the successful participation of users in the processes of its 15 intelligent interconnected factories. With COSMOPlat, Haier Group has also empowered more small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) to realize the value of digital transformation (DX) and high-quality development through its “1 + 7 + N” experiential cloud platform. To date, the mass customization model has been replicated in 15 industries, 12 regions, and more than 20 countries.

Newcrest Mining is the largest gold producer listed on the Australian Securities Exchange (ASX) and is one of the world’s largest gold mining companies. Headquartered in Melbourne, Australia, Newcrest Mining operates mines in Australia, Canada, and Papua New Guinea. Newcrest Mining has successfully implemented an Internet of Things (IoT) edge platform in their largest underground mine in Cadia, New South Wales to monitor and manage crushed ore bin levels using near-real–time data science models that function as a coarse ore bin (COB) soft sensor, delivering ROI within the first three months of operation. Running in their new architecture, the soft sensors have decreased their lower operating limit from 70% to 30%, allowing the crushing cycle to run uninterrupted until the microwave sensor can be replaced. The notifications of the soft sensors’ operation and the time to retrain and recalibrate the models are constantly improving, which is also one of the platform’s functions. With this IoT edge platform, Newcrest Mining was able to increase its throughput by a record-breaking 650,000 tons in the first six months of implementation, decrease crushing circuit downtime by 50%, and enable faster delivery by fostering trust between the site and IT, thanks to the new responsive and reliable process. Through this platform and advanced analytics, Newcrest Mining has realized digital value streams from its mining operations.