The digitalization of rail freight is a current topic. Productivity gains and the competitiveness of the mode of transport are at stake. But in concrete terms, how can a shipper digitize its rail flows? This is what we were able to discuss with Ciments Calcia and the AUTF (Association of Freight Transport Users) during a webinar (also available in replay), the key points of which we are giving you here.
Digitalization of rail freight - desirable or necessary?
The AUTF represents 170 companies and professional organizations from all sectors of activity. Valérie Cornet is in charge of land transport there.
For us, it outlines the context of the enthusiasm surrounding the digitalization of rail freight:
One National strategy for the development of rail freight was presented in September 2021, on the occasion of The European Year of Rail. It includes 72 measures aimed at doubling the share of rail freight by 2030 to reach a modal share of 18%.
The rail mode is essential to our ecological transition, in particular because of its energy performance: that is the challenge of the recovery plan.
Among the measures adopted, there is a great need for innovation, especially digital innovation. How can digital technology help railways?
- Digital technology makes it possible to create conditions for cooperation within the rail ecosystem.
- Digital technology also has a role to play in improving productivity of the entire rail system and maintain/restore fashion competitiveness. Numerous applications are possible, in terms of network, maintenance, but also logistics, as we will see with Ciments Calcia.
- Digital makes it possible toget the missing data and information today cruelly for the expected performance improvement.
- Digital technology makes it possible to modernizing the image rail freight.
In this webinar, Valérie also returned to 2 points of attention to be taken into account:
- Data confidentiality, which will arise with the sharing of flows
- Interoperability, not only within the rail ecosystem, but also in increasingly intermodal logistics chains.
Why set up a TMS Rail? Feedback from Ciments Calcia
Ciments Calcia, a HeidelbergCement group company, is one of the major players in the cement industry in France. The railway is an essential part of their logistics, with 1000 full trains loaded per year. Nicolas Plouvio works there as a logistics manager for the railway part. He is also a logistics performance controller.
The observation at Ciments Calcia: no support tool for the rail
Despite the weight of rail transport in the logistics of Ciments Calcia, the observations made in 2018 were striking. “In terms of support tools for railways, nothing had really changed despite the opening of the market to competition. We were still using an old-fashioned way of operating: Excel, faxes, etc.” explains Nicolas Plouvio.
Therefore, the problems of information collection, collaboration and productivity mentioned by Valérie Cornet arose:
- Poor control of the wagon fleet
- Disparate tools that hinder the productivity of the planning process
- Non-existent visibility on current deliveries
- Manual collection of accessible performance data
Using a TMS Rail: what are the functionalities?
During the webinar, Nicolas Plouwitz also describes the functionalities and main advantages of TMS Rail Everysens implemented by Ciments Calcia (HeidelbergCement France).
- Mastery of the wagon fleet, thanks to real-time geolocation and finely configurable exception alerts (examples: retention, inventory thresholds, etc.).
- Digitization of planning and waybills, thanks to a centralized collaborative tool, connected to the systems of railway companies.
- Real-time tracking of deliveries for all trains, thanks to reliable ETAs, for complete trains as well as for insulated cars.
- Reporting and monitoring of performance, thanks to the crossing of theoretical and real information directly in a logistics dashboard.
Implementing a TMS Rail: what ROI and benefits have been observed?
As with any project, an ROI (Return On Investment) analysis makes it possible to determine the success of the rail freight digitalization project. At Ciments Calcia, Nicolas Plouvio identified 3 ROI levers :
- Productivity and time management
- Wagon fleet productivity
- Monitoring the performance of rail partners
To discover the numbers associated with each of these levers, we invite you to watch the webinar available on demand on this link.
(Link of the webinar in English)
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