ExaWizards Provides Idemitsu Kosan with Overseas Crude Oil Shipping Optimization System — Proprietary Algorithm Incorporating On-Site Expertise Achieves Up to 40% Reduction in Planning Time, Is Expected to Cut Annual Operating Costs by Several Hundred Million Yen —
ExaWizards Inc. (Minato-ku, Tokyo; Representative Director, President & CEO: Makoto Haruta; hereinafter “ExaWizards”) has provided Idemitsu Kosan Co., Ltd. (Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo; Representative Director and President: Noriaki Sakai; hereinafter “Idemitsu Kosan”) with a state-of-the-art optimization system for planning overseas crude oil shipments. The system was rolled out in stages starting in April 2025 for outbound tanker scheduling (*1). This proprietary algorithm factors in the complex conditions unique to overseas tanker assignments, stabilizing supply and minimizing operational costs..
*1: International crude oil shipping
ExaWizards and Idemitsu Kosan entered a business partnership in 2022. The collaboration combines Idemitsu’s extensive data and large customer base with ExaWizards’ expertise in digital and AI technology, business development, and digital transformation (DX) talent development.
Starting fiscal 2024, the two companies began using generative AI to enhance productivity and create new value as part of Idemitsu’s DX strategy. The current optimization project for outbound tanker scheduling is a key initiative of this collaboration, incorporating the knowledge of Idemitsu’s veteran operators to provide a robust algorithm capable of handling intricate, real-world constraints.
☑︎ Optimizing Overseas Tanker Scheduling
Crude oil transport is a major cost factor for oil refiners. Balancing stable supply with optimal cost decisions is vital and has a significant impact on profitability. In pre-implementation validation tests, the new system reduced planning time for outbound tanker scheduling by up to 40%. By reducing the number of port calls, for example, the system is expected to lower annual operating costs by up to several hundred million yen.
☑︎ Optimization Technologies
Optimizing overseas tanker scheduling requires consideration of many constraints across ports, vessels, and refineries. This planning traditionally relied on the experience of seasoned operators, but there was a need for data-driven, quantitative decision-making focused on operational costs.
This project partnered Idemitsu’s experienced operators and ExaWizards’ engineers to redesign the fundamental requirements for outbound tanker planning. They reworked the entire process by verifying and tuning various optimization methods and combinations to suit different use cases, resulting in a user-friendly system that meets both practical business needs and computational efficiency.
The system also supports comparison of multiple scenarios and allows operators to manually adjust solutions based on the optimized results. This flexibility allows the system to accommodate many different use cases.
【ExaWizards Corporate profile】
Company name: ExaWizards Inc
Location: 4-2-8 Shibaura, Minato-ku, Tokyo, 5F
Established: February 2016
Representative: Makoto Haruta, Representative Director & President CEO
Business: Industrial innovation and resolution of social issues via AI service development
URL: https://exawizards.com/en/
＜Media Contact＞
ExaWizards Inc. Public Relations: publicrelations@exwzd.com