The encyclopedia · Software & IT · Operational decision · 2014–2026
FACTORY X priced factory inventory as a strategic asset; Yazaki adopted it after two years
A Japanese startup computes optimal work-in-process per process from production, finance and risk data, replacing gut-feel inventory calls.
FACTORY X · Yazaki Group
The solution
Yazaki Group, the world's top wire-harness maker, had long competed by cutting inventory to the bone. COVID-19 broke that rule: to guarantee stable supply to automakers, the group deliberately built up stock, and once inventory was visible again, nobody had a defensible answer to 'what and how much should we hold?'
FACTORY X, an Okazaki startup led by Kiho Kamiya, supplied the answer. Its Inventory Strategy Model treats inventory as a strategic asset rather than a cost to minimize, structures production, financial and risk data for each process, and computes the appropriate level that maximizes inventory value within budget.
After two years of piloting with real plant data, centered on Yazaki's Kagoshita parts operations, the model passed: decisions once based on experience and intuition could be explained with logical reasoning, and headquarters and plants began evaluating stock by the same standard. In 2026 Yazaki launched full-scale adoption, and FACTORY X released the model as the ISData Platform product.
Why it worked
- Inventory visualization showed quantities but gave no criterion for what was appropriate to hold
- The model unifies decision criteria between headquarters and plants, ending contradictory judgments
- Production, financial and risk data are combined, so the answer balances stockout risk against profitability
- A two-year pilot on real factory data proved the logic before group-wide rollout
- Treating inventory as value-creating rather than waste reverses decades of manufacturing convention
What can be applied
When 'less inventory is better' stops working, replace the slogan with a model that prices what each unit of stock is worth and lets the whole company argue from the same numbers.
Aftermath
Yazaki began full implementation and operation in 2026 and featured the model at its new Innovation Hub REN; the group aims to make it a standard for wire-harness production. FACTORY X productized the approach as ISData Platform for any industry, and Japanese trade coverage of the model grew as more manufacturers faced the same post-COVID inventory question.
Sources
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