Background of Implementation: Resolving the Burden of Business Partner Management

Generally, when starting a new business relationship between companies, it is essential to register information about the partner company into an ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning) system such as SAP. For Sumitomo Corporation and companies using the Sumitomo Corporation Group standard ERP system, streamlining the process of submitting registration requests to these ERP (partner databases) had become a significant challenge.

For example, when a new business partner registration request was submitted, it was necessary to perform tasks such as checking the internal database for past transaction history and manually verifying detailed information about the applicant company via external websites according to established procedures.

The IT Planning & Promotion Department of Sumitomo Corporation implemented uSonar's corporate database to eliminate these manual efforts, improve operational efficiency, and enhance data entry accuracy. The new system is now fully operational.

Data Integration Overview

uSonar's corporate database is one of the largest in Japan, covering 12.5 million business locations with our proprietary LBC code. By linking LBC to Sumitomo Corporation's partner database, the process for business partner registration requests has become significantly faster. Moving forward, operational efficiency is expected to improve across Sumitomo Corporation and the 26 companies utilizing the Sumitomo Corporation Group standard ERP.

1. LBC is one of Japan's largest corporate databases built by uSonar, covering nearly all 12.5 million business locations nationwide.
2. An 11-digit management LBC code is assigned to every business location, with constant maintenance to reflect new establishments, bankruptcies, and other status changes.
3. LBC allows for the identification of not only corporate attributes such as corporate numbers, industry types, and sales scale, but also capital relationships and headquarters/branch relationships through its coding structure.
4. Through API integration with ERP systems, LBC corporate attributes are automatically applied when business partner requests are submitted by group companies.

We are grateful to uSonar for providing consistent and comprehensive support from the initial stages of our system evaluation through to the final release. Regarding the LBC service we have implemented, we intend to leverage its full potential, starting with streamlining the application process for business partner information and subsequently expanding its provision and utilization across our group's various business sites.

This department is responsible for strategic planning and execution in the corporate IT sector for Sumitomo Corporation and the Sumitomo Corporation Group, as well as managing the group's overall IT infrastructure. As a member of the DX Center, we are accelerating the digital transformation of the Sumitomo Corporation Group.