AI in Rail Freight: meet RALF

RALF is not a real person. But he’ll become your favorite assistant. Let’s have a look at all his (super)powers that increase precision and efficiency in rail freight management!

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How does it work?
RALF, the Everysens AI, keeps an eye on everything

RALF: The AI Assistant Powering Seamless Rail Logistics

RALF, Everysens’ AI, is the friendly expert guiding users through the intricate world of rail freight logistics, acting as a dedicated partner in real-time transport management. With a vast knowledge of the rail system, he predicts challenges before they arise, optimizing routes and ensuring every wagon's journey is efficient and environmentally sound.

For Everysens customers, RALF isn’t just software—he’s the assistant who tirelessly works behind the scenes to make transport as smooth, reliable, and sustainable as possible.

Which features are powered by RALF?

Optimal Shipment Planning

Increase your transport planning efficiency by 30% with RALF’s help.

RALF helps you handle the entire process, from scheduling shipments based on orders to applying route and product constraints. He optimizes transport suggestions, conducts feasibility checks, and associates transports with the corresponding orders. RALF also monitors transport history and logs each transport creation for comprehensive tracking and management.

RALF and Smart Planning

Transport cancellation anticipation

Get visibility on non-optimized transports in advance and cut penalties for late cancellation by 50%

Late transport cancellations can incur penalties from freight forwarders or carriers. By combining real-time inventory, product availability, and transport planning, the TVMS can forecast future product levels at a site and suggest cancellations if planned transports are not feasible. This reduces penalty costs and increases wagon fleet availability.

RALF and Smart Planning

Automatic prefill of transport information

Reduce manual errors and increase the time management of operators by 30%

RALF will use all information previously seized in the master data to help you create and edit your train compositions. He can then assist in composing a transport by pre-filling information based on the details entered during the transport planning process. Users can declare which wagons are part of the transport and specify the products and quantities loaded. They can then create a composition by selecting a journey that aligns with the planned transport, with the option to have RALF automatically populate the composition details.

RALF and Simplified Operations

RALF loves transport planning!

RALF is Everysens’ employee of the month. Every month. And he’ll become your favorite assistant. Feed him with data and he’ll reward you with taking off manual and time consuming tasks.

Capacity planning
Real-time Agenda View
Rail freight capacity planning

One year of capacity planning in a single day

Advanced Ordering allows you to automate and optimize the complex process of planning freight transport by considering various factors like carriers, schedules, and product availability. Powered by RALF, it reduces manual effort, enabling faster and cost-effective planning for long-term logistics needs.
Agenda View for easy rail freight planning

Real-time overview of all your transports

Matching Planning with Reality - Integrate real-time data from the field into your transport planning operations. The transport agenda is one of the most used screens in the TVMS. It helps hundreds of transport coordinators, carriers, loading and unloading sites to follow the status of their transports during planning every day.

Delegate some of your tasks
to RALF and unlock up to 30% efficiency

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What clients say

Meet the driving forces that transform the rail freight industry

Jérôme Becamel
Supply Chain Manager

With Everysens, we are able to transfer more trucks to rail, in order to reduce our CO2 emissions. We have already reduced them by 5%.

Youri Trinh
Refining and Chemicals, Supply Sales and Optimization, Germany

With Everysens' solution, we are digitising a complex process for planning our product shipments by rail, in order to better satisfy our customers while optimising our costs.

Aurélie Xantippe
Logistics Flow Coordinator, Rail Division

Working with Everysens has been a real discovery. Their solution in the field of rail geolocalisation is complete and is a major asset for monitoring our operations.

Amadou Sall
Rail Logistic Coordinator

It used to take me 1 week to know where a wagon was. Now, I can do it in 1 click.

Damien Roussel
Supply Chain Project Manager

We chose Everysens for their expertise in the rail environment, but also for the quality and interoperability of the solution, which allows us to create a single source of reliable data.

Jean-Marc Viallatte
VP Group Supply Chain

The digitalisation of our supply chain is one of the key areas to increase the quality of our customer service: it is one of our priorities. We wanted to be more proactive in managing the contingencies of rail transport which is essential to our customers for safe and responsible transport.

Nicolas Plouviez
Logistics Performance Manager

We’ve increased by 5% our rail operation productivity, and saved 30% of time spent on rail operations

Oetze Dusseljee
Global Category Manager Logistics

Everysens' innovative approach to digitalization has streamlined our shipment planning, making us more proactive in handling the complexities of rail transport. The dedication and expertise of the Everysens team have been instrumental in our Logistics Digitalization roadmap by swiftly delivering a tailored solution, demonstrating the value of genuine collaboration and innovative thinking in logistics.

Yves Antoine
Director Global Logistics Procurement

Everysens improves our service to our customers and provides them with more accurate and faster information on rail transport deliveries.

Want to get to know RALF better?

No small talk with RALF, he’s more into data and figuring out the best options for your rail freight. If anything remains unclear, please get in touch with his human colleagues!

How does RALF optimize transport plans within the TVMS?

RALF integrates the constraints of shippers, rail companies, sites and the entire ecosystem to build the most efficient transport plan.

How can RALF help with capacity planning?

RALF, our intelligent assistant, can automate your capacity planning for an entire year in less than a day. RALF takes into account all the criteria required to optimize planning (carrier, product availability, wagon compatibility, etc.). Thanks to artificial intelligence, planning no longer needs to be carried out manually, and only requires team supervision.

Does RALF use AI to improve transport planning?

Yes, RALF uses Artificial Intelligence to optimize transport schedules and calculate the Estimated Time of Arrival (ETA). The AI ensures that each transport order is transformed into an optimized transport plan, considering factors like car types, availability, and route selection. The ETA is continuously updated during the journey based on real-time data from intermediate points.

Can RALF optimize multiple transports together in a global schedule?

No, RALF currently optimizes each transport individually rather than as part of an overall schedule. This means that while each transport is optimized for cost and efficiency, the interactions between different transports (e.g., reducing the parking of empty cars) are not considered in the current optimization process.

How does RALF optimize the transport schedule?

RALF, the intelligent assistant, optimizes transport schedules by transforming the shipper's order into an optimized transport plan. When an order is submitted, RALF determines the optimal train composition, route, carrier choice, and schedules for departure and delivery. Various factors are considered, such as car availability, loading and unloading site availability, and financial optimization, ensuring the most cost-effective solution.

How is the ETA calculated by RALF?

The Estimated Time of Arrival (ETA) is continuously calculated throughout the journey by considering the schedules at various intermediate points along the route. The platform updates the ETA thanks to machine learning, based on any potential delays detected at these checkpoints, ensuring the most accurate arrival time is provided.

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RALF’s favorite modules

01

Advanced Ordering

Advanced Ordering manages product orders for trains, centralizing customer orders to serve as the basis for transport scheduling in the Smart Planning module. By digitizing sales contracts and providing a customer portal for order placement and tracking, it streamlines order management and feeds RALF the data needed to create optimized transport plans.

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02

Smart Planning

Smart Planning manages mid- and long-term rail freight scheduling by interpreting master data constraints and centralizing stakeholder collaboration for reliable transport planning. It digitizes contracts, incorporates product availability and wagon forecasts, and uses portals, dashboards, and notifications to facilitate communication, validate schedules, and address potential issues, all within an integrated agenda view for comprehensive workflow management.

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03

Simplified Operations

Simplified Operations streamlines daily processes for sites, shippers, and logistics operators by automating routine tasks and optimizing resource usage to boost efficiency. It digitizes consignment notes, manages train compositions, addresses loading issues, and automates loading instructions, enhancing visibility and collaboration in freight operations.

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