Equipment management support apparatus and equipment management support method

The equipment management support device and method address the inefficiency of existing systems by providing quick abnormality detection and cost estimation for equipment maintenance, improving planning and reducing interaction requirements.

JP2025179391APending Publication Date: 2025-12-10TADANO INFRASTRUCTURE SOLUTIONS CO LTD
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Patent Information

Application Number
JP2024086107
Authority / Receiving Office
JP · JP
Patent Type
Applications
Current Assignee / Owner
Filing Date
2024-05-28
Publication Date
2025-12-10

AI Technical Summary

Technical Problem

Existing equipment maintenance systems require time-consuming interactions with maintenance companies for estimating costs and procuring replacement parts when equipment abnormalities are detected.

Method used

An equipment management support device and method that includes an abnormality detection unit, parts identification unit, and estimated price calculation unit to quickly provide details of abnormalities and estimated costs for necessary parts.

Benefits of technology

Enables rapid presentation of abnormality details and estimated costs, enhancing maintenance planning efficiency and reducing the need for extensive customer interactions.

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Abstract

To provide an equipment management support apparatus and an equipment management support method which, upon occurence of an abnormality on equipment, can quickly present a content of the occurred abnormality and an estimated amount of cost necessary for coping with the abnormality.SOLUTION: An equipment management support apparatus 1 includes: an abnormality detection unit 22 for detecting an abnormality of equipment owned by a customer; a component specifying unit 23 for specifying a related component related to the abnormality detected by the abnormality detection unit 22; an estimated price calculating unit 24 for acquiring information of purchase price of the related component to calculate, based on the acquired information of the purchase price of the related component, expenses to be generated for purchase of the related component and delivery thereof to a customer and for, based on the information of the purchase price and the expenses, calculating an estimated price upon delivery of the related component to the customer; and a provided information generating unit 25 for generating provision information including the information relating to the abnormality detected by the abnormality detection unit 22, the information relating to the related component specified by the component specifying unit 23, and the information of the estimated price relating to the related component calculated by the estimated price calculating unit 24.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1
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Description

[Technical Field]

[0001] The present invention relates to a device management support device and a device management support method. [Background technology]

[0002] When performing equipment maintenance management, there are systems that detect signs of failure from the equipment's operation data. By using these systems, it is possible to detect abnormalities before a failure occurs and take appropriate measures. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0003] [Patent Document 1] Patent No. 7345692 Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0004] Even if the above-mentioned system is used to recognize signs of equipment failure, there is a problem in that in order to procure the parts necessary to avoid the failure and to understand the costs required to perform the replacement work, it is necessary to contact the equipment maintenance company and request an estimate, which is time-consuming.

[0005] The present invention has been made in consideration of the above circumstances, and aims to provide an equipment management support device and an equipment management support method that, when an abnormality occurs in an equipment, can quickly present the details of the abnormality that has occurred as well as an estimated amount of costs required to deal with the abnormality. [Means for solving the problem]

[0006] In order to achieve the above-mentioned object, the equipment management support device of the present invention comprises an abnormality detection unit that detects abnormalities in equipment owned by a customer; a parts identification unit that identifies related parts related to the abnormality detected by the abnormality detection unit; an estimated price calculation unit that acquires purchase price information of the related parts, calculates expenses incurred for purchasing the related parts and delivering them to the customer from the acquired purchase price information of the related parts, and calculates an estimated price for delivering the related parts to the customer from the purchase price information and the expense information; and a provided information generation unit that generates provided information including information on the abnormality detected by the abnormality detection unit, information on the related parts identified by the parts identification unit, and information on the estimated price for the related parts calculated by the estimated price calculation unit.

[0007] In addition, in the equipment management support method of the present invention, an equipment management support device that supports the maintenance management of equipment owned by a customer detects an abnormality in the equipment, identifies related parts related to the detected abnormality, obtains information on the purchase prices of the related parts, calculates expenses incurred for purchasing the related parts and delivering them to the customer from the obtained information on the purchase prices of the related parts, calculates an estimated price for delivering the related parts to the customer from the purchase price information and the expense information, and generates information to be provided that includes information on the detected abnormality, information on the identified related parts, and information on the calculated estimated price for the related parts. [Effects of the Invention]

[0008] According to the equipment management support device and equipment management support method of the present invention, when an abnormality occurs in equipment, it is possible to quickly present the details of the abnormality as well as an estimated amount of costs required to deal with the abnormality. [Brief explanation of the drawings]

[0009] [Figure 1] 1 is an overall diagram showing the configuration of a device management support device according to an embodiment of the present invention; [Figure 2] 4 is a flowchart showing the operation of the device management support device according to an embodiment of the present invention. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0010] An embodiment of a device management support device of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. In this embodiment, the device management support device is owned by a maintenance company that maintains device X owned by a customer, and supports the management of device X on the customer side by presenting information related to the maintenance management of device X to the customer.

[0011] <Configuration of device management support device according to one embodiment> 1 is a block diagram showing the configuration of a device management support device 1 according to an embodiment of the present invention. The device management support device 1 is communicably connected to a device PLC 2 that controls a device X to be maintained and a customer terminal 3 installed on the customer side that owns the device X.

[0012] The device management support device 1 includes a storage unit 10, a CPU 20, and a communication unit 30.

[0013] The storage unit 10 stores an anomaly detection model 11, a large language model (LLM) 12 for part identification, and an LLM 13 for estimated price calculation.

[0014] The anomaly detection model 11 is an AI model configured using machine learning or deep learning, which detects anomalies that are a sign of a failure within device X from the operation data of device X. The part identification LLM 12 is an AI model created by providing knowledge such as the BOM (bills of materials) of the parts used in device X, which identifies parts related to the anomaly in device X. The estimated price calculation LLM 13 is an AI model created from past parts purchase record information, which calculates the estimated price when delivering this part to a customer from the part identification information.

[0015] The CPU 20 is, for example, a CPU (Central Processing Unit) provided in a general-purpose microcomputer, and by installing and executing a predetermined device management support program, configures one or more of the following information processing units.

[0016] The CPU 20 includes an operation data acquisition unit 21, an abnormality detection unit 22, a part identification unit 23, an estimated price calculation unit 24, and a provision information generation unit 25.

[0017] The operation data acquiring unit 21 acquires operation data of the device X from the device PLC 2. The abnormality detecting unit 22 uses the abnormality detection model 11 to detect an abnormality that is a sign of a failure from the operation data of the device X acquired by the operation data acquiring unit 21.

[0018] The component identification unit 23 uses the component identification LLM 12 to identify components in the device X that are related to the abnormality detected by the abnormality detection unit 22 as related components.

[0019] The estimated price calculation unit 24 uses the estimated price calculation LLM 13 to calculate an estimated price when the related parts identified by the parts identification unit 23 are delivered to the customer.

[0020] The provision information generation unit 25 generates provision information including information regarding the abnormality detected by the abnormality detection unit 22, information regarding the related parts identified by the part identification unit 23, and information regarding the estimated prices of the related parts calculated by the estimated price calculation unit 24.

[0021] The communication unit 30 communicates with the customer terminal 3 .

[0022] <Operation of the device management support device according to one embodiment> 2 is a flowchart showing the operation of the device management support device 1. When device X starts operating, the operation data acquisition unit 21 of the device management support device 1 acquires operation data of device X from the device PLC 2.

[0023] The anomaly detection unit 22 sequentially acquires the operation data acquired by the operation data acquisition unit 21, and determines whether or not there is an anomaly that is a sign of a failure from the acquired operation data using the anomaly detection model 11 (S1). When the anomaly detection unit 22 detects an anomaly that is a sign of a failure from the acquired operation data ("YES" in S1), it sends information indicating the content of the detected anomaly to the part identification unit 23.

[0024] The part identification unit 23 uses the part identification LLM 12 to identify parts in the device X that are related to the abnormality detected by the abnormality detection unit 22, specifically, parts that are the cause of this abnormality, as related parts (S2). The part identification unit 23 sends information on the identified related parts to the estimated price calculation unit 24.

[0025] The estimated price calculation unit 24 uses the estimated price calculation LLM 13 to calculate an estimated price when the related parts identified by the parts identification unit 23 are delivered to the customer (S3).

[0026] Specifically, the estimated price calculation unit 24 acquires information on the purchase prices of the related parts identified by the parts identification unit 23, and calculates the expenses incurred in purchasing the related parts and delivering them to the customer from the acquired purchase price information.

[0027] The estimated price calculation unit 24 calculates the estimated price by including, as information on expenses related to the related parts, information on the profit amount generated by delivery to the customer, calculated from the purchase price, and information on costs incurred for related parts with a purchase price above a predetermined amount. This "profit amount" is, for example, 30% of the purchase price. Furthermore, the "costs incurred for related parts with a purchase price above a predetermined amount" is, for example, the amount of labor costs for 10 hours added as design costs for expensive parts priced above 1 million yen.

[0028] The estimated price calculation unit 24 further calculates an estimated price for delivering the related parts to the customer from the acquired purchase price information and the calculated expense information.

[0029] The provision information generation unit 25 generates provision information including information about the abnormality detected by the abnormality detection unit 22, information about the related parts identified by the part identification unit 23, and information about the estimated price of the related parts calculated by the estimated price calculation unit 24, and causes the communication unit 30 to transmit the provision information to the customer terminal 3 (S4).

[0030] The customer terminal 3 displays the provided information sent from the equipment management support device 1 on a display device (not shown). By visually checking the displayed provided information, the customer's administrator recognizes information about anomalies that are signs of failure, information about parts related to these anomalies, and the estimated price for purchasing these parts.

[0031] [Effects of the embodiment] According to the above embodiment, the equipment management support device includes an abnormality detection unit that detects abnormalities in equipment owned by a customer; a parts identification unit that identifies related parts related to the abnormality detected by the abnormality detection unit; an estimated price calculation unit that acquires information on the purchase prices of the related parts, calculates expenses incurred for purchasing the related parts and delivering them to the customer from the acquired information on the purchase prices of the related parts, and calculates an estimated price for delivering the related parts to the customer from the purchase price information and the expense information; and a provided information generation unit that generates provided information including information on the abnormality detected by the abnormality detection unit, information on the related parts identified by the parts identification unit, and information on the estimated price for the related parts calculated by the estimated price calculation unit.

[0032] This allows the customer's manager to quickly and easily grasp information about the detected anomaly, information about the parts related to the anomaly, and the estimated price for purchasing the parts when an abnormality that is a sign of a breakdown is detected, allowing for efficient maintenance planning. Furthermore, the maintenance contractor's staff can reduce the need for conversations with the customer's manager, as well as with their internal sales staff and staff from related departments, thereby improving work efficiency.

[0033] The estimated price calculation unit also calculates the estimated price by including, as information on expenses related to the related parts, information on the profit amount generated by delivery calculated from the purchase price and information on expenses incurred for related parts with a purchase price equal to or higher than a predetermined amount. This allows the estimated price of the related parts to be calculated with high accuracy.

[0034] Although the embodiments of the present invention have been described above, the embodiments can be modified or varied based on the above disclosure. All components of the above embodiments and all features described in the claims may be individually extracted and combined, unless they contradict each other. [Explanation of symbols]

[0035] 1 Equipment management support device 2 Equipment PLC 3. Customer terminal 10 Storage section 11 Anomaly detection model 12 LLM for component identification 13 LLM for estimating prices 20 CPU 21 Operational Data Acquisition Unit 22 Abnormality detection unit 23 Parts Identification Department 24 Estimated Price Calculation Department 25 Provided information generation section 30 Communications Department

Claims

1. an anomaly detection unit that detects anomalies in devices owned by customers; a part identification unit that identifies a related part associated with the abnormality detected by the abnormality detection unit; an estimated price calculation unit that acquires information on the purchase prices of the related parts, calculates expenses incurred in purchasing the related parts and delivering them to the customer from the acquired information on the purchase prices of the related parts, and calculates an estimated price for delivering the related parts to the customer from the information on the purchase prices and the information on the expenses; an information generation unit that generates information to be provided, the information including information regarding the abnormality detected by the abnormality detection unit, information regarding the related parts identified by the part identification unit, and information regarding the estimated price of the related parts calculated by the estimated price calculation unit.

2. The equipment management support device of claim 1, wherein the estimated price calculation unit calculates the estimated price by including, as information on expenses related to the related parts, information on the profit amount generated by the delivery calculated from the purchase price, and information on costs incurred for related parts with a purchase price above a predetermined amount.

3. An equipment management support device that supports the maintenance management of equipment owned by a customer, Detecting an abnormality in the device, Identify the parts related to the detected anomaly, acquiring information on the purchase prices of the related parts, calculating expenses incurred in purchasing the related parts and delivering them to the customer from the acquired information on the purchase prices of the related parts, and calculating an estimated price for delivering the related parts to the customer from the information on the purchase prices and the information on the expenses; An equipment management support method for generating information to be provided, the information including information on the detected abnormality, information on the identified related parts, and information on the calculated estimated prices for the related parts.

Citation Information

Patent Citations

  • Failure warning system

    JP7345692B2