With a primary focus on how it can benefit customers, the service solution "ConSite" has been developed and continued to evolve even now. Using data obtained from our construction equipment and our own ICT, "ConSite" provides new experiential value to customers worldwide and to our society. We delved into the on-site innovation brought by "ConSite" and the future vision it aims for.
Text: Toshiaki Saito. illustrations: noa1008. photos: Norio Sekine
The strong desire of the users of construction machinery is to achieve stable operation and reduction of lifecycle costs of the machinery.
ConSite realizes this wish through data-driven service solutions, supporting the maximization of value created by our customers.
Contributing to solving customer's challenges through data utilization
Construction machinery has a number of characteristics that differ from other kinds of machinery. For example, it needs to be operated continuously for 10 years or more. In many cases, it also has to withstand heavy loads: for example, mining machinery shifts 70 tons of soil at once. Outdoor operation is exposed to wind and rain. Indoor operation is subjected to dust and vibration. Furthermore, from freezing polar regions to sweltering equatorial locations all over the world, The machines are working in diverse operating environments. Once a project is completed, one moves to another location, and the working environment can dramatically change as the different conditions.
Given that these machines operate under such harsh conditions, it is conceivable that unexpected troubles may occur depending on the situation. As we all know, if a fault renders a machine inoperable, this brings work on the site to a halt and severely impacts the budget of the customers. To prevent issues like this from occurring and ensure uninterrupted operation, we decided to develop a service for ongoing monitoring. ConSite was developed under the concept of supporting our customers to reduce lifecycle costs by improving operating efficiency and proposing inspections, repairs and replacing components at the appropriate times.
ConSite uses ICT to process big data from machines to monitor and analyze the status of machines. This information is not only intended for internal use by Hitachi Construction Machinery as a supplier. It is a tool to provide customers with the services and parts they need, when they need them, to solve the issues of interrupted operation and lifecycle costs. ConSite has a variety of features, including monitoring the status of the machine, appraisals of used machinery and real-time remote fault diagnostics. These service solutions provide multifaceted support for customers' businesses.
As written as "tool", ConSite itself is actually nothing more than a tool. However, a major feature of ConSite is that it does not remain just a tool. ConSite enables us to connect machines and customers around the world, along with dealers who provide support for customers, and a variety of other parties that customers deal with. We aim to utilize this ConSite ecosystem to contribute to carbon neutrality and the development of a circular economy to solve social issues.
The background of this is the aspiration of Hitachi Construction Machinery as a solutions provider. Hitachi Construction Machinery has set forth "growth as a true solution provider" in its mid-term management plan. Our vision for the future begins with "Solution 1.0", which will center on preventive maintenance through the use of data. From there, we will proceed to "Solution 2.0", where this information will be utilized to take our products to the next level and create two-way connections between parties such as dealers, suppliers, factories and parts warehouses. Finally, in "Solution 3.0", we will build a next-generation supply chain and create added value to achieve zero lead time, zero downtime and zero wasted labor. ConSite will be the core program and starting point of these initiatives.
ConSite Will Bring the "New Normal" into Reality in the Future
