Infosys finalises joint venture in Japan with Hitachi and Panasonic

02 April 2019 Consultancy.asia

Infosys has stepped up its presence in Japan through a joint venture with local firms Hitachi, Panasonic and Pasona, with the new company to focus of procurement solutions.

Originally announced in December, Indian IT services and consulting giant Infosys has finalised the formation of a joint venture in Japan with local multinational names Hitachi, Pansonsic and human capital firm Pasona, with Shinichiro Nagagata appointed as chief executive. The new entity – named HiPUS – will provide end-to-end digital procurement solutions for Japanese corporations.

The venture comes as a result of Infosys picking up an 81 percent stake in Hitachi Procurement Service, a fully owned Hitachi subsidiary formed in 2002 which handles indirect materials purchasing functions for the Hitachi Group, with Panasonic and Pasona brought on board for 2 percent each. HiPUS will remain headquartered in Tokyo, and kick off with an initial headcount of 200-plus people.

Described as a coming together of complementary, iconic companies, the move is a strategic effort on behalf of Infosys to enhance its presence in Japan, and follows a similar agreement with state investment firm Temasek made in Singapore last year – where it is focusing on cloud computing, data analytics, AI and automation. The Japanese market, however, has shaped the firm’s latest country push. Infosys finalises joint venture in Japan with Hitachi and Panasonic “Procurement is a big focus area for manufacturing & hi-tech clients which Japan is known for,” said Infosys president Ravi Kumar. “All large corporations in Japan will go through significant procurement spend, and we believe this joint venture will deliver to the promise of transforming their procurement processes using next-generation digital platforms, as we bring together the combined power of deep procurement expertise, technology, global expertise and local skills.”

According to the firms, the complementary mix includes Infosys’ global expertise in procurement processes, consulting, analytics and digital technologies, such as artificial intelligence and robotic process automation, with Hitachi and Panasonic’s knowledge of their procurement functions and local teams and Pasona’s human capital and local business process management (BPM) networks.

In addition to BPM, HiPUS will introduce BPO (business process outsourcing) services to customers in areas such as procurement and purchasing operations, as well as provide training services in procurement and a broad range of further lines in consulting, reverse auctions and other purchasing schemes – with the aim of generating revenues upwards of $3.5 billion in 2021.

“We are delighted to build this new partnership, combining strengths and unlocking potential of Infosys, Panasonic, and Pasona,” said Masashi Murayama, Hitachi’s Chief Procurement Officer. “The procurement functions role is critical to Hitachi’s success, and this partnership will strengthen Hitachi Procurement’s global competitiveness with new operating models, and high quality delivery at speed enabled by digital technologies.”