Society is undergoing a large-scale transformation as the trend for smarter technology is continuing. In these modern times, manufacturing businesses need to become smarter, but the question is, what should they do? Dr. Koji Yasui, Mitsubishi Electric’s Senior Chief Engineer at the Factory Automation Systems Group, Industrial Automation Marketing Division shares his insights, based on his experience leading the discussion and writing about the smart society, as well as his participation in a number of government projects in Japan.

Alps Alpine has introduced Mitsubishi Electric’s EcoAdviser energy saving support software at its Taira Plant in Iwaki, Fukushima, Japan.

For factories, it can be difficult to secure capital investment budgets to purchase new equipment. It’s one of the reasons why companies are increasingly looking for ways to extend the life of their existing assets, in which maintenance plays an important part. In recent years, attention has turned to predictive maintenance, meaning industrial internet-of-things (IIoT) achieved with sensors or leveraging AI technologies to collect data and detect signs of wear before equipment fails. Such prewarning helps prevent unexpected downtimes and optimize the component replacement cycle.

The Yokohama Rubber Company’s Onomichi Plant is saving energy using Mitsubishi Electric's data collection server EcoWebServer III, and the support application EcoAdviser. EcoWebServer III identifies energy losses, including by highlighting wasteful or unnecessary equipment operation, while EcoAdviser highlights energy conservation options to on-site workers.

Mitsubishi Electric has started a global awareness campaign using a series of illustrative stories, each accompanied by a striking visual, aimed at a broad audience not only from the manufacturing industries. The company hopes to bring readers to understand the relevance of factory automation to them in their everyday lives, as well as providing manufacturers with a vision of a future enabled by the use of factory automation. The materials will be used in a variety of marketing activities, ranging from websites to exhibitions and advertisements.

Hirata Corporation’s Kansai Division is increasingly using switchgear and breakers fitted with spring clamp terminals in the equipment it builds for clients. In addition to ensuring operator safety by eliminating exposed wiring, the terminals speed up installation and commissioning by removing the need to check and tighten every connection.

It has long been said that Internet-of-Things (IoT) should play a key role in the manufacturing industry, but according to a white paper issued in 2019 by Japan’s Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry, the percentage of Japanese manufacturers that collected manufacturing data was just 51%. COVID-19, however, has had a major impact on manufacturing, and according to Mitsubishi Electric’s own research in 2020, 46.5% of businesses that use FA products have accelerated the evolution of their factories to become smarter. The trend towards smarter factories is closely linked to the increased need for coping with demand fluctuations and new working styles, including remote work.

Mitsubishi Electric’s Nagoya Works, one of the company’s main factories developing and manufacturing industrial automation products and systems, introduced a SCADA system to visualize and monitor utility data throughout the entire factory. The GENESIS64™ SCADA software, a solution for visualizing data in process, infrastructure and manufacturing industries, was leveraged to systematically monitor real-time data remotely from equipment, such as operations and loads, helping to address issues raised by the “new norm”.

Mitsubishi Electric Corporation (TOKYO: 6503) announced it will launch MELSOFT MaiLab, a data-science tool that uses the company’s Maisart^® AI technology to enable non-specialists to skillfully and easily analyze and diagnose factory data such as current and pressure values for intuitive, high-level management of production operations.

The COVID pandemic has made a drastic impact on society, not only on our health but if we look at the industrial aspects, it has pushed the ‘digital’ revolution forward, from how we have business meetings to the way we learn to operate factories. This sudden digital shift, together with the latest developments in 5G communication is stimulating needs for more cloud-based and online solutions, which in-turn is motivating huge investments in IT infrastructure such as data centers. In this article, Hiroki Nishiyama, global manager of data center marketing at Mitsubishi Electric Corporation, explains further about the challenges facing this important rising industry.