Appear and Thales Technology Enables Rail Asset Management Going Mobile
ThalesMan transforms the efficiency of rail operations
- at the touch of a button
ThalesMan is an integrated framework that provides a mobile gateway, via a ruggedised handheld PDA, to back-office systems and industry-standard asset management platforms. The result? A solution that is capable of transforming just about every area of rail operations. ThalesMan uses a mobile, device agnostic, context sensitive framework produced by mobile middleware specialists Appear Networks. The framework is field-proven, having already been deployed at a number of European rail companies. "What we’ve done is provided a flexible mobile interface to back office applications such as IBM Maximo, using proven technology that can interface to multiple rail applications in a user friendly way" explains Dr. Steve Ayers, International Transport Offer Manager, Thales. "So you’ve got a PDA, with context sensitive screens which are pulled up and linked over a middleware product using GSM-type communications integrated into a suite of applications including Maximo."
Euro Cargo Rail: a service-proven solution
EWS, Thales’ partner in the strategic Transeo Alliance, has deployed a mobile driver application using the same technology stack as ThalesMan. Known as Rapide, the solution is in use in France by international rail freight operator Euro Cargo Rail (ECR). Euro Cargo Rail’s challenge was to speed up the time-consuming process of ’consist’ generation: each wagon has to be inspected before the train can depart. Rapide enables train drivers to electronically sign on, view their roster and diagram information and produce the train consist. ECR driver productivity and job satisfaction have increased, whilst the average time to prepare a train for departure has been reduced by 40 minutes. During the pre-journey train examination, each wagon’s actual details are checked against the expected data previously downloaded onto the driver’s handheld PDA. Both RFID tagging and optical character recognition (OCR) options are supported by the technology. As well as reducing turn around times, the approach improves regulatory compliance with secure data management and event recording.
Rapide also provides in-cab driver assistance, including:
- Remote staff sign-on/sign-off
- Electronic rostering
- Paperless operational notices
- Diagram details
- Schedule Card information
- Reporting of delays, incidents and faults
- Panic button
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