Fuji Electric Review
Vol.64-No.3,2018
New Value-Creating Solutions Starting From IoT
New Value-Creating Solutions Starting From IoT
The fundamental value of the IoT is in connecting everything to the Internet, gathering data to create new value. Today, a variety of IoT solutions have been launched as key technologies to address various challenges in society, such as enhancing product quality, improving productivity and reforming work style. These are expected to further spread in the future.
Fuji Electric has offered solutions to optimize energy management and operation of facilities and equipment, and it is accelerating its efforts to create higher customer value while putting the IoT into practical use.
In this Issue, we present our new value creating solutions using the IoT. We also introduce the IoT platforms to efficiently implement them, together with the data analytics that perform analysis, prediction and optimization.
KANO, Manabu
YASUKAWA, Yukio; YASUKAWA, Kazuyuki; FUKUZUMI, Mitsunori
Fuji Electric has offered component line-up whose core components include power semiconductors and sensors, which are our key devices and key technologies. Using these components, coupled with our expertise in engineering, servicing, optimal control and various solutions, we contribute to the creation of responsible and sustainable societies through the fields of power generation, energy and industry solution, and food and beverage distribution. The practical application of the IoT today is accelerating our efforts to create greater customer value. This issue presents the current status and future outlook of Fuji Electric's efforts to create new value with the IoT.
TATTA, Naoto; SUZUKI, Satoshi; MATSUMOTO, Haruyuki
As international regulations and standards become increasingly stringent, Japanese companies are being compelled to enhance energy efficiency by the environment situation surrounding them. Fuji Electric has reviewed current operating and developed new features for our energy management system, leveraging data analytics to improve energy efficiency in compliance with international standards. These features will facilitate the development of the framework of the SDCA cycle to maintain and manage energy-saving activities and will in turn speed up improvement, innovating activity and policy management through the PDCA cycle.
NARUMI, Katsunori; TANGE, Yoshio; SANAGI, Kenta
The energy consumption at steelworks fluctuates significantly depending on the state of production. It is important to monitor the demand for energy (both purchased and by-product) at all times and adequately control the supply and demand to stabilize power supply, lower power consumption, and reduce greenhouse gas emissions. For steelworks outside Japan, we have developed an energy optimization package for power generation facilities, “EMSPackage LITE,” that can be installed and operated at low cost. It can inexpensively offer the system that calculate an optimal operation model from minimal input information and previous plant operation data, allowing on-site plant operators to operate a plant on the basis of the data calculated using the operation model.
HOSHINO, Jun; FUJIKAWA, Yasutaka; TOYODA, Kenro
Today, visualization is advanced for the process of each department, such as design, production technology, and a factory, and a large amount of data is collected. However, these data are not fully leveraged due to the lack of efficient coordination between departments and continuity of historical data over different processes. Thus, total optimization is required for cross-department coordination and data continuity through data gathering and analysis. Given this challenge, Fuji Electric has developed “OnePackEdge System” for creating a “value-generating database” to realize a smart factory. An additional data analysis assistant tool is also provided to make analysis more efficient and create value in data.
ONO, Masabumi; YAMADA, Takanori; NARUSE, Mitsuhiro
In addition to the existing production innovation activities, Fuji Electric has developed its supply chain management (SCM) reform activity since FY2009 to build the system in which sales and manufacturing processes synchronize autonomously. We are committed to productivity and quality improvement, security and safety, labor saving, and energy saving. We also promote production innovation and the use of IoT according to each factory’s manufactured items and business characteristics. Fuji Electric, an IoT solution vendor, proactively utilizes its own products and systems.
TAKAMATSU, Eiji; MORITA, Masahiro; TOKUMASU, Takumi
Fuji Electric has developed a digital signage vending machine with an advertisement distribution system that can provide product images and advertisements as well as relevant market information as part of value-added services leveraging IoT. The vending machine displays advertisements and product images on the front screen, and it is coordinated with a content server. The control module is equipped with functions to control the switch of advertising content, connect applications and services, ensure secure network connection, update the product images on display, and gather and compile market information. It can also use visual data gathered using a camera to analyze and aggregate market information.
MATSUI, Atsushi; FURUI, Tatsuya; TANAKA, Yoshikazu
Convenience stores in Japan are struggling with high labor cost due to staff shortages, and they need to save labor on in-store work. To address this problem, Fuji Electric engages in the research and development of a laborsaving smart showcase that helps automate goods management, one of many in-store tasks at convenience stores. This smart showcase automatically recognizes the name and quantity of products in it. It combines a camera to identify product names and panel sensors to detect the quantity.
YAMADA, Takao; FUKUZUMI, Mitsunori
There is a worldwide trend in many industries today to use the Internet of Things (IoT) for their businesses. Fuji Electric has developed the Fuji Electric IoT platform based on our various elemental technologies and system technology that combines them. This platform is the common foundation that can integrate field engineering, in which Fuji Electric excels, field-based data analytics, and multi-vendor connection technology for field devices to easily deliver customer-value creation solutions in a secure and safe manner.
MIYAZAKI, Tsuyoshi; KITAMURA, Takashi; TAKEUCHI, Osamu
Fuji Electric has developed a server system that offers an execution environment for IoT services using service applications on a general-purpose cloud service. It absorbs the difference between the cloud services provided by various cloud vendors, allowing service applications to have portability between cloud vendors. Other features include communicating with edge controllers, saving gathered data on the database and monitoring the states of running service applications and resource load. Utilizing server systems allows Fuji Electric to quickly deliver highquality IoT services that increase customer value.
UEDA, Motoyuki; SATO, Yoshikuni; KADOSAKI, Toyofumi
An edge controller, used in an IoT system, collects data from field devices. Its data processing is currently becoming more advanced, called edge heavy, by sharing computing with upper layers. Fuji Electric offers advanced real-time IoT solutions by assigning edge controllers part of the analysis and prediction tasks in addition to data collection. Our IoT product line includes the display-based “MONITOUCH V9-IoT,” PLC-based “SPH3000-IoT” and gateway-based “FiTSA Σ,” each with device-specific attributes.
IIZAKA, Tatsuya; DAITO, Takeshi; MATSUI, Tetsuro
The advance of the Internet of Things (IoT) facilitates the collection of a large amount of data. Data analytics is the core technology for creating customer value. There are 3 major challenges to apply this technology in the industrial context: (i) impractical accuracy when an insufficient number of cases are available for learning, (ii) limited application to areas that require clear explainability of results, and (iii) complex modeling for ordinary system designers. To solve these issues, Fuji Electric has leveraged its original innovations and developed data analytics tools. The implemented analytical methods ensure wide applicability, with a particular focus on diagnosis and forecasting, which are widely demanded.
UMEZAKI, Kazuya
The current rapid growth of the Internet of Things (IoT) leads to a significant increase in cyberattacks and security incidents on the IoT devices. To address the IoT security risks, efforts to produce standards and guidelines has been progressing in Japan and other countries. Fuji Electric has established the information security policy based on the IoT security standards and guidelines and takes technical, physical, organizational, and personnel measures to build IoT systems that are secure and safe from their threat.
New Products
(Cooling Capacity 56 kW)
OGA, Shunsuke; KAWASHIMA, Masahito; YAMAKAWA, Michihiro
In recent years, the amount of heat generated by servers used in data centers has increased dramatically due to their high performance and density. The heat generated by servers is generally cooled through the use of air conditioners. In order to save energy of the air conditioners and take advantage of natural energy, efforts are being made to adopt outside air cooling that utilize outside air as a cold heat source. Outside air cooling is classified as either direct system that directly use outside air or indirect system that use a heat exchanger to discharge heat to the outside air. Fuji Electric has offered its “F-COOL NEO” hybrid air-conditioning unit (cooling capacity of 40 kW). It combines refrigeration cooling with indirect outside air cooling that is insusceptible to moisture, dust and corrosive substances. We newly developed a new model with a cooling capacity of 56 kW.
MATSUMOTO, Mitsuhiro
The expansion of globalization through the rapid development of the Chinese and Asian markets has led to increased demand for product supply stability and reduced product prices.
In the industrial sector, the demand for human machine interface (HMI) has been increasing, being used in various types of machinery. In order to meet the growing demand in the Chinese and Asian markets, Fuji Electric developed the “MONITOUCH TS1000 Smart Series” as a programmable operator interface designed to enhance usability and visibility while consolidating functionality and launched it in August 2018.