Fujitsu IoT innovates toilet production in Vietnam

Developing countries like Vietnam face many issues, including sanitation problems and a lack of toilets. In Vietnam, where the economy is developing rapidly, although infrastructure is being rolled out from the urban areas, when it comes to toilets and sewers, about 40% of households use a chamber pot, and the adoption rate for flush toilets has still not even reached 20% of the country’s population. In the rainy season, the filthy water from chamber pots and the like means the spread of infections and diarrhoea, endangering those with weak immune systems, such as children and the elderly.

Toto Ltd aims to promote healthy lifestyles in all regions by providing products using its cutting-edge water-saving and sanitation-preserving technologies, to strengthen the production of sanitary ware, beginning with toilets, and to contribute to the development of a culture which values water used throughout the home. As part of this goal, it has placed the Asia and Oceania regions at the centre of its global supply chain, securing a stable global supply system. In addition to its 29 production-related companies located in the Japan, US, China, Asia and Oceania regions, Toto plans to operate a third Vietnam factory beginning in March 2018.

Sanitary ware is large in size and complex in terms of shape. Greater production reliability requires skilled techniques and advanced technology in areas such as in moulding operations, which must consider warping and shrinkage in post-processing; temperature management in tunnel kilns that require high temperatures and a great deal of attention; and inspections by certified inspectors who possess knowledge and experience.

Toto, together with Fujitsu Systems East, embarked on a project to transform its Vietnam factory production with IoT technologies in September of 2015. The aim was to not only improve production and the quality of the sanitation ware, but also to train employees who can employ skilled techniques and advanced technology.

In order to provide stable production of high-quality sanitary ware, the system enables quality data and information about the status of production throughout the whole manufacturing process to be collected and used.

By using tags and barcodes attached to products in production, as well as collecting a variety of performance information, including data about the mixing of raw materials, the humidity and temperature when raw materials are mixed, and the type of glaze applied to the sanitary ware, it becomes possible to trace individual products in real time. This enables an understanding of quality information from when the product was manufactured, right through to after it ships.

Millimetre-scale distortions and flaws cannot be allowed in sanitary ware that will be installed in plumbing, so it is meticulously designed, taking into account the fact that ceramic materials shrink in the drying and firing process. To enable inspectors to record thorough inspection results, including details, the system displays a diagram of the flush toilet from all six perspectives, above and below, in front and behind, and left and right, where inspectors can instantly record or check the locations and status of flaws. Using the data collected on these tablets, system operators can digitally grasp locations with a tendency to produce flaws, or elements in the facilities or environment that may cause flaws. This can lead to further improvements in the manufacturing process.

As a result of implementing this system, Toto Vietnam can now share information that was not previously able to be visualised, such as the work procedures taken by experienced workers and inspection results — improving communication and exchanges of opinion among workers.

Fujitsu built a system where production performance and product inspection results, which employees previously recorded on paper, can be easily input on tablets and handy terminals. The companies worked with employees on the actual production line, having them test out the tablet input screen, confirming its readability and usability, collaborating on everything from the size of the text and the placement of input fields to the size of the keyboard.

The system innovates the production of sanitary ware, which requires extremely sensitive operations, such as the mixing of raw materials and adjusting contraction rates. IC tags are used to not only track the progress and quality of products, but also to collect and digitise a variety of data, such as work procedures and other know-how of skilled workers. In addition, Fujitsu has a system which emphasises the operability of tablets that employees use to input inspection information, featuring displays with easy-to-understand graphics and touch input functionality, and customised applications. By implementing IoT technologies, which puts the information created by people and things to effective use, the system enables the visualisation of trained workers’ expertise, which was previously difficult to record as data. It also makes possible analysis with the use of statistical data, leading to improved production of high-quality products.