TESCO CO., LTD.
Waste treatment facilities support our comfortable lives and play their part in achieving a sustainable society. TESCO, which has taken on the operation management of many waste treatment facilities for local authorities across Japan, is promoting DX* to raise quality and efficiency in inspection work. At Hitachi Power Solutions, we customize our Maintenance Support Solution “SiteRemix”, which supports the optimization of our customers' facilities on the basis of our own maintenance expertise. The result is a solution tailored to each working environment. As a co-creation partner, we support our clients in their further growth.
The Environmental Business Division of TESCO, which has its headquarters in Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo, handles the operation management of waste and water treatment facilities throughout Japan. We began our interview by asking why digitalization was necessary for the waste treatment facilities where they introduced SiteRemix. Mr. Ouchi, assistant manager of the Technology Development Section, Technology Management Department, Environmental Business Division, told us how the company goes about day-to-day operation management in order to ensure the stable operation of facilities.
“Operation data for important facilities such as incinerators was managed and accumulated in the Distributed Control System (DCS), but data on motors and on other individual equipment not covered by DCS was compiled on paper inspection checklists by operators who patrolled around the facilities on foot. The number of meters to be read included 80 thermometers, and the checklist items packed nine A4 pages. Twice a day, two operators shared the interior of a facility equivalent to a seven-floor building, writing their records manually. Those daily inspection checklists were stored correctly, but no matter how properly they were stored, the feeling was that it would be difficult to put the information to further use, such as preventive maintenance, if it was all on paper. When a fault occurred in the facilities, we had to flip back through the pages of the inspection checklist, so we couldn't get to the cause quickly.”
Apparently other problems, like labor shortages and difficulty with passing down inspection expertise, were becoming obvious. Mr. Iijima, secretary of the Engineering Division D&A Technology Center, who formerly belonged to the Environmental Business Division, said digitalization was the measure chosen to improve a number of problems. “We have decided that our target as a company should be to solve issues by digitalizing data, and then make it lead to the effective next stage of preventive maintenance. But modifying facilities for the purpose of inspection isn't permitted. The SiteRemix tablet-based inspection system doesn't involve modifying the facilities, so for businesses like us, which are mainly engaged in operation management, I think SiteRemix is a tool that achieves advanced and high-quality maintenance and inspection while expanding business possibilities.”
Hitachi Power Solutions, which has a strong record of maintenance work on power stations and many other kinds of plants, has advanced this project as a partner, providing abundant knowledge and fresh ideas.
