Fujitsu, SoftBank Robotics test AI standard for box damage from 11月2日

The push comes after the so-called 2024 problem, the logistics industry's driver shortage and rising transport costs that have persisted since 2024. In home-appliance logistics, packages are frequently taken back even when the product itself is fine, simply because of scuffs or dents on the cardboard box. Because those judgments vary by maker, retailer and operator and lean heavily on individual experience, the council and the institute had long been pointed to as needing a unified standard, but none had been put in place.

The trial is organized under the "Sustainable Home Appliance Logistics Council," led by the Home Appliance Supply Chain Council and the Distribution Economics Institute of Japan. The work proceeds in stages: first, collect the damage-judgment rules held by manufacturers, mass retailers and logistics operators and draft a common industry standard; then build an AI model that judges box condition objectively and test it on real logistics sites. Fujitsu's technology is pitched as needing only small amounts of training data while still allowing the judgment criteria to be set relatively easily, and it can explain why the AI reached a given call. SoftBank Robotics' tool records results so the basis for a decision can be checked later.

For large appliances, a single take-back is costly in re-delivery expense and on-site workload, so a shared standard plus AI judgment could reduce inconsistency. The four parties say they intend to publish the packaging-damage standard based on the results and to promote logistics DX using AI, with an eye toward expanding to food, daily goods and furniture in the future.