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2017/3/2
CRI Middleware Co., Ltd.
1-7-7-9F Shibuya
Shibuya, Tokyo 150-0002, Japan
http://www.cri-mw.co.jp/CRI Middleware and Hitachi High-Technologies
Corporation join forces to build the technology
infrastructure for smart factories.
Tokyo, Japan – March 2, 2017 -- CRI Middleware Co., Ltd. (HQ: Shibuya Ward, Tokyo,
President: Masao Oshimi, 3698:TYO, hereinafter referred to as “CRI”), and Hitachi
High-Technologies Corporation (HQ: Minato Ward, Tokyo, President and Chief
Executive Officer: Masahiro Miyazaki, 8036:TYO, hereinafter referred to as “HitachiHigh-Tech”) are jointly developing the core systems for “smart factories,” utilizing
CRI’s high-quality image and video technologies for remote monitoring of production
in overseas factories from Japan through a large number of always-on cameras andsensors via the internet. CRI and Hitachi High-Tech are working collaboratively
toward business expansion in the smart factories for the future.
Comment from CRI Middleware President, Masao Oshimi“We have been working on strategies to use our custom video technologies andexperience in the game and entertainment fields to contribute to other fields andbusiness infrastructures for some time now. Through this partnership with Hitachi
High-Tech, we are finally able realize these long-term goals. We are proud to support
the overseas expansion of Japanese companies through our company’s 100%
made-in-Japan technology.”
Comment from Hitachi High-Technologies President and Chief Executive Officer,
Masahiro Miyazaki“We are helping to accelerate the overseas expansion of Japanese manufacturing by
providing smart foreign factories as a shared service. By combining CRI’s excellent
video technologies with Hitachi’s manufacturing know-how, and incorporating that intoour full value chain service, we have made it possible to meticulously operate andmanage factories overseas from Japan. Moving forward, we plan to make Japan’s
outstanding technology and product quality available to the world.”

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Page |2Hitachi High-Tech’s smart factory service division is about to launch their Smart
Factory as a Service to make it possible for multiple Japanese companies to share
manufacturing locations. To succeed in today’s marketplace, globalization of businessis required, even for small and medium-size manufacturers. There are many
challenges involved in setting up and operating overseas factories such as legal andlabor issues in each country that can be alleviated through the use of remotesystems.
Hitachi High-Tech makes use of its long experience in overseas business to provide
services required for a Japanese manufacturing company to expand overseas.
Hitachi High-Tech provides full value chain services, including site investigations,manufacturing equipment arrangements, camera and sensor installation, remotemonitoring system provision, additional material procurement, and sales channel
development. This comprehensive approach will support the ability for rapid overseas
business development, and will reduce the initial investment required for eachparticipating business as they can manufacture different products in the same factory
while sharing manufacturing equipment and remote monitoring systems.
In the Hitachi High-Tech smart factory, CRI’s proprietary technologies will be used tomonitor the state of production with cameras and sensors, allowing for real-time
remote monitoring from Japan over the internet. Inexpensive, locally sourced
cameras can be used in the system, making it feasible to equip one work area withseveral dozen cameras. One participating factory is expected to have 100 cameras
installed. Having multiple cameras in fixed positions within the factory provides thefreedom to remotely monitor any targeted area inside the factory.
Unlike previous systems that offered only remote monitoring, CRI’s specialized
technologies process video data to be smaller and lighter. This means that video
data can be easily managed and transferred over the internet, greatly reducing thedata storage and IT costs to send and transfer the video. With superb video quality
and the ability to transfer, save, manage, view, and analyze video recordings, CRI
and Hitachi High-Tech are collaborating to offer a system that provides a user
experience through remote factory monitoring that “feels like you are on-site.”

Fast, Responsive Remote Monitoring with Reduced Cost through High Quality VideoCompression
With CRI’s custom video compression technology CRI DietCoder®, the video can becompressed to 1/2 to 1/3 the original size without sacrificing video quality, andCRI Middleware

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Page |3DietCoder is directly embedded into the smart factory cameras. Compressing thevideo down to a size that can be easily transferred over networks like wireless LAN orLTE allows for quick and responsive remote monitoring, reducing the cost of data
storage by 1/2 to 1/3. With DietCoder, high quality compression means the integrity ofthe data can be maintained without any loss of image quality required for big data
analysis and analytics. Maintaining image quality also greatly reduces the amountof time required to process data for analysis.
Efficient Playback and Monitoring of Large Quantities of Stored Video
Continuous recording of video from over 100 cameras requires a viewing system that
can handle the management of an extremely large video library. For this project,emphasis was placed on the ability to simultaneously view multiple videos and toquickly access video from a specific date and time. The interface was designed sothat the user could grasp both the current and overall status of the factory, with theability to go back and access any past abnormal values or incidents recorded by thesensors and play back the video at the time of those occurrences. CRI’s
custom-developed mass video management and monitoring technology, CRI
Caplan™, was used to achieve this system. This technology is capable of loading andsaving many video sources from and to a camera or external storage device (STB,HDD, etc.) and provides efficient playback and monitoring of recorded video.
Browser-based Monitoring on any Device
In line with recent “mobile first” and “BYOD” trends, the service also provides theability to play recorded video from the smart factory through the browser on aniPhone or Android smartphone. This feature reduces the workload of remotemonitoring tasks and makes it easy to get check in on factory status remotely fromJapan 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. By utilizing CRI’s browser-based web video
middleware solution LiveAct® PRO, supervisors can view video any time throughtheir browser from any device, without installing any extra apps.
From this strategic combination of technology and know-how, CRI and Hitachi
High-Tech have moved beyond basic remote factory monitoring to create the ideal
smart factory, providing fast, real-time, easy-to-use, cost saving services suitable for
the IoT age. Through this new partnership, CRI and Hitachi High-Tech will expand
their business in the smart factories, and provide mission critical support to Japanesemanufacturers in their effort to expand overseas.

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Page |4 List of CRI Middleware Technologies Used in Hitachi High-Tech Smart Factories(1) CRI DietCoder®
Technology overview: Video transcoder (encoder)
Effects: Reduces the file size of security camera video by 1/2 to 1/3 without any
quality loss.
Advantages: Reduces the cost of transferring, saving, and managing video data
through reduced file sizes, increases efficiencyDetails: http://www.cri-mw.co.jp/product/streaming/dietcoder/ security.html(2) CRI Caplan™
Technology overview: Video management system (capturing, recording, playback,etc.)
Effects: Provides unified saving, management, and playback of large quantities ofvideo data from multiple cameras.
Advantages: Provides efficient management of large quantities of video data,real-time monitoring, and instant playback of video from a specific date and time.
(3) LiveAct® PRO
Technology overview: Browser-based web video middleware
Effects: Allows for the management and playback of security camera footage in asmartphone (iOS or Android) browser.
Advantages: Easy playback of video on restrictive smartphone browsers (no app
required, supports BYOD)
Details: http://www.cri-mw.co.jp/product/web/liveact/index.html

Exhibition at SECURITY SHOW 2017
CRI will introduce technologies for Smart Factories at the SECURITY SHOW 2017
(March 7 - 10, 2017), Japan's largest comprehensive exhibition of security and safety
industry.
URL：https://messe.nikkei.co.jp/en/ss/
CRI's booth No: SS7105*CRI Middleware, the CRI Middleware logo, CRIWARE, CRI DietCoder, CRI Caplan, and LiveAct PRO
are the trademarks or registered trademarks of CRI Middleware Co., Ltd. in Japan and other countries.
*All other company names and product names used in this text are the trademarks or registered
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trademarks of their respective companies.

For inquiries about this press release, please contact:
CRI Middleware Co., Ltd.
Contacts: Ozawa, Iseda
E-mail: press@cri-mw.co.jp
URL: http://www.cri-mw.co.jp/
Hitachi High-Technologies Corporation
Contacts: Matsumoto
Tel: +81-3-3504-3258

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