Japan Facility Solutions, a member of the Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO) Group, consolidates company-wide data, including predictive maintenance of facilities, into a cloud-based data utilization platform

WingArc1st Inc. is pleased to announce that Japan Facility Solutions, Inc. (JFS), a member of the Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO) group, has established a data analysis platform, Dr.Sum, and a data utilization platform, MotionBoard. These tools will utilize the data obtained in service areas such as predictive maintenance, back-office areas such as business optimization, and management decision-making areas throughout the company's activities. Accelerating data-driven management will improve the quality of decision-making while promoting efficient facility operation initiatives by visualizing and analyzing operating conditions.

 

■Background　 
JFS, which continues to grow in the integrated energy service business, had formulated a company-wide data utilization concept for 2023, aiming to achieve predictive maintenance, service optimization, and data-driven management through the use of long-term stored data. However, the data was dispersed across multiple systems and there were significant differences in specifications for each facility, making it difficult to collect the data using existing BI tools from other companies. In addition, the Excel-centered business practices that had taken root had made data collection a highly personalized process, increasing the man-hours required for manual processing and making it difficult to analyze past, present, and future data across the board. In particular, data collection was a challenge because the data items and formats of the master data were diverse, and even in the same master, the data items changed due to system replacement and other reasons, making it difficult to maintain continuity of information in the stored data and to preserve case information for a long period of time.

Therefore, the company considered the development of a new data utilization environment that could automate the manual collection and accumulation of data, and introduced "SmallData Manager," which efficiently collects small data from Dr.Sum, MotionBoard, Excel, and other unsystemized on-site data.

The key points of introduction are as follows:
- Automated data capture through API integration
- Data infrastructure that links the DWH and BI systems with Dr.Sum and MotionBoard
- Centralized management including Excel data by SmallData Manager

■Implementation Effects 
The new data utilization infrastructure became fully operational in November 2024. At JFS, the ICT Control Office and the field departments worked closely together to automate data collection and centralize management through API linkage and Excel data integration. JFS also promotes data-driven management that enhances the quality of decision-making while advancing initiatives for efficient operation by visualizing and analyzing facility conditions.

• Highly accurate correction of forecasted and actual values
  For the operation service of self-commissioning, which transmits electricity generated by solar power via the power transmission and distribution network, MotionBoard now enables highly accurate correction processing by analyzing the discrepancy between forecast and actual values in 30-minute increments, and also facilitates the automatic import and reflection of data that is operated 365 days a year.
  
• Business Management Data Analysis
  In the past, when formulating a budget for a mid-term plan, it was necessary to collect data from multiple departments in Excel, tabulate it, and then check it again in Excel. The new data platform makes it easy to compare information from each department on the dashboard with the previous year's information, including trends in past years' information, future plans and assumptions.
  
• Reduction of man-hours by automating data linkage
  The processing work of capturing case information and operating data for each facility, which used to occur at least once a week, can now be easily and automatically linked via Dr.Sum's API or by automatically capturing files in batches.
  
• Centralized management including Excel data on site
  Using SmallData Manager, Excel data from outside the system in different formats can be consolidated into Dr.Sum for centralized management. The dashboard has been created with ease of use in mind, as well as delivering the department's required functionality.

In the future, JFS is considering strengthening its data utilization infrastructure by maximizing the use of data with a view to utilizing AI functions.

 

■Case Study
URL: https://www.wingarc.com/product/usecase/1437.html (Japanese)

■About Japan Facility Solutions,Inc. 
Established: 14 December, 2000
Location: Shinagawa-ku, Tokyo
Business activities: Energy management business including measurement and visualization of individual devices, energy service business, and energy consulting business
URL: http://www.j-facility.com/ (Japanese)