Asiot Co., Ltd.
Asiot, which operates the AIoT automatic meter reading service “A Smart”, promotes industrial DX through automation of meter reading Also adopted by Hitachi Construction Machinery and Taisei. Significant labor savings in analog meter reading in factories and buildings
Asciotto Co., Ltd. (headquarters: Machida City, Tokyo; Representative Director: Yohei Mikami; hereinafter referred to as “Asciotto”), which realizes automatic meter reading through AIoT technology, will undertake pre-series A round with UB Ventures Co., Ltd. We would like to inform you that we have completed financing of approximately 180 million yen through a third-party allocation of shares.
After this funding, we will continue to strengthen product
development, sales and support systems, and promote further DX conversion of meter reading.
Challenges in meter reading
There are still many problems with meter reading performed by human eyes at many sites.
Meters are installed in various places such as houses, factories, restaurants, commercial facilities, and parking lots, and their measurement targets are not limited to electricity, gas, and water. There are multiple types of meters, such as digital and pointer types. Electricity meters in general households have already been made smart (automatic remote meter reading), but in many other areas meter reading is still performed in a very analog way by human eyes. It is the reality.
For example, in a factory with a large site area, it takes a very long time just to move to the installation location to read one meter. In addition, harsh environments such as extreme heat and extreme cold can lead to a decline in people’s ability to make judgments, often resulting in false meter readings. If a meter is read incorrectly, it will be necessary to visit the site again, resulting in unnecessary costs. In order to grasp accurate meter data like this, work is currently being done on-site using analog and labor-intensive methods, and this is a serious issue.
Strengths and performance of A Smart
A Smart realizes remote automatic meter reading with strengths of “attachment method” and “edge AI*”
The strength of A Smart developed by Asiot lies in its “attachment method” and “edge AI”. In general, when making a meter smart, it is necessary to replace the existing meter itself, which requires a lot of cost and time for devices and replacement work. On the other hand, A Smart can be easily installed in minutes as an attachment (retrofit) to existing meters without the need for construction work. In addition, A Smart uses edge AI technology to process acquired data on the device side and send it to the cloud, reducing communication traffic and power consumption.
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In addition, users can view the data acquired through A Smart in real time on the meter reading data dashboard. In addition, it has functions such as setting alerts when abnormal values occur, graphing various acquired data, and batch output in formats such as excel and CSV. A Smart is a cloud platform that enables efficient automation of data acquisition, visualization and analysis of data, which has been difficult until now, through its unique strengths. In this way, A Smart promotes DX conversion of meter reading, which has been an issue of very analog and inefficient meter reading, through its strengths of “attachment type” and “edge AI” technology. In addition, the FSA’s amendments to the “Cabinet Office Ordinance on Disclosure of Corporate Information, etc.” will require “disclosure of corporate sustainability initiatives” in annual securities reports from March 2023. . The introduction of A Smart is expected to enable visualization of energy consumption and reduction of greenhouse gases, as well as utilization of A Smart in external sustainability-related disclosure use cases.
A Smart has been introduced at many sites such as factories and building management
JATCO Planttech Co., Ltd.
JATCO PLANTTECH, which provides operation and maintenance services for power receiving equipment and factory utilities, has introduced it to the water meters of each factory, and is using it as a data
acquisition tool to understand the manufacturing cost of products. Before the system was introduced, the biggest issue was the shortage of workers. In introducing the system, the fact that it can be easily installed as an attachment (retrofit) and that it can be operated at a low cost during and after installation were highly evaluated and the decision was made. After the introduction, it was highly appreciated that it took about 40 minutes to read the meters of 10 units, but now it has been greatly reduced to 5 minutes.
Hitachi Construction Machinery Co., Ltd.
It has been introduced for the purpose of automatic meter reading of water and gas meters in construction machinery manufacturing plants. Until now, workers had to go to each meter in the factory to read and record, and there was an issue with the inefficient meter reading method. After the introduction, automatic meter reading from a remote location became possible through A Smart, and we were able to reduce the number of man-hours required for meter reading, and we were able to improve the frequency of meter reading.
Taisei Co., Ltd.
Taisei, which provides building management and building maintenance services, has installed this system in the water meters in the buildings it manages. One of the tasks of building management is always meter reading, and due to the recent corona disaster, we have been faced with the problem that it has become difficult to do. Specifically, it is an example of being avoided by tenants when it is necessary to enter a private space. In addition, the meters installed in such buildings are often located behind the door in the kitchen, where obstacles need to be cleared before reaching them. By
introducing A Smart, even in places where it is difficult to read meters, automatic meter reading from a remote location has become possible, and meter reading work has become more efficient.
Inabata Industry
As a sales agent, Inabata Sangyo also handles our A Smart. In particular, we have received high praise for the edge AI technology that can process acquired data on the device side and send it to the cloud side. In addition, while many other services are specialized for one of the electricity, gas, or water applications, A Smart has been highly evaluated for being versatile for all three applications. In the future, we are expecting to support not only digital meters but also various analog meters such as pointer types, and we have received a great deal of support in terms of sales of our products.
Purpose of fundraising
Based on the funds raised this time, we will work on improving usability for customers who use A Smart and developing further functions. In addition, we will invest in recruiting human resources to strengthen our sales and customer success (support) systems for future business expansion.
■ Comments from underwriters
UB Ventures Co., Ltd. Managing Partner Kamitsu Lai
Industrial sites such as infrastructure, manufacturing, and equipment management in Japan still carry out a lot of analog work. Field workers have so far been underrepresented in the benefits of technology. Over the past decade, IoT and AI technologies have become more accessible, affordable, and advanced. Asciotto’s “edge AI” technology, including the “A Smart” service, is implemented in all industries, and by visualizing data that was previously invisible, it accelerates industrial DX and contributes to improving productivity at the site. UB Vetures will support you so that you can become one. From Yohei Mikami, Representative Director of Asiot Co., Ltd. Meter reading work in factory and building management, instrument patrol inspections for equipment maintenance and understanding of manufacturing costs have been a heavy burden for facility
managers/equipment inspectors. However, remodeling existing equipment so that it can read data from conventional analog equipment is costly and time-consuming, and there are many challenges for automation. At Asiot, we are accelerating industrial DX by implementing A Smart in all industries, including the infrastructure that supports our lives, such as electricity, gas, and water, and by visualizing previously unseen data. To go. We recognize that the funding this time was invested in our past performance and future expectations. In order to meet their expectations, Asiot will continue to push forward. Actively recruiting members
Asiot is strengthening its human resources for further business growth in the future.
We are looking for sales and customer success, as well as CXO and manager candidates.
If you are interested in our thoughts and business, we are looking forward to your application.
Please see the following URL for recruitment details.
https://www.asiot.jp/recruit
About Asiot Co., Ltd.
・Company name: Asiot Co., Ltd.
・Representative: Yohei Mikami, Representative Director
・Location of head office 1-36-2 Morino, Machida City, Tokyo 194-0022 ・Established: June 2020
・HP: https://www.asiot.jp/
・A Smart: http://asmart.ai/
【inquiry】
Asiot Co., Ltd.
E-mail: info@asiot.jp
Details about this release:
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