Does Railway asset data cause more problems than it solves?

Does asset data create more problems than it solves? In this era of big data and connected machines it might seem like a provocative question. However, at Railnova, we’ve seen that the more data you access, the more you know, and the more you have to act on it. But how do you enable people to act on data?

This blog contains the story told by Railnova’s CEO at the 2016 Rolling Stock Maintenance Summit in London. For the slides, please check out the presentation below:

Fleet management in 2010

Let’s start at the beginning, before we even started the Railnova journey. Back in 2010 a fleet manager would have a mixed fleet, with hundreds of assets and a lot of subcomponents. For each subcomponent there was diagnostics software required to access critical maintenance information.

Getting data from your fleet was complex and tedious: you needed to go to the locomotive or the train and stick your USB stick into the diagnostics port, press the diagnostics button, download the diagnostics information, and send it to a central location where someone would concatenate the history of the fault codes on a local computer.

Then you also needed diagnostics PCs for each manufacturer and each component to analyse the data. These required a lot of training and didn’t enable experts to share the information with the rest of the company, keeping the knowledge limited to only a couple of people. On top of that the gathered information was not real-time, so you wouldn’t be able to help your driver in real time when a failure happened.

Railnova was founded to overcome the complexity and a-synchronicity of the data gathering process. With the Railster hardware, Railnova is able to gather data from engines, sensors, batteries, busses etc. safely, and in real time.

In green are the components we’re already tracking, and in orange are the components we have prototypes for.

By gathering this data with the Railster we were able to solve 4 issues: we went from

1. a safety concern to a safe way of gathering data. Accessing data is not alway safe: the requested data on the bus may be intrusive with the computer, or the software that the experts are using might have such a deep access that they might reset the configuration of the train. At Railnova we always do a safety assessment first: are we able to be non-intrusive and read the information passively? If it requires a significant modification on the train, we drop it: your business case wouldn’t add up if you need a SIL 4 device for telediagnostics.
2. asynchronous data to data in real time, so you can assist drivers when they need it the most.
3. complex data gathering with multiple tools and devices to an easy and unified (IoT) platform that holds the real-time and historized diagnostics from all your components.
4. non-actionable data to data as an enabler: experts can now document tips and tricks into the software so that users can quickly find suggestions on how to act on certain fault codes etc.

A huge step forward, but there’s still a long way to go after you access the data. While the initial focus of Railnova was on accessing data from components and railway assets, we soon discovered that this was only the beginning. Because, why are you spending so much energy on accessing data? What job are you trying to get accomplished when you access data?

You have access to data, now what?

First of all, you’re accessing data so you can confirm diagnostics: you want to confirm diagnostics so you don’t have to enter the workshop or send a mobile team because of unforeseen failures. You want to confirm diagnostics so you can keep your train running until the next scheduled maintenance. Confirming diagnostics is about sending the right kind of alert based on the gathered data, but also about enabling people to confirm the alert by looking at it in the software.

Once you’ve confirmed diagnostics it’s time to take action: you need to keep your fleet running. For this you need a good integration with your different stakeholders, so you can inform them and plan actions. A web application, like Railfleet, allows you to integrate with existing ERP and MMS through a simple API. This way you’re able to easily transform your diagnostics into defect notifications (on which your maintenance teams can then act).

We’ve now identified the 3 main jobs that need to be done: you need to access data, confirm diagnostics and keep your fleet running. But how do you know that you’re ready to deploy this within your organisation?

Are you ready for IoT?

Railway organisations clearly see the need to make progress in fleet management, and are looking for new solutions to get the 3 main jobs done. However, they seem rather hesitant to deploy them.

What’s holding organisations back from deciding on these new solutions? Are they scared to use new tools? Or are they holding on to the way things have always been done?

To tackle the anxiety for new solutions you can do a POC (proof of concept): a POC will not only tell you if the solution will work in your specific circumstances and if it’s safe and scalable. On top of that the POC will show you if you’re ready for change.

Don’t let current habits and processes keep you from exploring new solutions: It’s your job to remove internal barriers to adoption and to show your people how they can work more efficiently. Focus on making their job easier and helping them to progress, especially if that requires letting go of the way things are being done up till now.

If you’re busy getting people to adopt a system that’s a good sign. However, if you’re busy fiddling and developing a solution with a supplier that’s probably a bad sign, because chances are that the supplier can develop the solution anyway, but they can’t make it adopted into your business. IoT platforms on the other hand, require a lower cost of internal change and development, and allow you to help your existing people getting their job done.

The future of fleet management is here, it’s time to get on board!

Interested in finding out how we’re helping our clients streamlining their fleet management processes? Contact us for a live demo!