［ Solution・Supporting Service ］

Features of Meiden Cloud Service

Keywords

Yoshiharu Sanada

Cloud, Monitoring, Analysis, Equipment ledger, Document management, Inspection

Abstract

Since 2016, we have been providing a Meiden cloud service with remotemonitoring and facility management functions that use Internet of Things (IoT)
technology.
Meiden Cloud Service is provided as a Software as a Service (SaaS) and canbe used in tandem with a network. Since the customer does not need to installdedicated IT systems, the initial cost can be reduced, and maintenance work andfuture equipment purchases can be reduced. There is also the beneﬁt of being
released from IT facility management operations and future IT facility renewal
planning.
The remote monitoring service utilizes the expertise and track records ofdedicated monitoring systems in the ﬁelds of power, industry, and water processing. By combining with dedicated on-site terminals, it realizes a function
comparable to the conventional monitoring system.

1 Preface
Meiden Cloud Service began providing remotemonitoring services ahead of other services andvarious functions have been added to the service
since.
This paper introduces the features of the various services, focusing on the added functions.

2 Remote Monitoring Service
2.1 Monitoring Function
The system provides the same functions asconventional dedicated monitoring equipment as a
cloud-based service. Table 1 shows the monitoring
functions of the remote monitoring service.
The operational status of electrical andmechanical equipment is collected on the cloud,and multiple facilities are centrally monitored. For
example, when a failure or abnormality occurs in afacility, an alert is displayed on the screen, an alarmis issued, and e-mails are sent to the registeredusers. This makes it possible for the operation of thefacility to be checked using a tablet PC or othermobile IT device.

Table 1 A List of Monitoring Functions
We are offering various functions equivalent to those of conventionally provided dedicated monitoring equipment.
Functions

Specifications

Operationalstatus

Display of present ON-OFF status of circuit
breakers and switches as well as present statusof measured values such as incoming current andvoltage.

Promptalarm

Pop-up display of “Fault Prompt” at the upper
part of monitoring screen upon the occurrence offailure. Sounding of alarm signal.

AlarmsummaryDisplay of a list of unidentified failure information
about equipment with continued failure.

Alarm notice Transmission of alarming e-mails upon theoccurrence of failure to the designated e-mailaddresses previously specified.
Upper/lower Monitoring of measured values of currents when
they exceed the upper or lower limits.
limit monitoring
Graphic
screenIndication of system configuration, equipment
status, failures, and measured values in an easily
understandable graphic screen tailored to thecustomerʼs request.

2.2 Analytical Function
There are various functions, such as an event
recording function, by which errors caused in thepast are time-serially displayed. In addition, trend
comparison function by which different trends arecompared, and form processing function by whichdaily and monthly information is also gathered andMEIDEN REVIEW Series No.181 2021 No.1

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Fig. 2

Pie Chart

The number of times of events occurring in a speciﬁed period isshown in a pie chart.
Fig. 1

Scatter Plot Diagram

Correlative relationship between two parameters is shown in ascatter plot diagram.

displayed. As such, simple analytical approaches
for customers are offered. Some of these functions
are introduced below.

2.2.1 Correlation Analysis
In many cases, facility maintenance personnel
are grasping points of inﬂuence at the time of thefacility malfunction based on past experiences.
Correlation of these points is, therefore, put into aform of a scatter plot diagram graph. If correlation
values and kurtosis are numerically displayed at thesame time, it is then possible to grasp the clear criterion for error sensing. As a result, less experienced maintenance personnel can be supported
when making an analytical evaluation.
In addition to simple comparison of time-serial
data, when evaluating fuel cost of generators, ascatter plot diagram is produced with the axis ofordinates for fuel input and the axis of abscissas forgenerated electric power. By doing this, the correction between both data blocks can be grasped andclear analytical evaluation about fuel cost can bedetermined. Fig. 1 shows an example of a scatterplot diagram.

2.2.2 Occurrence Frequency of Events
Types of events like equipment start-stop,
occurrence of errors, and recovery from malfunction
are selected, and situations of event occurrence aregathered according to time zone and day of theweek. By doing so, whether the occurrence of an52

MEIDEN REVIEW Series No.181 2021 No.1

Fig. 3

Bubble Chart

The number of times of events occurring in a speciﬁed period isshown in a bubble chart in circle sizes and occurring time.

event is unevenly distributed to a speciﬁc day of theweek or time zone can be visually grasped. Fig. 2
shows a pie chart and Fig. 3 shows a bubble chart.

3 Facility Management Service3.1 Equipment Ledger
This is a function for managing customer
equipment information on the cloud where equipment ledger information can be created, edited, anddeleted. In addition, equipment that is no longer
used (due to replacement or disposal) can be managed as retired equipment. Fig. 4 shows the equip-

(a) Upper partFig. 4(b) Lower part

Equipment Ledger Screen

Screens displaying information of each equipment are shown. In (a), a facility photo and property information are displayed. In (b), a listof machine history and related documents concerned with ledger equipment is shown.

ment ledger screen.
A special template for each type of equipment,such as pumps, is provided. It provides the ability tocreate a uniformed ledger to support the operationof certain equipment based on the ledger. As one ofimportant equipment information, on-site photo data
can be registered. In the event of equipment failure,
information on the relevant equipment can bepromptly retrieved and investigated.
If new equipment is added to the site, construction-related documents and instruction manuals are generally delivered to the end user. With thisfunction, these various document ﬁles can be registered for individual ledger facilities and machine history units. By centrally managing the information
related to the facility together with the ledger information and machine history information, we support
the maintenance work of the customerʼs facility.
When considering the introduction of new
equipment installed last year in Facility A to Facility
B, for example, if the information on construction
documents, acquisition price, failure history, repair
history, etc., is already registered in the equipment
ledger of Facility A, a series of effective information
can be easily extracted from the beginning of thenew facility introduction. This will speed up the process of examining the introduction of equipment.

3.2 Machine History Display
This function is intended to manage machine

history information such as equipment failure, repair,inspection, and installation. Since information aboutmechanical failure, repair, and inspection belongs
to a history of a machine unit, registration andediting are carried out based on a screen shown in
Fig. 4 (b). In the case of construction history for themaintenance of multiple facilities, however, registration is made based on the machine history list
screen. In this case, however, a single machine history is linked with a conﬁguration where multiple
machines are registered. For an individual machine
history display screen, a table of related machinesconstructed at the same time is displayed so thatmutual history information can be analyzed.

3.3 Document Management
As shown in Fig. 4 (b), this function manages
instruction manuals and a completion book including completion drawings in the unit of each facility inorder to register failure and repair records in each
unit of failure and repair service.
Apart from the function of document registration in a facility unit, this function enables registration, deletion, copying, and moving of folders andﬁles from a document list screen. In addition, whena registered document must be registered for another facility, all the related documents can be automatically updated by simply modifying the original
ﬁle with an association function of the registereddocument.
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Table 2 A List of Inspection Support Functions
A list of inspection support functions is shown.
Functions

Specifications

Establishmentof inspection
table

Each inspection item is defined and multiple
inspection items are put in groups, finallyassembled into a single inspection table.

Inspection
table

Inspection table is set up based on a calendar
screen in month unit. A list of planning conditions and point of contact person is displayed.

Inspection
recordOnly an inspection table is shown where
correlations can be identified between log-in
user and inspector so that an actual inspection
result can be recorded.

Inspection result Future inspection plan and past inspection
for reference
result are displayed on a calendar screen inand editing
monthly units.
Inspection
resultThis function enables the generation of outputs
in the form of a single page of inspection
ledgers with the result of multiple inspection
tables assembled together.
It is possible to establish a format of, andgenerate an output of, inspection ledgers.

By making an access setting for each customer, a designated administrator can use this function
for editing and as a point of contact with the customer, so that it can be managed in such a way that they
can have only “reference access”.

3.4 Inspection Support
For inspection work conventionally performedby using paper, this function is used to provide
inspection by actively using electronic devices suchas smart-phones.
If an electronic device is used, challenges suchas “illegible letters”, “inspection omission”, and“inspection sheets are cumbersome” can beresolved. Table 2 shows a list of inspection support
functions and Fig. 5 shows an inspection record
screen.
There are many cases where a network is notdeveloped at an inspection site. In this function,necessary information can be downloaded to anelectronic device in advance and can be used without a network. In addition to displaying the previous

54MEIDEN REVIEW Series No.181 2021 No.1(a) Menu

Fig. 5(b) Numerical inspection

Inspection Record Screen

In (a), a screen of a list of inspection tables is shown. (Inspectiontables only concerned with log-in user are displayed.)
In (b), an inspection screen is shown, to be displayed after aninspection table has been selected. It is arranged in a size of asmart phone.

value, past inspection values and trends can also
be shown to understand the history of the past.

4 Postscript
This paper introduced functions of remote monitoring and facility management services offered byMeiden Cloud Service. We are also developing
a prototype of an equipment health assessment
support function based on the “Guideline forDiagnosis of Deterioration of Telecommunications
Facilities (Draft)” promoted by the Ministry of Land,
Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism. We are also
improving and adding various functions. We willcontinue to provide comprehensive services.
・All product and company names mentioned in this paper are
the trademarks and/or service marks of their respective owners.