CITIC Telecom CPC wins Best in Future of Operations at IDC Future Enterprise Awards 2022

CITIC Telecom CPC used the OutSystems high-performance low-code platform alongside ground-breaking AI cognitive object recognition technology to accelerate the delivery of its award-winning Smart Warehouse solution

CITIC Telecom International CPC Limited (CITIC Telecom CPC), a wholly-owned subsidiary of CITIC Telecom International Holdings Limited (“CITIC Telecom”, SEHK: 1883) and a leading Global DICT solutions provider, together with OutSystems, a global leader in high-performance application development, announce an award win from International Data Corporation (IDC). CITIC Telecom CPC was named Hong Kong Winner of the Best in Future of Operations in IDC’s Future Enterprise Awards 2022 for the company’s AI Cognitive Object Recognition Systems.

CITIC Telecom CPC’s AI Cognitive Object Recognition System, developed by in-house Information Technology Services & Data Science Team was selected among over hundreds of high-quality entries from various industries and leading enterprises. The surge in demand for warehouse capacity and the importance of a smooth-running operation has become increasingly clear over the past 2 years. CITIC Telecom CPC has formed its in-house Research and Development team in 2017, backed by the technological capabilities and strategic flexibility, the team has developed and implemented the Smart Warehouse Solution within six months. This rapid innovation was achieved by combining rapid visual development—powered by the OutSystems high-performance low-code platform—alongside AI-enabled COR technology that CITIC Telecom CPC had previously developed.

Key benefits of the award-winning Smart Warehouse solution

Since its inception, the Solution has realized 88% time saving for warehouse equipment receipts and the management of inventory, facilitating engineers to collect equipment from warehouses faster by 90%. This automation has allowed for HK$2.4 million cost savings in software license and equipment, along with achieved employee efficiency by reducing 89% of staff time.

Accelerating the speed and accuracy with combined intelligent technologies

By implementing this innovative AI-powered solution, CITIC Telecom CPC was able to replace legacy barcode labels, printers, and dedicated handheld scanners with a mobile application called “CEEM” built on the OutSystems platform. Used by warehouse staff and engineers on standard smartphones, the app combines machine learning, computer vision, and COR to locate and count objects in 95 milliseconds with 99% accuracy.

The CEEM app has made the equipment inventory and management process faster, more reliable, and more real-time. Thanks to the flexible integration supported by the OutSystems low-code platform, CITIC Telecom CPC eliminated disjointed and costly scanning software. The CEEM app now updates the core inventory database in real-time.

Realizing the full potential of the intelligent innovation across industries

As is the case for many of CITIC Telecom CPC’s innovations, what started as an agile innovation project focused on in-house process improvement, has evolved into a customer-facing proposition, and won several proof-of-concept projects with top brands in healthcare, manufacturing and logistics, as well as being accredited with reputable regional market awards, including:

• Global Awards 2022 Best Innovative Value Added Service Provider by Carrier Community
• International Innovation Awards 2021 by Enterprise Asia
• Datacloud Global Awards 2021 by Broad Group
• CAHK STAR Awards 2021 Best Innovation for Future Enterprise - Gold

“We appreciate IDC’s recognition of CITIC Telecom CPC as the Best in Future of Operations with Smart Warehouse solution. It is a testament to our commitment to exploring and exploiting pioneering technologies to differentiate from competitors and to deliver exceptional user experiences. ” said Mr. Ivan Lee, Vice President, Information Technology Services & Data Science of CITIC Telecom CPC. “Thanks to the speed and flexibility of development with our technology partner, OutSystems, who is integral to meeting the complex business requirements and seizing new digital opportunities to empower innovative products, services, and business models.”

CITIC Telecom CPC’s Smart Warehouse solution leverages the latest Cognitive Object Recognition (COR) technology, one of the many disruptive innovations the company has brought to market, including artificial intelligence (AI), augmented reality (AR), big data, IoT, and low-code application development. By harnessing the advanced technologies, the Smart Warehouse solution saved a remarkable ~90 percent of warehouse staff time when executing routine tasks.

Mr. Lee continues, “Upholding our core values “Innovation Never Stops”, we continuously strive to contribute our R&D excellence in different technologies like Blockchain and NLP to create a better digital future and scale the company into a leading intelligent ICT-enabler in the new era.”

CITIC Telecom CPC has embarked on an innovative and intelligence transformation journey with its Intelligence and Communications Transformation MiiND (ICT-MiiND) strategy, to cater for the changing needs of the future. The company continually invests in research and development to improve internal operations and deliver innovative customer-facing products and services, and artificial intelligence is a core focus of that R&D recently. The company’s ability to deliver the Smart Warehouse Solution in just six months demonstrates the agility advantage CITIC Telecom CPC enjoys having set up a dedicated data science and innovation team to spearhead research and development in AI, ML, and deep learning.

Mr. Mark Weaser, APAC Vice President at OutSystems, said, “CITIC Telecom CPC’s ‘Best in Future of Operations, Future Enterprise Award’ from IDC is a testament to the company’s innovative culture and development approach. Time and again, we see OutSystems used alongside artificial intelligence to deliver disruptive innovation. OutSystems provides the development speed and agility needed to quickly turn brave experiments into brilliant digital products, as this award recognizes. We congratulate CITIC Telcecom CPC and are proud to have played a part in their success.”

Mr. Daniel-Zoe Jimenez, Vice President for Digital Innovation, CX & SW Applications, DNB and SMB Research, IDC Asia/Pacific said, "Innovation is not a project, but instead it's a journey; and CITIC Telecom CPC motto 'innovation never stops' is a good reflection of this. By leveraging digital technologies to unify enterprise data streams, the warehousing and engineering teams effectively increased the warehouse inventory management system's efficiency and operational resilience. As Hong Kong’s Best in Future of Operations 2022, CITIC Telecom CPC is recognized by IDC due to its ability to rethink the way operations are managed, shifting to a model that fosters data-driven resilient decision making, by leveraging real-time data, digital engineering, and data science.”