Tokyo, June 27 : Hitachi and Microsoft have announced a multi-year strategic alliance to accelerate the digital transformation of the manufacturing and logistics industries across Southeast Asia, North America and Japan. Hitachi will integrate its industry-leading solutions such as Lumada, and its Internet of Things (IoT)-ready industrial controllers HX Series, with the Microsoft cloud platform, leveraging Azure, Dynamics 365 and Microsoft 365 to help businesses increase their workforce productivity and operational efficiency. The first joint solutions will be available in Thailand in July, the companies said in a statement. "Through this collaboration with Microsoft, we will be able to accelerate our customers' digital transformation and continue to deliver social, environmental and economic value," said Jun Abe, Vice President and Executive Officer, CEO of Industry and Distribution Business Unit, Hitachi. The two companies will work together to meet the growing demand for predictive maintenance and process automation in remote areas and support enterprises as they tackle the challenges infused by the Covid-19 pandemic. Hitachi and Microsoft will also work together to support skilling initiatives that empower businesses to grow their digital capabilities and unlock new business opportunities. "By expanding our collaboration with Hitachi, we'll unlock new opportunities for manufacturing and logistics companies as they strive to lead in their industries and pioneer with a data-driven mindset and digital capabilities," said Caglayan Arkan, Vice President Manufacturing at Microsoft. /IANS