Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Machinery Systems, Ltd.,
Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Machinery Systems, Ltd. (MHI-MS) developed the automatic operation function, "Auto-Pilot Printing," for newspaper web offset presses (hereinafter, "offset presses") jointly with The Yomiuri Shimbun. The verification of this function was conducted with the actual equipment at the Tsurumi Plant of The Yomiuri Shimbun, and the function is already in operation. Conventionally, the operations for paper tension control and various settings required at the start-up of an offset press relied on the operators' experience and skills. With the Auto-Pilot Printing function, these operations are automatically conducted using AI, and the operations from the initial setting before the start-up of an offset press to the stop of the offset press are also automatically conducted. Therefore, in case of emergency situations such as the occurrence of disasters or the expansion of infectious diseases, even a limited number of operators can temporarily operate the offset press. The Yomiuri Shimbun, with which MHI-MS jointly developed this function, received the "2022 Newspaper Technology Award" for this function from Nihon Shimbun Kyokai (The Japan Newspaper Publishers & Editors Association).
