Factory Management System "MENTENA" Launches Usage-Based Maintenance (UBM) Feature to Support Operations Based on Running Hours

Yachiyo Solutions Co., Ltd. (Head Office: Taito-ku, Tokyo; President and CEO: Takashi Mizuno) will begin offering new features for its factory management system "MENTENA" from April 6, 2026, which support Usage-Based Maintenance (UBM), a preventive maintenance method based on usage records such as equipment operating volume and production quantity.

About Usage-Based Maintenance (UBM)

UBM is a maintenance method considered effective for maintaining drive systems and managing molds. For instance, if a bearing fails, it can cascade and affect other parts and devices in the power transmission system, necessitating preventive maintenance rather than reactive maintenance. UBM predicts the progression of deterioration and wear based on operating volume, such as total rotations, and takes action before a failure occurs. While Condition-Based Maintenance (CBM) and Time-Based Maintenance (TBM) are the primary methods of preventive maintenance, UBM is characterized by its focus on operating volume and usage.

Details of the New Feature

In manufacturing sites, the importance of UBM is increasing, where the timing for inspection, repair, and replacement is determined based on the number of mold shots, rotation counts/operating hours of bearings and motors, and the usage amount of consumables like belts and filters. UBM is not merely a method for improving maintenance efficiency but a crucial initiative that supports both stable operations and occupational safety.

However, such maintenance operations often remain managed using paper or Excel. Operations requiring manual calculation of cumulative values by constantly referring to previous values have led to issues of enormous management overhead and personalization. Furthermore, attempting to implement precise maintenance such as "lubrication every 10 million rotations" for a vast number of equipment and parts can push site workloads to their limits. Due to these operational cost barriers, many companies, while understanding the effectiveness of UBM, have ended up sticking to conventional TBM.

Contributing to the Realization of More Advanced Usage-Based Maintenance (UBM)

Until now, MENTENA has achieved stable equipment operation primarily through TBM such as monthly inspections and CBM such as temperature control. With this update, it becomes possible to support UBM in line with "operating volume," which is crucial for manufacturing sites.

By registering differential values of operating volume, cumulative operating volume is automatically calculated, and this data can be used to enable the following maintenance responses:

① Accumulate rotation counts for drive systems such as motors and bearings, and perform adjustments, lubrication, and consumable replacement at specified rotation counts.

② Accumulate daily mold shot counts, and conduct inspections and repairs when the cumulative total shot count reaches a certain level.

In Japan's manufacturing industry, there is a tendency to meticulously maintain equipment to ensure its long-term and careful use. To extend equipment lifespan, it is important to have an environment where the progression of equipment deterioration can be grasped through data and decisions made, rather than relying solely on the experience and intuition of technicians. This new feature allows for the easy accumulation of accurate usage records at the site, supporting the creation of a foundation for making maintenance decisions of higher quality and for using equipment more safely and for a longer period.

Furthermore, practical UBM implementation requires more granular management. Equipment and parts often experience high failure rates shortly after starting operation, followed by a period of stable operation, and then a rise in failure rates again due to wear and aging. Therefore, it is necessary to perform adjustments and maintenance work at appropriate intervals for each stage. Even for the same task, more frequent responses or more thorough inspections may be required during the later stages of operation (wear-out failure period) compared to the mid-operation period (random failure period).

This update also enables the automatic creation of work schedules that combine these conditions. By accumulating usage data and linking it to actual work plans, it realizes a more practical UBM operation.

"Responding to UBM has been a persistent request from our customers. In the area of mold management, overlooking mold wear or deformation directly leads to quality control issues. Furthermore, a single failure in drive systems such as rotating shafts can cause chain damage to the entire power transmission system, incurring significant recovery costs. Additionally, as these parts are subjected to strong stress and tension, flying debris or broken belts from a failure could injure surrounding employees. From these perspectives, I am confident that this update holds great significance. We will continue to listen to our customers' voices and further improve our services," said Shuhei Yamaguchi, COO (Chief Operating Officer).

What is the Factory Management System "MENTENA"?

URL: https://mentena.biz/

MENTENA is a factory management system that minimizes unexpected equipment stoppages in manufacturing production. It centralizes equipment management tasks such as inspection, maintenance, and repair, and by moving away from personalized work processes managed by paper or Excel, it achieves improved site operational efficiency and reliable history management. With an intuitive and simple design, and a support system that assists from introduction to stable use, it realizes "easy," "accessible," and "reliable support," thereby supporting stable factory operations. This service is utilized in factory and equipment management operations across various sites, including manufacturing, building maintenance, and the gas and electricity industries. By establishing preventive maintenance with minimal site burden, preventing losses from unexpected stoppages and equipment aging, and accumulating equipment management data in a format usable for management decisions, it contributes to the simultaneous achievement of stable site operations and sustainable business growth.

About Yachiyo Solutions Co., Ltd.

Yachiyo Solutions Co., Ltd. was established to contribute to the formation of sustainable local communities and the long-term growth of companies by leveraging the knowledge and experience in social infrastructure management cultivated over 60 years by its parent company, Yachiyo Engineering Co., Ltd. As our customers' foremost partner, we emphasize the creation of mechanisms that serve as a "common language" connecting the field to management through asset management that utilizes data as an asset. We view data not merely as records but as "assets supporting decision-making," and by continuously refining it into practical solutions, we contribute to improving the quality and speed of our customers' decision-making. As the first initiative in this endeavor, we are promoting the cloud factory management system MENTENA as our primary service.

Company Name: Yachiyo Solutions Co., Ltd.

Location: 5-20-8 Asakusabashi, Taito-ku, Tokyo

Representative: Takashi Mizuno, President and CEO

Website: https://yachiyo-sol.com/

Keywords: MENTENA, Equipment Management, Equipment Maintenance, DX, Manufacturing Industry, Cloud, Productivity Improvement, SaaS, Operational Efficiency