ABB Bailey Japan implemented a pilot project using remote maintenance support system in cooperation with Sunagawa Power Station of Hokkaido Electric Power Company (HEPCO), Japan’s leading utility company. Through deployment of this demonstration project, it is confirmed that ABB’s remote service could help to improve response rate during emergencies and to lead labor saving in security operations at the power plant.
The project, approved as a national-subsidized project by Sustainable Open Innovation Initiative (SII), a subsidiary of the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI), was designed to save labor in power plant maintenance work by utilizing IoT devices and data, and improve the overall plant performance.
Pilot project implementation
ABB Bailey Japan implemented its state-of-the-art ABB Ability™ Remote Insights and ABB Ability™ Augmented Field Procedures (AFP) as a remote maintenance solution for this project.
ABB’s Remote Insights, an augmented reality (AR) tool, allows field personnel to connect in real time, with each other and with ABB engineers. This enables remote assistance and troubleshooting over audio and video where we can fully leverage the expertise within and outside of an organization. The records of the maintenance work can be accumulated in chronological order and the field engineers can immediately utilize and refer to past records using Remote Insights when similar activities occur. By providing on-site engineers with the knowledge and expertise remotely, it helps to solve problems early and allow maintenance work for customers to be more efficient and labor-saving. Customers benefit from having direct access to ABB’s experts without having to wait for them to arrive onsite, thereby avoiding potentially costly delays.
AFP is a system that can digitize paper runbooks. Site engineers can interactively execute digitized work procedures from the application installed on their tablet devices. It is also possible to manage the progress of work on the application in real time and attach images and videos to each procedure. In addition, it can be connected to the control systems, and the process value is automatically acquired to determine whether the work has been performed as planned. AFP can be seamlessly connected with ABB’s advanced distributed control system, ABB Ability™ Symphony® Plus and ABB Ability™ System 800xA as well as third-party systems.
Mr. Takayuki Minami, former Assistant Manager of Maintenance Section, Sunagawa Power Station of Hokkaido Electric Power Company who used ABB remote services in this pilot project said “We are currently making a company-wide effort to implement DX (Digital Transformation) in order to respond to changes in business environment. The remote maintenance service tested this time is very effective in promoting DX because it not only reduces costs by speeding up restoration and shortening response times in emergencies, but also improves the efficiency of power plant operations, prevents human error, and contributes to the transfer of skills to younger workers.” His comment evaluates that our solutions meet their needs at practical level.
“Our remote maintenance support services can digitize traditional maintenance work at power plants, streamline and save labor on site. We are very pleased to confirm that this project can contribute to the significant improvement of quality and safety at Sunagawa Power Station, with which we have good and long-standing relationship,” said Tetsuo Miura, President & CEO, ABB Bailey Japan.
“So far, our solutions had helped our global customers improve plant control and streamline plant operations, allowing site engineers to approach their challenges more directly than ever before. Moreover, we are ready to offer cloud services and subscription licenses which allow them to install our services easily. I am confident that our remote services could bring more benefit and values for site engineers,” added Miura.
The pilot project was adopted to promote ‘smart security’ to industries, using new technologies such as the Internet of Things (IoT) and Artificial intelligence (AI) to improve the safety and efficiency of industrial infrastructure and ensure safe business continuity.
A stable supply of electricity is crucial for electric power companies, and especially in an emergency, immediate restoration is obligatory. Remote maintenance services open more opportunities to meet the needs and effectively cater to the geographical concerns of Hokkaido Prefecture, which is 1000 km away from Tokyo. ABBs’ remote maintenance services will help to ensure business continuity even during the pandemic, such as the recent COVID-19 outbreak, and will create values even in the business of new normal.
ABB Bailey Japan submitted the final report on the pilot project to Sustainable Open Innovation Initiative (SII), a subsidiary of METI in March 2021. “Leveraging the knowledge and experience obtained from this pilot project, we are committed to continue supporting our industry customers in their digital journey, whether through deployment of our remote maintenance services portfolios, or with any other ABB digital portfolios, and contribute to the continuous improvement of customer’s plant performance,” said Miura.
