Fuji Electric Review
Vol.68-No.3,2022
Fuji Electric’s Food Distribution Creating New Value
Fuji Electric’s Food Distribution Creating New Value
Vending machines have evolved to the point where they are now playing a role in the sales growth of beverage manufacturers. Furthermore, our products for store distribution installed on sales floors have help save energy and improve operational efficiency in stores. Recent trends to protect the environment in order to achieve SDGs and carbon neutrality, as well as changing social environment that affects how people live and work due to declining populations and COVID-19 restrictions, have had a signifi cant impact on the way business is conducted. Fuji Electric will respond to these changes and provide products and technologies that create new values by staying one step ahead of market needs. In addition to vending machines and equipment for store distribution, this special issue introduces their core technologies, such as IoT and heating and cooling technology, to create new value.
SAITO, Kiyoshi
Current Status and Future Outlook
ISHIBASHI, Masanobu
Companies have been increasingly required to protect the environment and contribute to society on the back of the recent trend toward protecting the environment to achieve SDGs and carbon neutrality, as well as changing social environments due to declining populations and COVID-19 restrictions. Fuji Electric is committed to developing technologies that respond to market changes in the food distribution industry so that it can continue to create new value, including new technologies and products. For example, our proprietary heat pump technology for beverage vending machines has eliminated the need for the heat pump between internal and external compartments. Another example is a cooling unit control system for showcases that use electronic expansion valves to save energy. In terms of energy saving measures in stores, we have conducted research on refrigerated and freezer equipment, air conditioners, and even outside air intake systems to create a store system that achieves both energy saving and comfort.
TANAKA, Seiichi; YANAGAWA, Hiroyuki; MIZUNO, Kenta
In the vending machine business, there are calls for efforts to contribute to the SDGs, such as by improving the working environment and reducing food loss and waste. Having been rolling out its Vending Machine Operation Services to improve the efficiency of vending machine operation, Fuji Electric has now developed new functions. These functions are dynamic pricing, which changes product selling prices according to set rules; a smartphone remote controller, which simplifies vending machine remote operation; and New QR Code Payment, which enables the introduction of QR code payments at a low cost. These functions are expected to reduce operating hours by 20%, create an easy operating environment, and increase sales of vending machines.
WATANABE, Tadao; KONO, Amane
Beverage vending machines, widely used for their convenience, are required to improve their energy efficiency. Fuji Electric has developed a technology for beverage vending machines to expand the use of heat pumps between internal compartments and improve energy efficiency. An electronic expansion valve is used to precisely control the amount of refrigerant expansion to maintain the target evaporation. This load adjustment operation based on the evaporation temperature allows the adjustable operating range of the heat pumps to be expanded. PID control keeps the condensation temperature to match the target value. This technology was able to run vending machines only on heat pumps between internal compartments, thereby saving approximately 4% of energy.
FUKUDA, Katsuhiko; IWAKO, Tsutomu; NAKANISHI, Toshikazu
The market for home meal replacements has been growing rapidly due to changes in lifestyles, and in particular, frozen foods are increasingly in demand for their improved flavor provided by freezing technology advancement and as promising means of solving the problem of food loss. Fuji Electric has developed the“ Frozen Station” frozen food vending machine, which can sell products in stores at various locations 24 hours a day without face-to-face interaction. While achieving the industry’s largest storage capacity capable of stocking 70 large-sized products, the storage structure and conveyance technology for various forms of frozen products stabilize the posture of the products by controlling the posture during dropping. In addition, by optimizing the shape of the conveyance chute, the conveyance resistance is reduced, enabling stable conveyance of goods.
KUROYANAGI, Yasuhiko; KIDA, Akira; OZAWA, Tatsunori
As the population of Japan continues to age, there is a need to address labor shortages and improve the working environment in the nursing care field. Fuji Electric has launched the“ Thickened Beverage Vending Machine,” which facilitates the preparation of thickened beverages using the technology it has cultivated in cup vending machines and other products. Thickened beverages have more viscosity than usual to prevent aspiration, that is, accidental entry of food or drink into the trachea. In the medical and nursing care field, the viscosity must be varied depending on the condition of each individual care receiver by hand, placing a burden on the caregivers. Our newly developed Thickened Tea Vending Machine can automatically adjust the beverage temperature and viscosity according to the care receiver.
ABE, Junichi
In the retail market that uses vending machines in Southeast Asia, consumer purchasing requirements has become increasingly diversified. In response to this trend, Fuji Electric has developed a new general-purpose goods vending machine, the “FGG160DCY.” Equipped with the storage that has been greatly expanded in capacity, its product storage equipment (rack) and elevator mechanism stably dispense large and small, various products, such as food, beverages, and pharmaceuticals. In terms of cooling performance, strengthening the internal insulation structure inside and adopting a blow-down airflow structure have enabled all products to be kept uniformly cool in the temperature range of 1°C to 8°C. In addition, the housing structure has been strengthened to withstand the shocks during transportation outside Japan.
TOKUNAGA, Yuki; MUTO, Kenji; ISHIHARA, Yudai
It has recently become an urgent priority for retail industry, including supermarkets and convenience stores, to save energy and solve labor shortages due to the declining birthrate and aging population. To address the challenges, Fuji Electric has developed a network connection system to collect operational information and alarm histories from each store equipment, such as showcases, and to deliver data to the equipment via the cloud. A function that analyzes the operating conditions of equipment and detects signs of abnormality is equipped to allow for preventive maintenance of each piece of equipment. In addition, monitoring trends by store and equipment allows users to reflect them to operation control conditions and maintenance plans, contributing to energy saving and improved efficiency of operational tasks.
KINOSHITA, Suguru
The retail industry, including supermarkets and convenience stores, is increasingly demanding further energy saving of showcases, which keep products in adequate cold temperatures. To save showcase power consumption, Fuji Electric has developed a precise valve opening control system using an electronic expansion valve to optimally control the flow rate of refrigerant. This system is also designed to optimize the amount of refrigerant contained in the refrigerant piping and equally allocate the amount of refrigerant to each showcase, ensuring uniform cooling. This control system reduces power consumption by approximately 20% compared to conventional control methods.
MIYAKOSHI, Tomoya; MIZUSAWA, Tatsuya
Retail outlets such as convenience stores have been further required to save energy. Meanwhile, store comfortability is also need. Fuji Electric’s store environment analysis using an index called predicted mean vote (PMV) suggested the effectiveness of controlling the temperature setting of air conditioners during the summer. We have also developed an outdoor air intake system to reduce the load on showcases by using cold outdoor air during the winter. The results of using thermal fluid analysis software showed that the system can reduce the power consumption of showcases installed in typical stores by 1.84 kWh.
OGAWA, Riku; MIZUSAWA, Tatsuya; TAKIGUCHI, Koji
In recent years, as energy saving has become an increasingly important social issue, refrigerated showcases in stores have been required to save energy. In response, Fuji Electric has been developing frost-free technology that uses functional coating to prevent frosting, which is an efficiency lowering factor in the heat exchanger of showcases. The functional coating can promote a state in which water does not freeze even at 0°C or lower (supercooling). We found that a functional coating film promotes supercooling of condensed droplets on small test pieces of aluminum simulating the surface of a heat exchanger.
PERERA, Madhura; TAKEUCHI, Shiro; HAMADA, Kosuke
There is a growing need for IoT systems to minimize the use of cloud systems and enable data collection and analysis to be completed in the field. Fuji Electric is developing a platform for “edge devices” that collects data from on-site equipment and relays them to cloud systems. This next-generation device has hardware that delivers enhanced processing power and diverse connectivity in wired and wireless networks, allowing it to be used for a broad range of products. It also includes highly scalable business application frameworks and other convenient software.
Product Profiles
YAMANO, Akio; EBUKURO, Yuta; KAKEFU, Mitsuhiro
In recent years, there has been increasing expectations that power electronics technology will further contribute to efficient energy usage and energy saving, and play an important role in achieving a sustainable society. In particular, the demand is growing for power semiconductors as key devices of power conversion equipment used for various applications, such as the industrial, automotive, and renewable energy applications. Fuji Electric has made many technological innovations to reduce the size, lower the power dissipation, and improve the reliability of insulated gate bipolar transistor (IGBT) modules, contributing to the miniaturization, cost reduction, and performance of power conversion systems by helping them become smaller, more efficient and reliable. Our latest 7th-generation “X Series” IGBT modules achieve even lower power dissipation, higher reliability, and higher power density, by innovating in chip and packaging technology. In addition, we have also developed reverseconducting IGBTs (RC-IGBTs), which combine 7thgeneration IGBT and free-wheeling diode (FWD) functions into a single chip to create a line-up of the X Series RC-IGBT module for industrial applications. This line-up has even higher power density and higher reliability than conventional IGBT modules, which combine IGBT and FWD chips. Moreover, the current rating has been increased to 800 A, compared with the previous maximum current rating of 600 A.
HARA, Yukihito; MIYAMOTO, Shin; NAKAMURA, Yuji
In recent years, the increase in worldwide data traffic has accelerated the installation of data centers and telecommunication base stations. Since data centers require a stable supply of power, they use uninterruptible power systems (UPSs). The power semiconductors used in UPSs are requiring lower loss and higher durability. Fuji Electric has developed the 2nd-generation discrete SiC-SBD 1,200-V Series as a line-up that achieves lower loss by reducing forward voltage VF and improves surge forward current IFSM compared with the 1st-generation discrete SiC-SBD Series.