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FUJI ELECTRIC JOURNAL 2003 Vol.76-No.5
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Information Management Solutions |
Prospects for Business Information Management Solutions
Shiro Yokota, Yoshitake Matsuura, Hideo Tonohara
Japan's economy has changed substantially from the era of the manufacturer, in which steady growth was assured, to the era of the consumer. Private companies and local governments are calling for the provision goods and services of definite value and low price to customers. Fuji Electric's information system business responds to customer needs by providing solutions that leverage our knowledge and enable flexible plant operation. This paper describes the goals and future prospects of Fuji Electric's information system business.
Manufacturing Total Solutions
Isao Hisamichi
Market conditions surrounding the Japanese manufacturing industry are becoming increasingly severe. The need to adapt to sharp fluctuations of the market has spurred demand for systemic restructuring in order to achieve an ideal structure and to ensure future survival. Fuji Electric provides an information system structuring service for achieving such systemic restructuring. The requirements for an information system include the rapid provision of management information and manufacturing information to support quick decision making by management, as well as system flexibility that maintains compatibility with environment changes. This paper presents Fuji Electric's perspective on these issues and examines case examples.
Digital Factory Solutions
Naoki Azumaya, Xi-hong Wang, Satoshi Suzuki
In a digital factory solution that provides a comprehensive support environment for various activities from product planning until the start of production, the following core systems are essential: (1) a "Knowledge Flow system" that aggregates and shares project implementation know-how for the launch of new products, (2) a "production line facility information system" that aggregates and shares production line capacity information and production know-how, (3) a "production facility ledger management system" that provides centralized management of facility information of the production line, and (4) a "production simulation support system" that pre-verifies assembly properties and workability of the product on the production line.
Solutions for Discrete Manufacturing
Takashi Tsuda, Hiroshige Mizutani
In the discrete manufacturing industry, namely the fields of processing and assembling electrical, electronic and mechanical parts, in conjunction with the search for the structure of a new manufacturing system, the importance of a manufacturing execution system (MES) linked to design and control systems has been reaffirmed. Fuji Electric has been delivering real-time information control systems for many years and is an expert in MES systems. This paper describes Fuji Electric's efforts in applying MES to the fields of processing and assembly, and also presents various examples.
Solutions for the Food Manufacturing Industry
Kazuhito Takahashi, Naoki Azumaya
The severe circumstances enveloping the food manufacturing industry and the trends toward diversification of customer needs and shorter product lifecycles are continuing. A production system capable of responding flexibly to changes in the marketplace and of guaranteeing food safety is demanded. This paper introduces the MES (manufacturing execution system), which will play a vital in the construction of a flexible production system that can endure the limited production of diverse products, and the HACCP system, which provides traceability - an industry buzzword indicating the ability to ensure food safety during the phases of production, fabrication, and distribution.
Electronic Local Government Solution for Outcome
Hiroji Nishida, Tooru Itou
The movement for construction of an electronic government and electronic local government is gaining momentum. It is desired to reach an agreement with the residents and to provide them with a high value-added service. Several local governments are leaning toward the realization of a shared-use system. Fuji Electric has accumulated a history of good results with deliveries centering on document management and general affairs systems. This paper presents an overview of Fuji Electric's local government solutions which realize improved administrative results by providing quick processing and high quality service, and also the basic technology that effectively utilizes these solutions.
Welfare and Health Care Network System for Tajimi City
Hideto Shirai, Keiji Andou, Akihiro Omata
Accompanying the advent of a society having a declining birthrate and aging population, it is becoming increasingly necessary at the local government level to enrich health and welfare services, and especially services that facilitate community involvement for socially disadvantaged groups such as the elderly or disabled. Consequently, Fuji Electric has delivered an information solution for web-based welfare and health care use to Tajimi City, a major urban center in a local region. This system has been carefully designed to be user-friendly and is equipped with voice-guided assistance, large-size character fonts, and a touch panel.
CALS/EC Solutions
Takayuki Nagata, Naoto Kokubo, Kenichi Hagiwara
CALS/EC (continuous acquisition and life-cycle support/electronic commerce) computerizes and shares the information of all processes of a public works project, ranging from the planning, design and bidding to implementation and maintenance, and achieves shorter development time, lower costs and higher product quality. Accompanying the development of a national CALS/EC local promotion action program, both the orderer and acceptor sides have begun preparing compatible systems. This paper introduces Fuji Electric's CALS/EC solutions for both the orderer and acceptor sides, and its efforts regarding the basic technologies that support these solutions.
Local Information Systems
Yukiyoshi Sakakibara, Tetsuo Nomoto
This paper introduces the ancillary business of providing computerization services and Internet connectivity in order to narrow the digital divide that exists between metropolitan and local regions. Optical fiber cables are laid in local towns, and broadband networks are used to connect local agencies. Forming the basis for computerization and Internet connectivity among local municipal entities, applications such as CATV and Internet connection services are also provided to local residents. As an example, this paper also introduces the system Fuji Electric has delivered to Nishi-Okoppe in Hokkaido, a local government that is a leader in regard to computerization and Internet connectivity.
Information Solutions for Agriculture
Akiko Nakayama, Hiroaki Shinonoi, Toshihiko Odani
Various agricultural reforms are required from the point of view of production, distribution and consumption. This paper addresses the fundamental problems concerning the improvement of quality of agricultural produce, and presents examples ranging from system development to production commercialization. This system consists of a product group that is centered on a farming guidance and support system that supports data aggregation and analysis when an agricultural cooperative association directs a producer to improve quality. This system is evolving into a sales support system, a harmful pest control support system that supports the safe use of pesticides, and a traceability system that utilizes an integrated database.
Activities and Products of the LONWORKS Project
Shigeru Shiotani, Tatsuo Tateishi
This paper describes Fuji Electric's multi-vender control network business, which is driven both internally and externally. The business is based on the open intelligent distributed control network LONWORKS that was developed by the US-based Echelon Corp. LONWORKS is a control network that integrates seamlessly with the Internet. In April 2002, Fuji Electric entered into a non-exclusive partner agreement (OSA alliance) with Echelon Corp. and has already established one of the foremost organizations for the support and promotion of LONWORKS in Japan, including the promotion of standardization, training and technical support. This paper also introduces the latest products from Echelon Corp.
Fuji Electric Strategy for ESCO Business
Eiji Fukuda, Takeshi Uemura
By 2010, the commercial consumption of energy is predicted to be 1.7 times the 1990-year level. A lack of specialists is considered to be the biggest reason why consumers do not pursue energy savings. Thus, the need for an ESCO (energy service company) that is able to achieve energy savings without requiring the assistance of a specialist is increasing year by year. Fuji Electric launched its ESCO business in year 2000 and by 2002 had accumulated experience with four ESCO businesses. As an example, this paper describes the ESCO at Fuji Electric's Osaka building.
