In recent years, advances in AI technology have made it possible to automate intellectual tasks in place of humans in various fields.  Idemitsu Kosan is currently using AVEVA's AI technology in the production management department of its oil refineries, to reform its operations to realize automatic scheduling of production plans through optimization.

The planning work within production management work is broadly divided into three categories: formulating crude oil plans for the next two to three months, formulating execution plans for the next month, and formulating detailed weekly plans.  In each task, the operating equipment is gradually specified in preparation for actual operation, and the accuracy of the plan is improved.  For this reason, the number of functions required to gradually improve the accuracy of the plan is increasing, and the difficulty of function development is also increasing accordingly.

As for the current development progress, the formulation of crude oil plans for the next two to three months has already been completed, and functions for formulating monthly execution plans are currently being developed, with half of the development items already completed.  By automating the formulation of monthly execution plans; it is expected that the number of CDU crude oil changeovers will be reduced through optimal tank operation, raw material costs will be reduced by switching raw materials according to product base material use, and excess distillates will be reduced, and it is also expected that the efficiency of operations will be improved by 300 hours per year, and additional benefits will be achieved by redirecting the time savings to other areas.  At this presentation, Idemitsu will explain the applicable operations and development functions, while AVEVA will explain future development plans.