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ARTICLE PRINTED IN
RAIL TECHNOLOGY MAGAZINE JUNE/JULY 2007
Mobilising asset
management in the rail industry.
Enable engineers to access SAP applications in 5
different ways. Reduce paperwork, access parts and
locate stock, even when trackside.
By
Paul Viney
Most
companies in the rail industry (e.g. train operating
companies; rail equipment suppliers) have invested in
back-office ERP systems to look after financial and
other areas of their business. Many use SAP’s R/3 and
SAP ERP system as their core system platform, often
integrated with other or legacy systems which look after
inventory, purchasing, and the maintenance of rolling
stock, line-side equipment and track infrastructure.
Some
of these companies are now consolidating their legacy
systems around the SAP core platform, and in the process
looking at how they can both streamline and improve the
business processes that these systems support.
Given
that much of the equipment utilised within the rail
industry is by its very nature mobile and geographically
dispersed, companies are also looking at how they can
enable key workers to connect to back office whilst they
are either remote from the main office or maintenance
plant, or indeed working on the repair and maintenance
of rolling stock in large maintenance sheds, away from
computer terminals.
The
ability to mobilise remote workers and enable them to
transact with back-office systems can give significant
advantages through the reduction in paper-based forms,
real-time update and enquiry, and reduction in both
back-office staff employed and errors associated with
the re-keying of data from paper forms into the system.
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What do we mean by “mobilise”.
Any device which connects to a back-office ERP
system via wireless can be termed “mobile”.
Connection could be via RF LAN (wireless local
area network) where the device, whilst portable,
is operated within the confines of a building or
depot, or via a GPRS connection over a mobile
network. GPRS is particularly applicable where
equipment is maintained out in the field, or
trackside, remote from the main office or plant |
The
technology now exists to connect various mobile devices
to SAP systems, and run applications on the device both
on-line and off-line with later synchronisation. The
later is important in areas of poor connectivity to the
GPRS mobile network (for example inside tunnels or
remote locations) or when out of range of a site-based
RF networks.
Some
typical examples of where these types of mobile
application have been deployed are explained below.
Mobile service/plant maintenance:
This
allows engineers to carry out and record essential
repair details on-line, without having to write
extensive details on paper. Engineers are also able to
view current stock levels of spare parts, and locate the
depot where they can source a material for a particular
job.
Lists
of jobs can be “pushed” to the mobile device, and their
job schedule updated to allow priority repairs or
emergencies to be placed at a high priority, improving
resource utilisation and ensuring that repairs are
completed in priority order. Engineers are able to
record the work carried out, and if necessary create a
new notification for follow up work if required.
RF
Bar-code inventory management
Attaching bar codes to spare parts means that the item
together with its serial number and other key
information can be scanned via a reader. This means
that inventory traceability can be maintained without
the need for recording long numbers onto paper, which
can be susceptible to transcription errors.
One
of the rail operators is just embarking on the
deployment of such a system from iQlink Ltd (www.iqlink.co.uk)
into their engineering stores and at the same time
introducing a simple bar-coded bin solution to make
items easy to find and manage within a specific bin
location within the store.
Digital Pen technology
Digital pen technology, uses special printed forms which
enables workers to complete a form (such as a
maintenance record) whilst also digitising the
keystrokes, and automatically updating the back-end (ERP)
system. The digital pen contains an infrared camera, a
processor, memory, a data link (either USB or Bluetooth
for mobile applications where a mobile phone acts as a
modem) and a rechargeable battery.
Serco
Systems Ltd has deployed Meticulus digital pen and paper
technology within a maintenance environment at Alstom
Transport Ltd, with automatic updating of SAP ERP. The
paper form is retained as a record of what was done and
by whom, but all data is automatically updated from the
pen.
2D
barcodes
2D
barcodes are printed as a series of dots and have the
ability to hold much more information than the
traditional barcode one sees on a typical product
label. One of the problems with paper base barcodes,
particularly when used outside, is that they are very
prone to damage and the effects of weather.
Unipart Rail has developed a capability where a 2D
bar-code can be laser-etched onto metal parts and then
read using a standard 2D bar-code reader. The data from
the reader can then be updated into the back end
system.
“This
has proven to be very robust in use and gets around some
of the traditional wear and tear problems associated
with paper bar codes” said Peter Cullen from Unipart
Expert Practices.
Radio
Frequency Identification (RFID)
RFID
is an automatic identification method, relying on
storing and remotely retrieving data using devices
called RFID tags or transponders. An RFID tag is an
object that can be attached to or incorporated into a
product, animal, or person for the purpose of
identification using radio waves and enables much more
data to be held within an electronic tag attached to a
part or item of equipment. In addition read/write tags
allow data to be written and re-written with either
fixed or mobile readers so allowing service history, and
usage information etc. to be available on the item.
For
example a reader, integrated to a back-end ERP system,
could record the date of inspection and the type of work
carried out onto the tag, so that any one carrying out
follow up work could read this data at a later date.
Contact:
Paul Viney is Managing Director of iQlink
Ltd who provide mobile integration solutions for SAP
applications. Contact:
paul.viney@iqlink.co.uk; 01344 667 363
Pete Cullen is a Managing Consultant for
Unipart Expert Practices specialising in advanced supply
chain technology like RFID, Vehicle telematics and
barcode RF solutions. Contact
pete.cullen@unipart.co.uk:
01865 383251 |
