Contextual and background data is often buried and in various formats; Storage and distribution of large amounts of raw data requires considerable compute resources and infrastructure; The cost of installation and maintenance of new computers, servers, and network equipment to collect and distribute data needs to be minimized. GOAL Establish new open environments for future factory operation visualization scenarios, with data upload and simulation capability to augment physical factory equipment; Provide a cloud-based platform that can combine factory sensor and operational data to enhance the visibility and analysis of key manufacturing processes, thereby enabling improvement of operational efficiency.

Shimane Fujitsu, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Fujitsu and a leading manufacturer of business notebooks and tablets, set out to improve processes where factory inspections found product errors. Prioritizing product rework based on shipping date was challenging, and it caused Shimane Fujitsu to incur additional shipping fees. The company needed a way to collect data to better track the location of products in the rework cycle as well as monitor progress in real time. The collected data would also help process analysis for future improvements.