Active digital transformation is currently becoming a mainstream of economic development in many countries. This line of development is known as “digital economy” in Russia, as “Industrie 4.0” in Germany, and as the “Industrial Internet Consortium” (IIC) in the United States. In fact, these are different names for the same process of using digital technology, such as big data, Internet of Things (IoT), or artificial intelligence (AI), to transform an economy.
Japan responses to challenges by announcing a more comprehensive strategy, Society 5.0. This concept was developed through the efforts of Japanese Government with the close involvement of Keidanren Japan Business Federation.
It all started in 2016, when Japanese Government identified the major challenges to sustainable development of both the Japanese and world economies, having negative effects on the society. These included reducing numbers of economically active population, population ageing, lower global competitiveness of production, need for infrastructure upgrade, environmental issues, shortage of natural resources, issues of response to natural calamities, and countering terrorism.
These challenges urged us not so much to transform the industrial sector as to set up an all-embracing concept that would go beyond industry-specific issues and primarily address social needs and requirements.
According to the concept, the Society 5.0 is a new step in the development of both economy and society that overcomes inequality of information platforms and industrial manufacturers typical of Industry 4.0 and provides for the further development of science and technology in balance with interests of every member of society. The Society 5.0 builds around the integration of physical and cyber spaces to solve social problems, allowing people to live comfortably and to their utmost and making innovation safe and environmentally friendly.
As for Russia, in May 2018, the President of the Russian Federation issued Executive Order On National Goals and Strategic Objectives of the Russian Federation through to 2024 which names digitalization of the economy as a strategic priority of the national development. Today, based on the Society 5.0 strategy, Mitsubishi Electric contributes to the development in such areas as building industrial and IT infrastructures for big data processing, training specialists for handling ‘smart’ systems, and creating end-to-end digital technologies to support sustainable economic growth.
By this time, a key component of the Society 5.0 designed for industrial enterprises, the e-F@ctory, is successfully operated by Russian companies. In fact, it represents what digital production is about — achieving maximum optimization of production processes on the basis of data obtained. The key element of the platform is the Edge Computing technology which allows for analyzing and selecting necessary data to transform them into information required for the best possible managerial decision-making.
Edge Computing is, in fact, aimed at curbing the growth of data and related costs. In order to introduce this technology at industrial enterprises, we have initiated the development of Edgecross Consortium, a new format for global collaboration between leading technology companies as part of digital transformation of industry, in particular in Russia. Its main goal is to enhance interactions between IT and industrial equipment manufacturers across enterprise levels. More than 150 market players have joint their efforts around the core comprised of six companies: Mitsubishi Electric Corporation, Omron, Advantech Co., Ltd., NEC Corporation, IBM Japan, Ltd., and Oracle Corporation Japan. They consider the Edge Computing as the prerequisite for a sizeable upturn in production efficiency, product quality, sustainability, work safety and information security at industrial enterprises.
In 2019, Mitsubishi Electric in cooperation with #Netcube, an e-F@ctory Alliance partner, presented an innovative intelligent monitoring solution for enterprises in different industries.
Known as the OmniCube, this solution is capable of monitoring not only modern CNC machines and robots, but also the entire equipment fleet. For example, installations that do not support network connection and data collection can use an additional device based on Mitsubishi Electric FX5UC-32MT/DSS-TSot controller. The controller itself has additional modules for more flexibility and scalability.
The final solution can collect almost any industry-unified signals from equipment, making the device ‘smart’ and allowing for monitoring any of its operation parameters (such as utilization ratio, performance, material consumption, control of operator actions, breakdown prevention, etc.).
External network devices designed for RS-485 and Ethernet network can be connected to the system. The solution supports data transmission protocols, such as Modbus RTU/TCP, CC-Link, and Profibus-DP. Network technology substantially expands the amount of data collected.
Thus, one of the e-F@ctory’s strengths is that it is completely adaptable to individual needs of each enterprise based on its priorities, such as to reduce power consumption, improve productivity, etc.
In general, at Mitsubishi Electric we consider the Society 5.0 as an opportunity for business development and already today we offer ‘smart’ systems and products that are re-conceptualized on its basis to our customers. This also works internationally. For example, Russia can either adopt some of the elements of the Society 5.0 or customize the entire concept to meet its own needs. Then, Mitsubishi Electric will be able to get integrated into the transformation of the Russian economy by explaining why our experience and technologies are unique and how they will contribute to modernization and help to achieve long-term goals.
Briefly speaking, by drawing on our experience in implementing the Society 5.0 strategy in Japan, we consider our products and solutions as a contribution to the country’s development and economic growth, and not just as things or technology.
By Hiroyuki Onoda, CEO of Mitsubishi Electric (RUS) LLC