Background — Thorough Pre-Inspection Cleaning and Air Piping Constraints
At our factory, it is a strict rule that equipment must be cleaned before carrying out any daily or scheduled inspection. If an inspection is performed while dust and debris remain on the equipment, important check points are hidden from view, making accurate inspection impossible. In particular, when dust and debris accumulate on a motor's intake, airflow drops and cooling efficiency deteriorates significantly. Left unaddressed, this raises the risk of motor overheating and failure, so field staff place great importance on keeping the intake areas clean.
Compressed air had been used for this cleaning, but because the factory is a very large facility, the air piping is not always located near the equipment. In many cases, workers had to extend hoses around 30 meters just to reach the target equipment. This significantly reduced work efficiency, forcing the team to spend a huge amount of time and effort on cleaning alone.
Challenge — Work Burden and Safety Risks from Long Hose Routing
Routing a hose about 30 meters was a major physical burden for operators. There is also a physical limitation: the longer the hose is extended, the more the air pressure at the tip drops. As a result, even after using compressed air, there were cases where dust could not be sufficiently removed. In addition, dragging long hoses around the floor raised concerns about trip hazards and accidental contact with other equipment, creating safety issues as well.
Furthermore, because cleaning itself was so time-consuming, it ate into the time available for the actual inspection work and degraded both inspection quality and overall efficiency. The factory urgently needed a cleaning tool that required no air supply yet still delivered strong enough airflow.
Product Adopted — The Cordless Air Duster "Baritobashi"
To solve these issues, we proposed the cordless, rechargeable air duster "Baritobashi." Baritobashi requires no connection to air piping: simply charge it and carry it, and it can be used anywhere in the factory. This completely eliminates the hassle of routing long hoses.
In on-site trials, it was confirmed that Baritobashi delivers far stronger airflow than competing products, earning high marks for its ability to blow dust away from equipment corners and motor intakes. Its mobility—moving quickly to any location in the factory regardless of where air piping is installed—is ideal for pre-inspection cleaning in large facilities. Another major advantage is that its air pressure is comparable to conventional compressed air cleaning, so work efficiency improves dramatically without compromising cleaning quality.
Results — Smooth Cleaning Operations Along the Inspection Route
Baritobashi is used primarily for equipment cleaning performed just before daily and scheduled inspections. Inspection staff now carry Baritobashi as they move through the factory, blowing away dust at each piece of equipment before starting their checks. The motor intake areas in particular receive focused cleaning, and being able to inspect equipment with any clogs or dirt already removed has enabled high-accuracy inspections with far fewer oversights.
Previously, workers had to move based on the location of the air piping or drag long hoses behind them. After adopting Baritobashi, those constraints are gone, allowing the team to clean and inspect smoothly along a natural inspection route. Because the unit is rechargeable, a single charge before the shift is enough to cover a full day of inspection work, keeping operational overhead low.
Feedback from the field has been very positive, with comments such as "with this much air pressure, we can really blow everything off." The team plans to continue relying on Baritobashi going forward. By simultaneously shortening pre-inspection cleaning time and improving safety, Baritobashi has become an essential partner for equipment maintenance in large factories.