Facilitates inspections by seizing signs of trouble

Not only from the perspective of lifecycle costs, but also to prevent machine downtime due to failure, it is important to properly conduct inspections.

ConSite Shot/Mine Shot is an application that makes it easier to conduct inspections by taking photos with a smartphone camera, generating reports, and sharing them. "Especially at mining sites, machine downtime directly leads to profit losses for our customers, so we must avoid machine downtime at all costs. ConSite Mine Shot is a customized version of ConSite Shot for mining sites, and it has been well received by our customers for making inspections easier," explains Takahiro Tachikawa, who is in charge of its development and deployment.

On the other hand, Haruna Nagai, who is responsible for the introduction and support of ConSite in Southeast Asia, Oceania, Russia, and Africa, says the following.

"Previously, we would receive a call when a machine had a failure and then respond. Now, with ConSite Shot, the time to understand the situation has been shortened, enabling a smoother response. Even in countries where there was no culture of creating reports with photos, photos and data of problematic areas are shared, allowing us to provide explanations that satisfy our customers."

Not only can a "culture of inspection" be formed through report generation, but also, "By standardizing the use of ConSite Shot, accumulated data can be shared and utilized for the next proposal, and everything is connected," says Kurihara. The use of ConSite brings benefits such as the sophistication of Hitachi Construction Machinery's proposal capabilities and service activities. "As a result, the relationship between the dealers who use it and their customers has improved, and there are voices saying 'I want to buy the next machine from Hitachi Construction Machinery too'" (Kurihara).

Nagai is looking to the future, wanting to grasp signs of trouble through a unique algorithm by integrating various data from the perspective of preventive maintenance. "In the future, it will become a tool used on a daily basis, and if inspections are conducted at the timing proposed by ConSite, we aim for a world where 'zero downtime' is taken for granted," she gazes ahead.
 

Remote monitoring of the machinery status

The ConSite Air, which enables remote diagnostics and monitoring, as well as software updates without the need for a dealership representative to visit the site, is also a tool that supports achieving zero downtime. Before ConSite Air was developed, data from the machinery was delivered in a lump sum for the day and checked the next day. However, with ConSite Air installed on mobile communication compatible bodies from the model 7 machines onwards it is a significant advantage to be able to quickly grasp the condition of the body as it allows for real-time onfirmation of sensor information from the body.

Shunta Yamagishi, who is involved in the development, talks about the utilization and evaluation at the introduction site, saying, " You can diagnose and update while in the office, and  we are hearing a good review that it has become easier to manage the progress of updates."

Also, Kousuke Kanno, who is in charge of its development, explains, "With the ability to perform real-time remote diagnosis, the hurdle for the site side to diagnose the machine body is lowered. As the number of cases of remote diagnosis increases,real-time data is accumulated, and Hitachi Construction Machinery can utilize these data to improve the ccuracy of the alarm and apply it to new development."

 Nagai is introducing it to dealers in South Africa, and she has received feedback from the dealer saying, "With the function of  ConSite Air, we can visit the site with parts based on remote diagnosis in the office, which has the advantage for customers that problems can be solved in one visit, and it can be a game changer."

In actual practice, it is said that our agents in Norway are finding it useful for troubleshooting, such as identifying necessary parts before going to the site. "The issue of labor shortage is common in Europe as well, so it seems that they are feeling the effects in that regard," says Yamagishi, who is eager to develop more demanded features by receiving feedback from many users, verifying the data thoroughly, and preparing for the anticipated increase in demand.
 

Supporting business optimization of customers by Expanding data linkage

At Hitachi Construction Machinery we envision a future where our customers are at the center, surrounded by dealers and Hitachi Construction Machinery. We aim to achieve "zero downtime" for our customers' construction machinery.

In this path, we envision a future called “Solution 3.0”, where we not only solve the current issues faced by our customers through solutions represented by ConSite, but also pursue the creation of added value for each customer's business optimization. Regarding this future, Kanno says, "In order to achieve zero downtime of the customer's machine, we will respond as Hitachi Construction Machinery, even if it is a competitor's  machine. On the other hand, If for some reason Hitachi Construction Machinery cannot respond, we need to actively collaborate with partners, such as having other companies respond."

Furthermore, Kurihara points out the need to establish a system that can propose flexible solutions to the customer's ecosystem, and says the following.

"It is difficult to build everything with Hitachi Construction Machinery alone, so it is necessary to partner with others, including start-ups, and integrate our system and data. On top of that, we aim to provide tools that can respond to the remote control and automatic operation of construction machinery that will become popular in the future and the efficiency of repair and maintenance, to address the issues of declining birthrate and worker labor shortage. The spread of  electric construction machinery will also progress in the future, and in that regard, a power bank will be necessary, so collaboration with such players will also be necessary."