In a world first for the automotive industry, the technology was applied to automate the placement design for connector pins, metal parts that enable the transmission of electrical signals across circuits and components. The parts are deployed in the car’s electric control unit (ECU), a small onboard computer that controls the vehicle’s systems.

The mobility industry faces demand for sustainable product development and the need to address increasingly complex software and hardware designs but is facing a severe shortage of skilled personnel. In the ECU development process at Toyota, the connector pin placement design for a 100-pin terminal array theoretically involves a vast number of combinations (9.3 x 10^157). This led to prolonged design review times and reliance on individual expertise.

To address these issues, Toyota Systems and Fujitsu, in collaboration with Toyota, tried to automate the process applying Toyota's design standards and expertise, Toyota Systems' operational and infrastructure knowledge in Computer Aided Engineering (CAE) analysis [1] for the Toyota Group, and Fujitsu's Digital Annealer, a core component of Fujitsu Computing as a Service, and its AI technology.

This initiative involved training an AI model with information on connector pin placement patterns and their evaluation scores, previously determined by the knowledge and experiences of skilled engineers. This AI model was then converted into mathematical expressions and processed at high speed by the Digital Annealer to automatically calculate the optimal connector pin placement. As a result, the process was accelerated by more than 20x compared to conventional methods.

Both companies began applying this mechanism in actual operations for Toyota's mass-produced ECUs in parallel with conventional methods starting in May 2025.

Moving forward, Toyota Systems aims to expand this development to supplier companies, promoting the application of cutting-edge technology and digitalization in Toyota Group's wider manufacturing processes. Fujitsu will contribute to realizing a safe, secure, and comfortable mobility society by supporting the Toyota Group's sustainable development and design. Both companies will work to improve development speed and quality and reduce costs by expanding the application scope of this mechanism.

[1] Computer Aided Engineering (CAE) analysis:
Engineering method that simulates product design and performance on a computer, allowing for evaluation and verification. Contributes to reduced development time, cost reduction, and quality improvement.

About Toyota Systems

Toyota Systems is an IT solutions company established in Jan. 2019 by merging 3 different Toyota IT subsidiaries. The mission of the company is to support Toyota Motor Corporation and its group companies by developing innovative IT solutions and, by doing so, to contribute to develop the mobility society of the future. The number of the employees is approximately 3,000 and its support covers most of the Toyota’s main business areas such as R&D, production, logistics, sales, administration etc... For more information, please see https://www.toyotasystems.com/

About Fujitsu

Fujitsu’s purpose is to make the world more sustainable by building trust in society through innovation. As the digital transformation partner of choice for customers around the globe, our 113,000 employees work to resolve some of the greatest challenges facing humanity. Our range of services and solutions draw on five key technologies: AI, Computing, Networks, Data & Security, and Converging Technologies, which we bring together to deliver sustainability transformation. Fujitsu Limited (TSE:6702) reported consolidated revenues of 3.6 trillion yen (US$23 billion) for the fiscal year ended March 31, 2025 and remains the top digital services company in Japan by market share. Find out more: global.fujitsu

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