April 2013 "Azbil"

2013 Vol. 2 azbil Group PR magazine Eastern Petrochemical Azbil Taiwan’s solutions deliver high added value to customers in Taiwan by bringing together the capabilities of azbil’s Company (SHARQ) businesses and cultivating the market from a new perspective Feature Sonic Landscape in Japan nent’s by color: both sides use visual- player who wished to become a pro- ture in many works of manga in par- ly identical pieces. Instead, shōgi fessional dropped out of formal edu- ticular. Works that painstakingly pieces are five-sided with two sides cation upon graduation from middle illustrate stories of boys and girls cul- forming an “arrow” shape. The “arrow” school, apprenticed with a profes- tivating their skills so that they can sides of opponents’ pieces always sional player, and trained every day make it in the unforgiving world of face each other, thereby indicating to polish the skills they would need professional shōgi have proved espe- whose pieces are whose. for the career that awaited them. In cially popular, and as a result there The rules involving the use of mo- addition to a base salary (awarded by are numerous manga series centered chigoma, or captured pieces, make the Japan Shōgi Association) that is on shōgi aimed at a range of genera- linked to their professional rank, pro- tions, from small children to mature fessional shōgi players earn fees adults. based on the number of official Generally speaking, shōgi is a rela- games they play and bonuses when tively easy game to get started in. they win tournaments. There are A unique and competitive shōgi different from other chess-like about 12 major tournaments held per 【pachin】 game with a distinctive games. The rules allow players to re- year, including seven title tourna- Japanese background use pieces captured from their oppo- ments. Tournament winnings range 〜パチン nents. This is a concept not seen in from several million yen (tens of thou- In shōgi, the players are initially given similar games. There are different sands of U.S. dollars) to a maximum Shōgi is a two-player traditional Japanese board game. The number of 20 pieces, which they move around theories surrounding the origin of of 32 million yen. Top kishi can earn the nine-by-nine square board in these unique rules, for example that upwards of 100 million yen in a year. people who play shōgi at least once a year is estimated to be around six turns. The object of the game is to they reflect the commercial aspects The finals of major tournaments are million people. This is significantly capture the opponent’s king. of battle, for example the trading of often held at historic Japanese ryo- lower than in the past, when there Like chess, popular in the resources such as gold, silver, hors- kan (traditional inns) and exclusive were fewer forms of entertainment U.S. and Europe, and es, and so forth, or that these rules Japanese restaurants, and most kishi available to people, but it nevertheless in ch xiangqi, popular in China, arose because generals were disillu- don traditional kimono. Each player is remains one of the most popular board pa is said to have evolved sioned with the loss of life in war and allotted four to nine hours for each games in the country. Traditional shōgi from the ancient Indian game of began to let pawns (soldiers) live. game, which are held in best-of-five shōgi boards and pieces are made of hardwood. The gratifying sound made chaturanga. Chaturanga is thought to or best-of-seven style tournaments. when the pieces are deftly laid on the be the forerunner to a number of sim- The demanding world of Players can choose to spend long board is often expressed in Japanese ilar games popular throughout Eur- periods of their time considering their with an onomatopoeic word: pachin. professional shōgi competitors asia, including janggi in the Korean next move (a process called chōkō, Two players enjoying a game of as a reflection of Japanese shōgi Peninsula and makruk in Thailand. which literally means “long thought”). will stare intently and silently at the board, while moving and setting down The game on which shōgi is based There are professional organizations It is not rare for a player to spend two their pieces in turn: pachin…pachin… is thought to have been brought to for shōgi. Professional players that hours or more pondering a single pachin. The sights and sounds of a game Japan as early as the sixth century. participate in tournaments, which are move. A single move and the accom- of shōgi are reassuringly familiar to The game then evolved and devel- generally hosted by newspaper com- panying pachin sound may very well most Japanese. oped the unique set of rules that panies, are referred to as kishi. At be part of a carefully-considered make it distinct today. Unlike in chess present, there are about 160 active strategy by that player. or xiangqi, a player’s shōgi pieces kishi. There are now kishi who are Like other sports, shōgi is often de- - are not distinguished from their oppo- university students, but traditionally, a picted in fiction. It is a common fea- Shogi pieces One often encounters local shōgi clubs or just people playing shōgi at King Rook Bishop Gold generals Silver generals public park benches and tables. (ōshō) (hisha) (kakugyō) (kinshō) (ginshō) The king can The rook can The bishop can Gold generals can Silver generals can There are also electronic shōgi move one square move any number move any number move one space move one space di- games at most arcades. Typical living in any direction. of spaces orthog- of spaces di- orthogonally in any rectly forward or one onally, though it agonally, though it direction, or one space diagonally in arrangements in Japan have changed cannot jump over cannot jump over space diagonally in any direction. pieces. pieces. the forward direction. substantially over the years, but many years ago, the sight of neighbors go- Knights Lances Pawns Note: ing head-to-head against one another (keima) (kyōsha) (fuhyō) If a player is able to move pieces to within his opponent’s encampment (called Knights can move Lances can move Pawns can move the “promotion zone”), he can choose to “promote” those pieces once they leave on their sunlit porches was a week- two spaces forward any number of one space di- that zone. Promoted pieces are flipped over. Once promoted, rooks and bishops end fixture. The distinctive sound of and one space spaces directly rectly forward. are allowed to move like king, while promoted silver generals, knights, lances, and to the right or left. forward, though pawns can move like gold generals. Kings, however, like gold generals, cannot be pachin…pachin reverberating in the They can jump they cannot jump promoted. over other pieces. over other pieces. calm weekend atmosphere was akin to an iconic symbol of peace. 2 2013 Vol. 2 2013 Vol. 2 3 Eastern Petrochemical Company (SHARQ) In spite of the severe environment, where sandstorms are likely to blow, Azbil Corporation’s CV3000 Series Pressure Balanced Cage-type Control Valve and SVP3000 Alphaplus Smart Valve Positioner are operating smoothly. Expectation from a new Azbil subsidiary Eastern Petrochemical Company (SHARQ) SHARQ hopes to create a system to further reduce valve maintenance work load, enhance safety and peace of mind on the production line, and strictly prevent the occur- rence of valve failure. To that end, when proposing the use of smart valve positioners, Azbil also Location suggested the ValstaffTM control valve Al-Jubail Industrial City, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia Established To eliminate such problems at maintenance support system. By intro- May 1981 SHARQ, Azbil proposed replacing ducing this system, data from valves Business scope Production and sale of petrochemical products the analog valve positioners with equipped with smart valve positioners such as ethylene glycol communications-capable SVP3000 can be collected by Valstaff, and device AlphaplusTM digital smart valve po- diagnosis and decision-making neces- sitioners. SHARQ accepted the sary for maintenance can be made Mr. Ali S. Al-Ahmadi proposal and at first introduced the quickly and precisely. Also, field in- General Manager Maintenance & Technical SVP3000 Alphaplus for about 60 strument conditions can be checked in Support Eastern Petrochemical Company (SHARQ) , located in Saudi Arabia, has upgraded its analog valves operating in EG1 in 2008. the control room without going to sites valve positioners to digital ones with communication capabilities in order to improve main- Until that time, the analog position- where environmental conditions are tainability of the valves used in ethylene glycol production. As a result, the maintenance ers required assembly and adjust- severe. Before using Valstaff, SHARQ workload was greatly reduced. Now that detailed knowledge of valve and positioner condition ment work that even skilled experts plans to systematically introduce Mr. Naser A. Al-Mutairi is available, the company has taken the first step toward realizing “predictive maintenance”. found difficult, such as adjusting smart valve positioners in the plants Manager Electrical & Control SHARQ means “east” in Arabic, and the company was so named because it is located in Saudi Arabia's Eastern Province and it is a joint venture with an eastern country, Japan. spring strength or balancing air sup- other than EG1. System Dept. ply. But after the introduction of digital Mr. Al-Otaibi said: “Valstaff is the A partner supporting petrochemical volume of 5 million tons a year. our reliable partner for 30 years.” positioners, auto-setup can be done ideal product for achieving predic- plants for 30 years Ethylene glycol production began using only a screwdriver, and mainte- tive maintenance.

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