TOKYO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Aug 5, 2024--
Global technology company FPT Software, a subsidiary of FPT Corporation, and KITZ Corporation, a world-leading manufacturer of industrial valves and fluid control products, recently signed a strategic partnership agreement. The collaboration leverages FPT Software’s scalable workforce and robust expertise to accelerate the digital transformation initiatives across KITZ’s manufacturing and business operations.
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Under the agreement, FPT Software will provide digital solutions to enhance KITZ’s product development and design, global supply chain, maintenance services, and sales and marketing activities. FPT Software will also enhance KITZ’s IT infrastructure through cutting-edge, AI-infused solutions to facilitate its operation and manufacturing with greater precision, efficiency, and safety.
“Driving agility, scalability, and enhanced productivity for our clients has always been FPT Software’s priority. With two decades of experience accompanying industry giants in Japan, a diversified delivery network, and a high-quality workforce globally, we are confident to help KITZ streamline operations and improve time-to-market to stay ahead of the rapidly changing manufacturing landscape,” said Pham Minh Tuan, FPT Corporation Executive Vice President and FPT Software Chief Executive Officer.
"I believe that forming a strategic partnership with FPT, a company that provides the latest technologies and services in the digital field, is a significant step forward. We are currently constructing a factory in Vinh Phuc Province, Vietnam, to manufacture and sell stainless steel valves, which are expected to be in high demand in the future, and a factory to produce high-purity gas valves for the semiconductor equipment market. In Vietnam, which is experiencing remarkable growth, we will continue to provide products and services tailored to our customers' markets and regions by partnering with FPT, a global company that has been at the forefront of DX initiatives for many companies,” said Makoto Kohno, KITZ Corporation Chief Executive Officer.
With nearly 20 years in Japan, FPT Software has become one of the largest foreign technology firms in terms of workforce, with 3,500 employees across 17 local offices and innovation hubs, as well as 15,000 global employees dedicated to the Japanese market. The company has provided services and solutions to over 450 clients worldwide, supporting their digital transformation through strategic consulting services and advanced technological solutions such as AI, machine learning, and cloud computing. The IT firm also plays a significant role in promoting technology cooperation and development between Vietnam and Japan, notably an active member of the Japan Business Federation (Keidanren) and the chair of the Vietnam Association of Digital Transformation in Japan ( VADX Japan ).
Manufacturing is among FPT Software's key domains. It provides comprehensive strategies and execution processes for digital factories on a global scale, leveraging its deep expertise and wide skills network to deliver complex end-to-end projects that enhance manufacturing operations. These proven competencies and success place FPT Software as a leader and disruptor in manufacturing services by IDC MarketScape and HFS Horizons.
About FPT Software
FPT Software, a subsidiary of FPT Corporation, is a global technology and IT services provider headquartered in Vietnam, with $1 billion in revenue (2023) and over 30,000 employees in 30 countries.
The company champions complex business opportunities and challenges with its world-class services in Advanced Analytics, AI, Digital Platforms, Cloud, Hyperautomation, IoT, Low-code, and so on. It has partnered with over 1,100 clients worldwide, nearly 100 of which are Fortune Global 500 companies in Aviation, Automotive, Banking, Financial Services and Insurance, Healthcare, Logistics, Manufacturing, Utilities, and more. For more information, please visit https://fptsoftware.com/
The signing ceremony took place in Tokyo, Japan, with KITZ Corporation CEO Makoto Kohno, FPT Corporation EVP and FPT Software CEO Pham Minh Tuan, and senior executives from both sides. (Photo: Business Wire)
RIO DE JANEIRO (AP) — Rio de Janeiro’s main beaches bustle with commotion on sunny weekends. But activity ground to a near standstill on one stretch of sand. People held up their phones to record athletic feats they’d never before witnessed, or even imagined.
The game? Footvolley, a combination of soccer and beach volleyball. The athlete? A 3-year-old border collie named Floki.
Floki sparks wonder among bystanders, because he hangs tough in a game that even humans struggle to get a handle on. Footvolley rules are essentially the same as beach volleyball, but with a slightly lower net and, like soccer, players are forbidden from using hands and arms. Floki springs up from the sand to drive the ball with his mouth. He has become something of an internet sensation in Brazil, with hundreds of thousands of followers on Instagram and TikTok.
Floki’s owner, Gustavo Rodrigues, is a footvolley coach, but swears he didn’t plan this. He had wanted an American Bully, a decidedly less sprightly breed. Floki came into Rodrigues’ life instead and quickly revealed his potential when, at just 2 months old, he started jumping after birthday balloons.
Rodrigues started Floki out on what's called “altinha,” where a group standing in a circle juggles a soccer ball for as long as possible. In 2023, Floki made his debut in the much more complex, competitive game of footvolley — a hobby enjoyed by some Brazilian soccer stars after they retire, including World Cup winners Ronaldinho and Romário.
Footvolley players need poise, agility, coordination, timing, finesse. Covering one side of the court between just two people means quick sprints back and forth on soft sand under the baking sun. It’s no mean feat, but Floki was a natural. A star was born.
“He does things that even some professionals don’t — like positioning on the court,” said Rodrigues, 26. “Sometimes the ball goes from one side (of the court) to the other, and he doesn’t keep his back turned to it. He turns toward the ball to always hit it straight on.”
It’s clear this high-energy pup lives for this game. Even resting under the shade of the beach’s caipirinha bar, he was laser-focused on the action of the adjacent court’s match.
When playing, he barks at Rodrigues to pass him the ball and seems to at least understand the basic rules. At times, rather than passing back to Rodrigues for the third and final touch their opponents expect, he sneaks the ball over the net himself to score a point. Then he jumps into Rodrigues’ arms to celebrate.
One of the awestruck onlookers Sunday was Luiza Chioli, who had traveled to Rio from Sao Paulo. She already knew the famous Floki from TikTok, but hadn’t expected front-row seats to watch him while sipping her gin and tonic.
“Seeing social media, we had thought it was just cuts, that they used the best takes,” said Chioli, 21. “But we saw he played, performed the whole time, did really well. It’s really cool.”
As Floki’s follower count has grown, partnerships and endorsement deals have come rolling in. Rodrigues and Floki live in the inland capital Brasilia, but often travel to Rio — footvolley’s mecca — and other Brazilian states to show off his skills, do marketing appearances and create monetized social media content.
His Sunday began with almost an hour playing beside former footvolley champion Natalia Guitler, who’s been called Queen of the Beach. Between attempts to film her doing a trick pass to him, he scampered for drinks of water or to dip in the ocean. By the end, both she and Floki were scrambling for shade.
“We’re dead,” she said as she collapsed onto the sand next to a panting Floki. Someone passed her a phone to check out the best clips for her Instagram, where she has almost 3 million followers.
“Me and my bestie @dog_altinha playing footvolley,” she wrote in a later post showing their long rally, and which included her bicycle kicking the ball over the net.
After a rest and another footvolley session, Floki headed to a more remote beach to do a marketing shoot for Farm, a fashion designer that’s become the paragon of Rio’s breezy tropical style, both in Brazil and abroad.
Then Floki was on Instagram hyping a brand of dog popsicles, gnawing a banana-flavored one himself, and giving an altinha demonstration to mall shoppers. His evening stroll along Copacabana’s beachside promenade showed him straining against his leash, still evidently bursting with his boundless energy.
With their weekend marketing blitz in Rio over, Rodrigues and Floki would head back to Brasilia, where their influencer hustle takes a back seat to the hustle of playing competitive matches. They win about one in every three, Rodrigues said, and their opponents are always desperate to avoid being beaten by a dog.
“It generates talk, and people make fun,” he said. “No one likes to lose a point to him, so people play their hearts out against us.”
Follow AP’s coverage of Latin America and the Caribbean at https://apnews.com/hub/latin-america
The border collie named Floki and athlete Natalia Guitler play footvolley, a combination of soccer and volleyball, on Leblon beach in Rio de Janeiro, Sunday, Sept. 8, 2024. (AP Photo/Bruna Prado)
Coach Gustavo Rodrigues celebrates a point with his trainee, border collie named Floki, as they play footvolley, a combination of soccer and volleyball, on Leblon beach in Rio de Janeiro, Sunday, Sept. 8, 2024. (AP Photo/Bruna Prado)
The border collie named Floki high-fives his coach Gustavo Rodrigues as they prepare to play footvolley, a combination of soccer and volleyball, on Leblon beach in Rio de Janeiro, Sunday, Sept. 8, 2024. (AP Photo/Bruna Prado)
The border collie named Floki plays footvolley, a combination of soccer and volleyball, on Leblon beach in Rio de Janeiro, Sunday, Sept. 8, 2024. (AP Photo/Bruna Prado)
The border collie named Floki plays footvolley, a combination of soccer and volleyball, on Leblon beach in Rio de Janeiro, Sunday, Sept. 8, 2024. (AP Photo/Bruna Prado)
