Fujitsu and JR Freight deliver DX for rail maintenance and management with introduction of new system

Fujitsu Limited, Japan Freight Railway Company

Tokyo, March 11, 2024

Fujitsu Limited and Japan Freight Railway Company (JR Freight) today announced the launch of a new system to support the maintenance and management of rolling stock for railway operators nationwide in Japan. Leveraging JR Freight’s know-how in the maintenance of rolling stock, Fujitsu developed a new system for rail maintenance and management that enables railway operators to save labor for maintenance and ensure high quality through standardized processes, ultimately contributing to the resolution of societal issues including labor shortages in the railway industry.

Based on the results of introducing the system to its own operations, JR Freight will support Fujitsu in introducing the newly developed system to other railway companies in Japan. The two companies aim to provide a stable system that can be easily implemented by railway operators without cost- and time-intensive system development processes.

Realizing a sustainable railway transportation society

JR Freight, which provides transportation of cargo nationwide throughout Japan, has been supporting the concept of a paradigm shift in the use of railroads, promoting a transition away from freight transport with trucks to less polluting transport by rail. As maintenance work for rolling stock requires considerable human resources, however, JR Freight has been focusing on methods to streamline railroad operations to optimize the use of existing labor.

Using the new system, Fujitsu and JR Freight digitized JR Freight’s paper-based inspection and repair information and centrally managed inspection information. This helped JR Freight to achieve a significant reduction in man-hours for administrative work, as well as a reduction of associated maintenance costs through an audit of its periodic inspection cycle, and also helped mitigate possible regulatory risk by ensuring system consistency.

Fujitsu and JR Freight will jointly promote introduction of the new system to other railway operators experiencing similar challenges in their operations.

Overview of functions and concept for the newly developed system

1. Functionalization of basic maintenance tasks

The new system centrally manages information including the status of rolling stock and parts, maintenance plans, status checks, and records of repair responses. Using tablets, railway operators can further electronically record on-site inspections. In this way the new system enables users to save labor in the maintenance of rolling stock and optimize the inspection cycle based on inspection data.

2. Safety and security measures to support social infrastructure

Using a basic form creation function of the inspection record table in the new system, operators can flexibly and easily add new inspection types and change inspection items, thereby speeding up additional responses to new laws and regulations and new types of rolling stock. In addition, the system includes a function for automatic calculation of the next inspection deadline and an alert function to improve the accuracy of work quality.

3. System introduction based on the concept of "Fit to Standard"

The new system is based on the concept of "Fit to Standard," which aligns business operations with standard functions, and is developed by setting individual company data as the master of the base system.

Roles and responsibilities:

• System introduction

• Support during the introduction of the system, including initial input of rolling stock information and assistance in the preparation of the basic form of the inspection record table to reduce the burden on the companies introducing the new the system

Related Links

• Japan Freight Railway Company

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