NTT DOCOMO Ventures Invests in Crosser Technologies AB, a Swedish Startup Providing Edge Data Analytics & Integration Platform for Manufacturers

NTT DOCOMO Ventures, Inc. (headquartered in Minato-ku, Tokyo, Japan; President and CEO, Takayuki Inagawa; hereinafter “NDV”), through a fund it operates, has invested in Crosser Technologies AB (headquartered in Stockholm, Sweden; CEO, Martin Thunman, hereinafter “Crosser”), which provides edge data analytics and integration platform for manufacturers*1.

In recent years, the need for data utilization and smart factory is growing among manufacturing companies for the purpose of increasing productivity, cutting costs, and optimizing operations. However, collecting data from factories is difficult because of protocols and interfaces that vary from equipment to equipment. Furthermore, there are other additional issues such as work operations including data format formation, increased costs owing to massive data transfer via cloud, and reduced processing speed. In addition, managing these processes requires comprehensive professional knowledge, while support tools are dispersed among different functions. For these reasons, it is difficult for most companies, except those with large-scale development capabilities and acquisition resources, to fully utilize manufacturing data.

To address these issues, Crosser’s platform offers comprehensive functions to handle, process, and utilize data obtained from factory equipment. It helps collect data from various devices and allows intuitive operations using visualized tools, making it possible to convert data into formats suitable for analysis and usage and automatically transform data without programming. The company’s software is deployed in edge devices inside factories, realizing real-time ultrahigh-speed data processing. Besides data processing and analysis, the platform can be used to automatically control manufacturing equipment based on the data; the platform is linked to various external tools such as ERP*2, MES System*3, and SAP*4, allowing users to utilize the platform for company-wide resource planning and management control and in factories.

The company’s platform offers comprehensive functions necessary for data utilization in the manufacturing industry, and companies of any size can easily introduce it in their systems and use it for various purposes. As these factors are highly recognized, this platform has been increasingly introduced by a wide range of manufacturing companies worldwide. Going forward, the platform is also expected to expand in Japan as a service to promote the digitization of the manufacturing industry for realizing smart factories.

To achieve the “Smart World,” a smart society in which IT helps resolve various social issues, the NTT Group has declared to become a DX Enabler that focuses on services that help companies utilize data and support their DX. NTT DOCOMO, INC. is making efforts to provide measures for the manufacturing industry, such as FAAP, a 5G-compatible integrated analysis solution for manufacturing equipment, to help manufacturers improve their productivity. NDV has come to make this investment because the services and technologies offered by Crosser are highly compatible with the NTT Group measures.

From here on, NDV will perform measures to create new values by supporting service cooperation between Crosser and the NTT Group.

*1 Edge: Systems close to the point of origin of data or data utilization locations/endpoint of a network.
*2 ERP: ERP stands for Enterprise Resource Planning, which is the integrated management of various processes needed for company management under a single system.
*3 MES: MES stand for Manufacturing Execution System, which refers to a system that connects, monitors and controls complex manufacturing systems and data flows on the factory floor.
*4 SAP: SAP refers to an ERP service offered by SAP SE.

■Regarding Crosser Technologies AB
Company Name: 　　Crosser Technologies AB
Location: 　Regeringsgatan 113, 111 39 Stockholm, Sweden
Representative: 　Martin Thunman
Business Content: Development and provision of edge data analytics and integration platform for manufacturers
URL: https://crosser.io/

Company names and product names mentioned are trademarks or registered trademarks owned by their respective owners.

【Appendix】Overview of Crosser Platform

Usage image 1: The overall structure of the solution

Usage image 2: Data processing using visualized tools