Intelligent digitalisation of infrastructure
24.04.2019 | Climate protection, energy revolution, the transformation of transportation – all of these terms have a common factor. Sustainability! The railway, which is still the most environmentally alternative compared to other means of transport. In order to further enhance this advantage, the railway must be a consistently reliable, safe, and punctual means of transport. The base of the requirement is a functioning infrastructure. Therefore all of the track and electronics infrastructure should be digitally and smart managed, monitored and maintained.
Today, the digitalization is changing the world and open ups new ways and opportunities. Above all, this is all about the correct illustration of the assets, as well as the establishment of appropriate analysis and reporting options. In practice, many stand-alone IT solutions are often used for this which generally do not entirely work together and are not able to recognise complex connections. One integrated asset management system provides the solution: zedas®asset from ZEDAS, the specialists in railway software.
Weak point analysis – zedas®asset Track Analyser
In order to prevent downtime on a route, it is now possible to forecast when a section will no longer be passable using automated weak point analysis. It can thus be repaired or replaced before failures and faults occur. Track condition is visualised, analysed, and evaluated in the zedas®asset Track Analyser using measurement data and maintenance information. Here, measurement data from various manufacturers of measurement instruments is integrated using standardised interfaces. Available resources such as materials or manpower are thus used in a more targeted manner without having a negative impact on day-to-day operations. The load data, as well as recorded faults, are taken into account here. The comparison of current measurement values with older measured data or with reference data is particularly useful. This allows precise forecasts to be made regarding the remaining service life of railway assets.
Mobile maintenance – zedas®asset Mobile
Track faults are documented and repairs are reported using the zedas®asset app, which works both online and offline. This information flows directly into the condition evaluation for the infrastructure and is incorporated into the automated maintenance planning. Retroactive entries and sources of error are thus avoided. The inspector has mobile access to checklists, maintenance information and error catalogues on the track. Faults are quickly recorded and classified, including precise position determination via GPS and allocation of photos, with the help of a saved error catalogue. It is thus also possible to make the work easier for external service providers since they are included in the job process paperless. All inspections and maintenance jobs are documented and traceable.
Investment planning – zedas®asset Invest Manager
In addition to planning the best time technically for reinvestment, the best time in terms of economics is also critical. To this end, an investment decision can be made and the whole life cycle of an asset can be reached thanks to multiple planning scenarios with freely selectable influencing factors. For example it can include the intensity and duration of use or the date of construction. As a result, it is possible to forecast cost and ageing scenarios with the help of real data. The foundation are master data, histories and planning data of the asset.
With an integrated asset management system, the railway track is operated safely, reliably, and economically. As a result of the integrated system a consistent and continuous real time monitoring of the condition of the infrastructure is possible.
Further information about our solution zedas®cargo can be found here.