Apr 11, 2025
Central Japan Railway Company
ITOCHU Techno-Solutions Corporation
Central Japan Railway Company (Shunsuke Niwa, President and Representative Director; hereinafter "JR Central”) has been promoting Digital Transformation (DX) for the superconducting maglev with the aim of realizing an efficient operational framework by utilizing the latest ICTs. As part of this initiative, JR Central has formed a Scrum Team*¹ with ITOCHU Techno-Solutions Corporation (Tatsushi Shingu, President and CEO; hereinafter "CTC") and has been developing its Vehicle Operating System (VOS) using agile methodologies*² since 2023.
Part of the VOS functionalities are to be launched for test runs on the Yamanashi Maglev Test Track in the summer of 2025.
1. Background and Development Objective
- JR Central has been working on two pillars in the technological development of the superconducting maglev: "verification of operational stability of vehicles with high-temperature superconducting magnets" and "verification of efficient maintenance systems utilizing ICTs." As for the latter, JR Central has been especially focusing on and advancing DX for the superconducting maglev.
- By enabling additions to and modifications of system functionalities swiftly and flexibly in response to the rapid progress in the ICT field, as well as adapting to business changes in preparation for the start of commercial operations of the Chuo Shinkansen, JR Central aims to realize an efficient operational framework. Furthermore, to this end, by shifting to in-house system development and adopting the agile development methodologies, the train operator is accelerating development of human resources well-versed both in the railway business and system development.
2. System Overview
- The VOS under development is a system that collects, analyzes, and integrates various data related to superconducting maglev vehicles that run on the Yamanashi Maglev Test Track, including vehicle data, inspection and repair data, operational data).
- This system automates tasks that need referencing multiple data, such as work planning, condition monitoring, and vehicle component management, significantly reducing administrative manual works.
Overview of Vehicle Operating System (VOS)
Integrates data on the superconducting maglev vehicles running on the Yamanashi Maglev Test Track.
⇒Enables automating tasks including work planning, condition monitoring, vehicle component management.
Ex.) When the condition monitoring function detects abnormal vehicle data, it automatically creates an optimal work plan by referencing multiple data sources such as spare components inventory and engineer work shifts.
3. Development Framework
- The system is being developed by the Scrum Team for agile development, comprising JR Central engineers with expertise in maglev vehicle maintenance and CTC engineers who provide technical assistance and support for the collaborative development.
- It is an exceptionally rare case where the train operator itself engages in the project as "Developer," who is responsible for creating codes from scratch, given the high level of difficulty involved. This marks the first such case for a railway company that utilizes CTC's "build service*³," our hands-on technology consulting service.
Agile Development with Scrum Team Framework
Utilizing CTC's "build service", our hands-on technology consulting service
- A Scrum Team was formed with six members from JR Central and four members from CTC.
- The role of "Developer" was taken on by JR Central's engineers, making this a highly challenging project.
4. Future Plan
- With the introduction of new L0-series improved test vehicles in the summer of 2025, part of the VOS functionalities (such as condition monitoring) will be launched for test runs on the Yamanashi Maglev Test Track.
- Going forward, we will facilitate the development to sequentially launch other functionalities, including work planning function and vehicle component management function.
- *1 A Scrum Team is one of the frameworks for agile development comprising a small number of members with the following three roles: Product Owner, Scrum Master and Developer.
- *2 Agile development is a development methodology involving short cycles of planning, design, development, testing, and release. Its benefits include enabling prompt responses to specification changes and customer needs.
- *3 "build service" is a CTC’s service supporting new business model creation utilizing digital technologies. The service involves forming a joint team with our experts in various fields such as system development, design, and quality management and our customers to deliver products with our technical assistance. For details, visit CTC's website: https://www.ctc-g.co.jp/solutions/build_sales/ (Japanese).
Contact Information
ITOCHU Techno-Solutions Corporation, Corporate Communications Dept.
E-mail：press@ctc-g.co.jp
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