SUMITOMO HEAVY INDUSTRIES TECHNICAL REVIEW

Remote Monitoring and Maintenance System

Yoshikazu ITOH

Stable operations are becoming more important for high performance devices of material handling equipped with complex control systems. On the other hand, the unsatisfactory skills of customers’ maintenance technicians as well as the shortage of skilled technicians are deteriorating capabilities for corrective maintenance and also for coping with problems. In response to these circumstances, we have developed a remote monitoring and maintenance system for a material handling crane that aims at maintaining stable operations. The system applied to the container-handling crane is connected between an on-site monitoring terminal installed in an electrical compartment of a crane and a personal computer located at this office via a portable telephone. The system has both the functions of corrective maintenance and preventive maintenance. The corrective maintenance is to reduce the recovery time by determining instantly the occurrence of problems, and the preventive maintenance is to prevent troubles by detecting any symptom of unusual conditions. We expect the system will be utilized as a tool for the stable operation of material handling devices.