Yuki Baba

Supporting the Transformation of the Manufacturing Industry with a Strong Desire

When I first joined the company, I worked as a field application engineer (FAE), providing technical support for semiconductor products for a supplier manufacturer headquartered in the United States. My work as an FAE, which supports Macnica 's main semiconductor business with technology, was extremely rewarding, but my second year at the company brought a turning point in my career. We decided to launch a new business centered on AI within the company, and an Innovation Strategy Business Headquarters was established. Until then, I was in charge of semiconductor products related to AI, but I wanted to be involved not only in hardware support but also in a business that is deeply involved in AI solutions, so I decided to move to the Innovation Strategy Business Headquarters. Did. Currently, I am working as an engineer for anomaly detection AI for the manufacturing industry.

In the manufacturing industry, downtime (time during which the operation of equipment is stopped or interrupted) caused by sudden failures or abnormalities in manufacturing equipment has been a problem for many years. Prolonged downtime leads to a decline in production efficiency, resulting in lost opportunities to lose profits that could have been earned as a company. The amount can range from several million yen to several hundred million yen. For this reason, prompt and accurate equipment restoration work is required, but in recent years, the number of maintenance workers has decreased due to the declining birthrate and aging population in Japan, and work that depends on the know-how of individual workers has become dependent on individual skills. is becoming difficult to implement stably. Under such circumstances, we are working every day to change the way maintenance is done in the manufacturing industry and to improve the productivity of factories.

Aiming to be a True Professional

After I was transferred to the Innovation Strategy Business Headquarters, the days were tough. I was literally a beginner AI engineer, and at the time there were very few people in the company who were familiar with the field of AI, and there was no extensive training available. However, the fact that I had been transferred from another department and that the company's education system was not in place was of no concern to the customers, so I worked hard to become an AI engineer who could provide support that would satisfy our customers. My first goal was to obtain an AI qualification administered by the Japan Deep Learning Association (JDLA). This exam, which requires a deep understanding of statistics and the mechanisms of deep learning, is very difficult, so I studied thoroughly during the mornings and evenings on weekdays, and even on weekends, giving up my holidays. As a result, I was able to obtain the "E qualification," which is one level more difficult than the qualifications that many people take. However, it is not enough to be an engineer just by acquiring knowledge. You need to actually get your hands dirty in the field to create AI, which is the core of your business, and provide useful services to your customers. So I used Macnica 's devices to sense various data and program the AI, repeatedly carrying out verification work. The process of creating AI is not easy. In order to make the AI learn the sensed data properly, we engineers need to pre-process a huge amount of data, and since there are many different ways to program the AI, we need to be creative. These tasks require extraordinary perseverance, but I continued to do them without getting discouraged, and accumulated the necessary skills and know-how. Through these efforts, I was able to grow to a level where I could be proud to be a full-fledged AI engineer about two years after the transfer. What customers want is a "professional" who can provide the best service. I will continue to grow every day, without being satisfied with my current situation, so that I can continue to be a "professional" who can provide services that solve the real problems customers have and provide support that is more than worth the money they pay.

Developing the Best AI Through Repeated Verification

In recent years, AI has been widely recognized, and I think that many people recognize that AI is not a brand new thing. There are many companies. In order to introduce AI solutions, it is necessary to have "professionals" who not only have specialized knowledge and statistics about AI, but also have application development knowledge and industry-specific knowledge to think about how to provide AI solutions. One of the reasons why many companies have not introduced AI solutions is that it is difficult for engineers who specialize in any one of them to introduce AI solutions.

Additionally, some customers believe that by introducing AI they can immediately solve all of their problems, but it is almost impossible to achieve the best AI in one development. It is necessary to refine the AI by repeating verification over and over again, and to "cultivate" the best AI. That is why Macnica is required to ``take the initiative.''

Macnica has many professionals who can guide AI projects to success, and can provide comprehensive support to customers from the beginning, from listening to their issues to proposing solutions and even practical application. In addition, Macnica has an AI research organization called "ARIH" that provides knowledge that combines the most suitable AI technology for customers so that they can make appropriate decisions, and works to lead them to the optimal solution for their issues, so we will continue to increase our ability to solve problems for our customers.

By bringing together all of Macnica 's strengths, we will continue to focus our efforts on leading innovation through social implementation and the creation of AI solutions that no one has achieved before, by facing each and every issue faced by our customers in the manufacturing industry. I would like to go there.