Society Challenges
Elevators have become an indispensable means of vertical transportation in an aging and barrier-free society. However, they face the following social challenges. First, while the number of elevators is increasing, the aging of office buildings and condominiums requires appropriate maintenance and management of elevators in accordance with changes in conditions. Second, maintenance and inspection workers and construction company employees are faced with a severe working environment. For example, the risk of industrial accidents, the increase of small elevators and high-rise elevators, and the demand for advanced maintenance technology due to the increase of special wire ropes. In addition, the maintenance of visual and other subjective inspection and inspection methods is required to be automated due to concerns that the reduction in the number of skilled workers in line with the decline in the Japanese labor population will jeopardize the transmission of skills and will fail sooner or later. Third, there is a need for measures to ensure safety and to restore operations as soon as possible in the event of an emergency affecting a wide range of areas, such as earthquakes and floods.
Measures by Shimadzu Corporation
Shimadzu has developed magnetic sensing technology as one of its core technologies. Against this backdrop, our company has developed a new technology that can quickly and sensitively detect broken wire ropes.
Wire ropes are important parts to ensure safety in elevators. In order to solve social problems associated with elevators, our company is developing sensors that can detect wire rope damage in a non-contact manner.
We believe that if sensors can be permanently installed in elevators for inspection, and that data can be used to construct an advanced safety system, it will be possible to secure the safety of the people who use elevators without relying on skilled skills by ascertaining the status of elevators and by saving and automating inspection work.
By integrating these sensors with other sensors and utilizing AI technology, we believe that they will be integrated into wire ropes, elevators, and even an early detection and preventive maintenance system for potential risks in office buildings themselves, leading to increased building value.
In addition to elevators, wire ropes are used in a variety of applications, including cranes, ropeways, water gates, play facilities, stage equipment, and mechanical multi-story parking garages. In principle, these inspections are conducted by visual observation and there are social issues similar to elevators. We believe that building a highly safe and secure system through the use of sensors and data will lead to the resolution of social issues in these fields.
