Oct 10, 2025
Central Japan Railway Company
ITOCHU Techno-Solutions Corporation
Central Japan Railway Company (Shunsuke Niwa, President and Representative Director; hereinafter JR Central), with support from ITOCHU Techno-Solutions Corporation (Tatsushi Shingu, President and CEO; hereinafter CTC), has been developing its Machine Operating System (MOS) since 2023 to enable data integration for maintenance operations of superconducting maglev mechanical equipment.
In this development, a system was built by integrating the low-code development platform OutSystems*¹, software for management of equipment to be inspected SAP EAM*², and work document digitization software i-Reporter*³, with the aim of achieving efficient and high-quality maintenance of superconducting maglev mechanical equipment. This initiative marks the first implementation in Japan of a system integrating SAP EAM, i-Reporter, and OutSystems.
As the system development for some mechanical equipment has been completed, operations were launched for test runs on the Yamanashi Maglev Test Track in the autumn of 2025.
1. Background and Development Objective
- For the Linear Chuo Shinkansen, JR Central has been considering adoption of applications to integrate data, based on which efficiency and quality of inspection and maintenance operations for its mechanical equipment can be improved.
- 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*4 utilizing OutSystems, the train operator is accelerating development of human resources well-versed both in the railway business and system development.
2. System Overview
- The developed application integrates SAP EAM and i-Reporter, enabling the management of periodic inspection results and mechanical equipment failure events on the OutSystems platform.
- Part of periodic inspections are conducted based on mechanical equipment data, and inspection results are automatically recorded in e-forms.
- Generative AI formulates periodic inspection plans and automatically creates work instructions for inspection personnel.
Overview of Machine Operating System (MOS)
Integrates data on maintenance of mechanical equipment for the superconducting maglev vehicles running on the Yamanashi Maglev Test Track.
- Part of periodic inspections are conducted based on mechanical equipment data, and inspection results are automatically recorded in e-forms to improve efficiency in mechanical equipment maintenance.
- Generative AI formulates inspection plans and automatically creates work instructions for inspection personnel.
3. Development Framework
- This system development was carried out by JR Central engineers who are well versed in the maintenance of superconducting maglev mechanical equipment with technical guidance and support from CTC.
- CTC has been offering OutSystems since 2015, and supported JR Central in implementing OutSystems and in developing the underlying infrastructure environment by leveraging our extensive experience in the construction, maintenance, and training of large-scale systems.
Agile System Development
The system development team was formed with a clear division of roles between JR Central and CTC.
- The role of "Developer" was taken on by JR Central's engineers, who implemented the application with support from CTC.
4. Future Plan
- Regarding the MOS, which was launched for test runs on the Yamanashi Maglev Test Track, we will progressively expand the scope of the target mechanical equipment and continue to enhance and refine the system.
- *1 OutSystems is an enterprise-grade low-code development platform provided by OutSystems, enabling the rapid development of applications with minimal coding.
- *2 SAP EAM (SAP Enterprise Asset Management) is an asset management software solution provided by SAP that enables integrated management of maintenance operations throughout the lifecycle of physical assets.
- *3 i-Reporter is a work document digitization software provided by Cimtops. It digitizes paper-based forms used on-site to enable paperless and more efficient on-site recording and reporting in the original layout of paper forms.
- *4 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.
Contact Information
ITOCHU Techno-Solutions Corporation, Corporate Communications Dept.
E-mail：press@ctc-g.co.jp
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