Quantum computing is no longer confined to the lab. The technology is now making serious inroads into boardrooms and business strategies across a wide range of industries. This surge in interest comes as public awareness grows too. A survey released on World Quantum Day (14 April) shows that 78% of adults in France and Germany […]
Quantum computing is no longer confined to the lab. The technology is now making serious inroads into boardrooms and business strategies across a wide range of industries.
This surge in interest comes as public awareness grows too. A survey released on World Quantum Day (14 April) shows that 78% of adults in France and Germany are aware of quantum technologies, with strong optimism for their impact on healthcare, energy, and cybersecurity. A UK survey also found widespread recognition of the term ‘quantum computer’.
Meanwhile, companies are starting to embrace quantum technologies. A report from Hyperion Research shows that 1 in 5 businesses plan to adopt quantum computing in the next 12 to 18 months — a 50% jump from two years ago. With early adopters reporting significant returns on investment from quantum optimisation, the race is on.
Delivering Impact
Quantum computing is no longer a theoretical concept; it is delivering real, measurable business benefits across multiple sectors. Once the domain of academic research, it’s now a powerful tool enabling businesses to solve complex, large-scale problems faster and more efficiently than traditional computing alone.
For businesses wrestling with optimisation problems, like supply chain logistics or risk modelling -quantum computing can offer a significant edge. According to The Operational Research Society (“Operational Research”), these are precisely the kinds of challenges that Operational Research has been tackling for years, often facing the limitations of legacy computing solutions.
While classical computers solve problems step-by-step, quantum systems use superposition and entanglement to evaluate vast numbers of potential solutions simultaneously. This allows quantum machines to tackle certain complex optimisation problems better, faster, more accurately and more efficiently than classical computing alone.
And thanks to cloud access and user-friendly development environments, quantum computing is no longer reserved for large corporations with specialist teams. Many organisations, especially those with computationally complex challenges, can benefit from the additional computational horsepower quantum computing can provide today. Using quantum and hybrid quantum-classical methods to solve complex problems, such as streamlining supply chains or optimizing manufacturing processes, may help give any business a competitive edge.
Quantum computing in action
Across industries, quantum computing is delivering impressive real-world results. An early adopter of quantum computing, Pattison Food Group (“PFG”), the largest purveyor of food and healthcare products in western Canada, is running a driver auto-scheduling quantum optimisation application in production throughout 58 stores. This application trimmed an 80-hour task to 15 hours each week. PFG is also running an in-store personnel scheduling quantum application in production.
NTT DOCOMO Inc. (“DOCOMO”), Japan’s largest mobile phone operator with over 90 million subscriptions, also turned to quantum computing to improve its mobile network performance. Using a hybrid-quantum solution, DOCOMO found that it can reduce congestion at base stations by decreasing paging signals during peak calling times by 15%, potentially leading to increased efficiencies and lowered infrastructure costs.
While a general-purpose solver took 27 hours to complete a certain task, D-Wave’s hybrid-quantum solver completed the same task in just 40 seconds. The company is now running the hybrid-quantum solution in production across its Japanese branch offices.
Ford Otosan, a joint venture between Ford Motor Company and Koç Holding in Turkey, has deployed a hybrid-quantum application in production to streamline the manufacturing processes for its Ford Transit line of vehicles.
Ford is experimenting with quantum computing to streamline production process
The solution optimises production sequencing, scheduling 1,000 vehicles per run in under 5 minutes, compared to 30 minutes using classical solutions alone. Most notably, using the hybrid-quantum application the carmaker could respond appropriately to shifts in demand or parts availability to avoid any disruptions to its productivity. This quantum optimisation application is a powerful demonstration of quantum computing’s real-world impact in automotive manufacturing.
Global banks embrace quantum computing
These examples illustrate a broader trend that quantum computing is no longer a distant innovation but a scalable, practical solution to some of today’s toughest optimisation problems.
Quantum Leap into the future
Quantum computing has entered the business mainstream, and this powerful technology is delivering impressive results. With cloud-based quantum platforms now widely available, companies can tap into quantum capabilities as a service, without the need for specialised hardware or quantum science expertise. Businesses that use quantum computing in conjunction with Operational Research could gain an even more powerful toolkit for tackling complex, data-driven optimisation problems across industries.
As adoption increases, we believe the divide between businesses deploying quantum applications in production and those still waiting on the side-lines will only grow. For organisations that act now, the potential opportunity is clear: tackle problems others can’t and gain a strategic edge that’s difficult to rival. Quantum computing isn’t just the future – it’s already reshaping the present.
