Industrial Machine List Management Across Multiple Factories

Resolve Bottlenecks,
Find Innovative Solutions
Generate Solutions

Solution Overview

Problem

Existing systems fail to manage the specifications of multiple industrial machines installed across multiple factories belonging to a single user, making it difficult to relocate and operate them efficiently and impeding effective sales and maintenance services.

Innovation Solution

An information processing method and apparatus that stores and associates user identifiers, factory identifiers, and machine identifiers with machine-related information in a database, creating a machine list that includes specifications of industrial machines across multiple factories, and provides this data to users and external parties.

Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles

VSEngineering Contradiction Analysis

1Ease of operation

If specifications of industrial machines across multiple factories are managed in a centralized system, then information accessibility and operational efficiency are improved, but system complexity and data management burden increase

Engineering Contradiction:
ImproveEase of grasping machine specificationsVSAvoidComplexity of managing multiple factory data
Core Design Contradiction:
Ease of operationVSDevice complexity

Solution Approach 1:

The patent merges data from multiple factories into a single centralized database system. The database stores machine specifications, factory information, and operational data from various factories in one location, allowing users to access comprehensive information through a unified interface rather than querying separate systems for each factory.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #5Merging (Combining)

Solution Approach 2:

The centralized database system serves multiple functions: storing machine specifications, tracking operational status, managing maintenance schedules, and providing access to both internal users and external service providers. This multi-functional system replaces multiple separate data management approaches.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #6Universality (Multi-functionality)

2Measurement precision

If detailed machine specification data is collected from all factories, then decision-making accuracy for relocation and operation is improved, but data collection and processing time increase

Engineering Contradiction:
ImproveAccuracy of machine specification informationVSAvoidTime for collecting and processing data
Core Design Contradiction:
Measurement precisionVSLoss of time

Solution Approach 1:

The system performs preliminary data collection and organization by storing complete machine specifications, factory information, and operational parameters in advance in the centralized database. This preliminary structuring of data allows for rapid retrieval and analysis when relocation or operational decisions need to be made, eliminating the need for time-consuming data gathering at the moment of decision-making.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #10Preliminary action

Data Source

PatentEP4607422A1Information processing method, information processing device, and computer program
Publication Date: 2025.08.27 THE JAPAN STEEL WORKS LTD
  • EP4607422A1 patent drawingFigure 1
  • EP4607422A1 patent drawingFigure 2
  • EP4607422A1 patent drawingFigure 3

AI summary

The present invention involves: storing, in a database, identifiers for identifying a plurality of users, factory identifiers for identifying a plurality of factories belonging to the plurality of users, equipment identifiers for identifying a plurality of industrial machines installed in the plurality of factories, and equipment-related information including specifications for the plurality of industrial machines in association with one another; reading from the database, factory identifiers, equipment identifiers, and equipment-related information items which are associated with an identifier of one of the users; creating an equipment list which includes a plurality of factories belonging to said one user, a plurality of industrial machines installed in the plurality of factories, and the corresponding equipment-related information items; and providing data of the created equipment list to the one user and external relevant parties relating to the one user.