What We Can Do in an Era When Labor Shortages Threaten to Halt Operations: The Future Envisioned by Our Strategic Partnership with SORABITO

From "AI for Cost Reduction" to "AI to Keep Industries Running"

Construction, equipment rental, manufacturing, logistics — across the frontline industries that underpin Japan's social infrastructure, profound change is now advancing quietly but unmistakably.

Order processing, inventory checks, phone response, dispatch coordination — many of these core functions remain dependent on human hands. The problem is that those "hands" are disappearing.

Veteran retirements, the difficulty of recruiting younger talent, and operational knowledge that exists only in someone's head — left unaddressed, the risk that "phones cannot be answered," "dispatch cannot be arranged," and "order processing cannot function" is becoming a tangible reality, with operations themselves at risk of halting.

This can no longer be framed as a matter of cost optimization or productivity improvement. It is an issue that affects the very survival of these industries.

That is precisely why enableX, through its strategic partnership with SORABITO Inc., is committed to implementing "AI that keeps industrial frontlines running."

What This Partnership Will Deliver

Embedding Frontline-Specific "Knowledge" into Systems

Simply deploying general-purpose AI tools will not transform the frontline. The complex specifications of construction equipment, industry-specific terminology, and long-cultivated business practices — this "common sense of the frontline" cannot be learned by general-purpose AI.

Over many years, SORABITO has built core systems for construction-equipment rental and led paperless transformation at the frontline, accumulating the data and trust that lie deep within frontline industries.

To this, enableX adds deep-tech capabilities — simulation, multimodal AI, image analysis, and voice AI — together with specialized expertise in business-process automation (workflow automation).

Together, the two companies will build a "framework that keeps operations running," grounded in a frontline-specific knowledge base. By embedding operational knowledge that had depended on individual experience directly into systems, we will establish an operating structure that keeps running even as headcount declines.

Scope Extends Beyond Construction-Equipment Rental

This initiative is not limited to the construction-equipment rental industry. Across all frontline industries that underpin social infrastructure — construction, manufacturing, energy, and agricultural machinery — the two companies will jointly develop and deliver proposals for business transformation, group-wide operating efficiency, and AI adoption.

Initiatives We Will Strengthen

Digitalization of Frontline Knowledge

Structuring operational knowledge, industry terminology, and business practices — previously dependent on individuals — as a unified data foundation

Implementation of Voice AI and Automation

Deploying voice AI and workflow automation to labor-dependent functions such as phone response and dispatch management

Frontline-Specific AI Development

Jointly building AI solutions tailored to specialized operations that general-purpose models cannot handle

Group Operating-Efficiency Support

Proposing standardization and efficiency improvements across multiple sites and group companies

If You Are Facing These Challenges, Please Reach Out

Talent and Organizational Challenges

• Veteran employees are retiring one after another, and we are uncertain whether operations can continue
• Tacit knowledge of the frontline is being lost before younger employees can develop
• Without specific staff in place, even phone response and order processing come to a halt

Operational and Process Challenges

• Order processing, inventory checks, and dispatch coordination still rely on phone and fax
• We deployed AI and DX tools, but they could not handle the complex operations of the frontline
• As sites and group companies have multiplied, standardization of operations cannot keep pace

Management and Strategic Challenges

• We recognize the need to shift to a business model that presupposes labor shortages
• We are exploring AI adoption aimed not at "cost reduction" but at "operational continuity"
• We are serious about advancing Digital Transformation (DX) in frontline industries, but do not know where to begin

Toward a Future Where the Frontline Never Stops

The deep understanding and trust SORABITO has accumulated at the frontline, multiplied by enableX's strengths in deep tech and business development — through this combination, we are committed to building "an operating foundation that does not halt even as headcount declines."

At enableX, we believe that simply bringing in general-purpose AI will not transform the frontline. Grounded in industry-specific knowledge and data, we will jointly implement AI that keeps industries running.