MAYEKAWA MFG. CO., LTD.
MAYEKAWA MFG. CO., LTD., a century-old enterprise, provides a comprehensive range of services, from manufacturing and selling industrial refrigeration units, heat pumps, and food processing machinery to designing, constructing, and servicing plants. Its Higashi Hiroshima Plant, operational since 2003, has undergone two expansions. However, the delayed digital management of shared infrastructure, including power-receiving and transforming equipment critical to production machinery, has posed a challenge. To optimize equipment maintenance with inter-device connectivity in view, MAYEKAWA adopted the Equipment Record System from Hitachi Power Solutions’ “SiteRemix” maintenance support solution. This step advances issue resolution while aiming to enhance the maintenance management system for the efficient management of other equipment in the future.
MAYEKAWA Higashi Hiroshima Plant, operational since 2003, commissioned new factory buildings in 2008 and 2017. Despite consistent production achievements, Mr. Fukuda highlights emerging challenges in equipment maintenance and technical knowledge transfer.
“Team members who contributed to the factory’s startup possess extensive knowledge and expertise in equipment and infrastructure, adeptly handling any malfunctions. However, as we approach a period of generational transition, transferring individualized expertise has become challenging. Our factory produces critical equipment supporting industry and social infrastructure, where downtime is unacceptable. To ensure stable operations moving forward, passing on equipment maintenance skills to new team members is essential.”
Mr. Fukuda elaborates on management challenges: “Equipment and infrastructure vary individually; some units endure long-term use, while others require early replacement. Analog management of equipment data limited us to routine maintenance, replacing, or upgrading regardless of faults, making it difficult to reduce maintenance costs, which are a significant management challenge.” Mr. Ikemori, tasked with overseeing the maintenance and management of power-receiving and transforming equipment, underscores that “Digitalizing and sharing information is critical to resolving these challenges.”
He reflects: “Our initial priority was to digitalize and centrally manage data for the scheduled maintenance and periodic upgrades of the power-receiving and transforming equipment that powers the entire factory. The aim was to make this data accessible to all, enabling maintenance tailored to the condition of equipment and components, thereby optimizing maintenance schedules.”
As the first step toward digitalization, MAYEKAWA introduced Hitachi Power Solutions’ Equipment Record System for maintaining power-receiving and transforming equipment. Mr. Ikemori explains the rationale: “Our factory relies on Hitachi’s power-receiving and transforming equipment, maintained by Hitachi Power Solutions. By enabling data updates and sharing among MAYEKAWA, Hitachi Power Solutions, and Mizuho, we can robustly prevent oversights in parts replacement and periodic upgrades. A maintenance error that halts the factory is unacceptable, and we see immense potential in the future ability to monitor power consumption comprehensively.” Let’s explore the results already achieved through this system’s implementation.
