Railcar transport telematics system

• US 20060047379A1
• Filed: 08/19/2005
• Published: 03/02/2006
• Est. Priority Date: 08/27/2004
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Accenture Global Services Limited (Accenture PLC)
• Original Assignee: Accenture Global Services Limited (Accenture PLC)
• Inventors: Weseloh, Christopher J., Schullian, John M., Leger-Andrews, David St.
• Granted Patent: US 8,045,962 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 701/19
• CPC Class Codes: B61L 27/40 Handling position reports or trackside vehicle data
• CPC Class Codes: G01N 33/00 Investigating or analysing materials by specific methods not covered by groups G01N1/00 - G01N31/00
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/08 Logistics, e.g. warehousing, loading or distribution; Inventory or stock management
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/0833 Tracking
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/20 Point-of-sale [POS] network systems
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0206 Price or cost determination based on market factors
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0283 Price estimation or determination
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/04 Billing or invoicing

Abstract

A railcar asset management system proactively issues an alert or task when a pre-determined event occurs. The system may receive information regarding the location and status of a railcar from sensors on the railcar that may include a telematics sensing unit. A database in the railway telematics system stores the data regarding the railcar location and status information. The system determines whether an event has occurred and issues the proactive alerts and/or task. The system may communicate the proactive alert via e-mail, paging, PDAs or by cell phone and may provide interactive preconfigured web pages.

Claims

1. A railcar asset management system comprising:

a communication system interface that receives data regarding railcar location information, railcar status information, and product status information;

a database that stores the data regarding the railcar location information, the railcar status information, and the product status information received from the communication system interface;

a rules database including a business rule defining a metric, a proactive alert and a task;

a data processor in communication with the communication system interface and the databases, the data processor operable to evaluate the data against the metric, responsively issue the proactive alert and/or the task, and update a railcar location, a railcar status and a product status within an end-to-end railcar trip cycle using a batch/timed process;

an alert interface in communication with the data processor that communicates the proactive alert outside the railcar asset management system; and

a secure web interface in communication with the data processor that interactively displays the railcar location, the product status, the railcar status, the proactive alert, and the task.

2. The system of claim 1, further comprising:

a trip data table including business information about the product and the railcar;

a car location movement table including information about the location of the railcar received from a radio frequency identification tag sensor; and

a telematics table including the location and status of the railcar and the status information of the product in the database received from a Telematics Sensor unit.

3. The system of claim 1, further comprising:

an Alert Parameter table including a threshold metric for generating the proactive alert;

a Parent Alert table including a status of the proactive alert, a railcar involved in the alert, a type of alert, a date and time of the alert, a responsible party to be contacted, an acknowledged status, and a resolved status; and

a Child Alert table including the proactive alert, a value of the alert, a severity of the alert, a role of the alert and an ID of a replacement railcar in the database.

4. The system of claim 3, wherein the Parent Alert Table remains in the database after a resolution of the proactive alert and maintain a historical record of the alert.

5. The system of claim 4, wherein the proactive alert is issued when a number of proactive alerts in the historical record exceed a metric in the business rules.

6. The system of claim 3, wherein a subsequent entry is made in the Child Alert table.

7. The system of claim 6, wherein the subsequent entry is made in the child alert table when there is no acknowledgement or resolution of the alert status in the Parent Alert Table.

8. The system of claim 7, wherein the acknowledgement or resolution originates from either the responsible party or from the asset management system.

9. The system of claim 6, wherein a subsequent entry in the Child Alert Table is made based upon a real-time process where another alarm threshold metric related to the Child Alert Table is met.

10. The system of claim 9, wherein the Parent Alert Table reflects a different responsible party to be contacted with the proactive alert.

11. The system of claim 1, wherein the data processor is configured by a business alert engine and the data processor analyzes and associates the data stored in the databases to determine a business impacting event and/or trend and responsively issue the proactive alert.

12. The system of claim 11, wherein the data processor updates the location, status and business event and/or trend using an ERP, CLM and a Telematics Sensor unit originated information or a combination thereof.

13. The system of claim 1, further comprising a view in the interactive web user interface displaying the information regarding the location and status in a summary format displayed in one of a map, a graphical representation, a table and a historical chart wherein the summary form displays information for one of an individual railcar, a plurality of railcars and a fleet of railcars.

14. The system of claim 13, further comprising the interactive user interface wherein the user drills down on displayed data to obtain more detailed information regarding the location, status, and a business impacting event and/or trend.

15. The system of claim 13, wherein the graphical representation shows a roundtrip graphic displaying at least one task and displaying a scheduled time required for performing the task and the actual time for completing the task.

16. The system of claim 15, wherein a business alert engine determines the scheduled time from at least one metric and updates the scheduled time in a real-time process.

17. The system of claim 13, wherein the web user interface is displayed on an interactive display capable of simultaneously displaying a plurality of web page views, each view capable of interacting with the business user for providing more detailed information about the location and status, providing the user with a detailed multiple level of information on the display.

18. The system of claim 17, wherein the interactive display is a large screen capable of accommodating a plurality of users to interact with the views.

19. The system of claim 18, wherein the plurality of views provide fleet data, sensor information, and streaming video data.

20. A computer architecture for tracking and monitoring a railcar, the computer architecture comprising:

a database that stores event information and ordering information;

a rules database that stores multiple metrics and tasks representative of business rules;

a data processor in communication with the databases, the data processor operable to evaluate an event against the metrics and responsively issues a proactive alert and/or task in a batch/timed process;

an alert interface in communication with the data processor that communicates the proactive alert outside the system; and

a user interface in communication with the data processor displaying a view of one of the event, the proactive alert and the task at multiple detail levels.

21. The system of claim 20, wherein the data processor configured by a business alert engine evaluates the event against metrics and responsively issues a proactive alert and/or task in a real-time process.

22. The system of claim 20, wherein the data processor configured by a business alert engine analyzes the event evaluating whether the event is a business impacting event or establishes a business impacting trend, and responsively issues the proactive alert and/or task.

23. The system of claim 20, further comprising:

an Alert Parameter Table including a threshold metric for generating an alert;

a Parent Alert Table including the proactive alert, a railcar involved in the alert, a type of alert, a date and time of occurrence, a responsible party to be contacted, an acknowledged status, and a resolved status; and

a Child Alert Table including the proactive alert, a value of the metric that generated the alert, a severity of the alert, a role of the alert and an ID of a replacement railcar in the database.

24. The system of claim 23, wherein the data processor analyzes repetitive alerts in the Parent Alert table and responsively issues a proactive alert.

25. The system of claim 20, further comprising a web user interface providing an interactive web interface for the business user and displaying a view of the data regarding at least one railcar, wherein the user drills into the view to obtain a different view with a multiple detail level.

26. The system of claim 25, wherein the view is a graphical representation displaying a roundtrip cycle of the railcar with at least one task, a projected time required to complete the task and the actual time of completion.

27. The system of claim 26, wherein the task is a product loading/unloading event of the railcar.

28. The system of claim 26, wherein the task is a transport of the railcar.

29. The system of claim 26 wherein the projected time is determined by the metrics.

30. The system of claim 26, wherein the view of the graphical representation is displayed in conjunction with the view of the multiple detail level.

31. The system of claim 20, wherein the alert interface communicates the proactive alert to the business user via one of an e-mail, pager, PDA and cell phone.

32. A method for managing the use of a railcar comprising:

receiving data including at least one of a time, location and/or status of a railcar and a status of a product on the railcar;

storing the data in a railcar database;

associating the data received from the railcar with stored data from an enterprise resource planning (ERP) data source;

evaluating the data in the railcar database with a batched/timed process to determine a business impacting event and/or trend;

comparing the business impacting event and/or trend against a metric of a business rule;

issuing one of a proactive alert and a task to a responsible party as determined by the business alert engine in response to the comparison; and

providing a multiple detail level view of the data, the proactive alert and the task, the view selectively configured for a function of a business user to provide a time-based assessment of the location and status through an interactive user interface.

33. The method of claim 32 further comprising:

receiving an instruction through the user interface from the business user in response to one of the data, the proactive alert and the task; and

implementing a change to the business rule based on a successful implementation of a solution provided by the business user in response to the proactive alert.

34. The method of claim 32, further comprising:

adjusting the metric in the business rule in response to historical data that indicates the metric is outside a predetermined guideline.

35. The method of claim 32, further comprising displaying the multiple detail level in response to a user request, wherein the displayed data is linked to other detailed data and the user may drill into the linked data to obtain a further detail level.

36. The method of claim 35, wherein the multiple detail level of data is a graphical representation of a roundtrip path of the railcar including at least one event, a scheduled elapsed time for the event and an actual elapsed time for the event as determined by the business alert engine.

37. The method of claim 35, wherein the multiple detail level includes a summary of the car status information.

38. The method of claim 35, wherein the multiple detail level includes one of a travel time, an idle time, and a number of impacts status of a railcar.

39. The method of claim 32, further comprising:

issuing a proactive alert when the data processor configured by a business alert engine compares the data to a metric in a parameter alert table and determines that the data is outside the predefined range of the metric;

creating a Parent Alert Table including an alert status, an acknowledged status, a resolved status, an involved railcar, a date and time, and a responsible party to be contacted; and

creating a Child Alert Table including the alert status, a value of the metric, a severity of the alert, a role of the alert and a replacement ID of an asset.

40. The method of claim 39, further comprising issuing the proactive alert during a real-time process or a batch/timed process.

41. The method of claim 39, further comprising creating a subsequent Child Alert Table when the batched/timed process determines that the acknowledged status and the resolved status is not set in the Parent Alert table.

42. The method of claim 41, further comprising creating a subsequent entry in the Child Alert Table with a new responsible party to be contacted when the acknowledged status and the resolved status has not been set.

43. The method of claim 40, further comprising:

updating the Parent Alert Table with a new alert status and a new responsible party to be contacted when the data processor determines that the data is outside the predefined range of another metric related to the metric responsible for creating the Child Alert Table; and

creating a subsequent entry in the Child Alert Table for notifying the new responsible party.

44. The method of claim 32, further comprising issuing the task to an inventory control system.

45. The method of claim 32, further comprising issuing the task to an ERP system.

46. A method for monitoring transport of materials in railcars, the method comprising:

receiving a data transmission from a telematics sensor unit comprising data representative of a location, load, status and identity of a railcar;

storing the data and a time stamp associated with reception of the data transmission;

associating the data with real-time market pricing data; and

determining an amount of material unloaded from the railcar at a location and time.

47. The method of claim 46, further comprising:

determining a customer identity associated with the location;

reviewing a business rule for a sale condition for the customer; and

generating a bill to the customer in accordance with the business rule and the amount of material unloaded from the railcar.

48. The method of claim 46 wherein the business rule for the sale condition defines a bill based on the market price of the product at the time the customer taps the railcar.

49. The method of claim 46, further comprising;

associating the identity of each railcar with one of a customer, a customer service representative, a bill of lading, a product and a facility, a business instruction and a proactive alert;

retrieving historical data of the location, load and time for a plurality of railcars,

displaying the retrieved data for at least two of a plurality of aggregations consisting of;

an individual railcar, a historical location and time report or a historical load and time report;

a plurality of railcars associated with a plant, an indication of the real-time location of each railcar inbound to the plant;

at the plant;

outbound from the plant and at a customer;

a plurality of railcars associated with a customer, an indication of the load of material in transit and categorized by the location and the estimated delivery time to the customer, the railcars at the customer, the railcars outbound from the customer, and the railcars scheduled to load and loading;

a plurality of railcars associated with a sales representative, an indication of the load of materials in transit, railcars at customer locations, railcars waiting for loading categorized by an estimated shipment time, loading time and estimated delivery time;

a plurality of railcars associated with a bill of lading, an indication of the location, load, destination and an estimated time of arrival at the destination; and

a plurality of railcars associated with a product an indication of the location, load, destination and estimated time of arrival at the destination.

50. The method of claim 46 further comprising:

comparing received data transmissions with a set of stored business rules containing metric conditions for comparison with the data;

determining whether a metric condition is met by the data for a railcar, and if so

automatically displaying select data associated with the railcar in accordance with the business rule and an indication that the condition is met.

51. The method of claim 50, further comprising issuing a proactive alert when the metric condition is met.

52. The method of claim 46, further comprising evaluating the data to determine a heel amount of product remaining in the railcar.

53. The method of claim 46, further comprising evaluating the data to determine whether the railcar has been contaminated by the customer.

54. A method for freight cost reduction of a railcar comprising:

receiving data including a time, a location of a railcar and an impact to the railcar;

storing the data in a railcar database;

evaluating the data from the railcar database against a metric of a business rule to determine whether the impact is outside a predefined range defined by the metric;

when the impact is outside the predefined range, issuing a proactive alert through the railcar telematics system; and

displaying one of the data and the proactive alert to provide a time-based assessment of the impact to the railcar through a user interface.

55. The method of claim 54, further comprising providing a damage assessment resulting from the impact to the railcar.

56. The method of claim 55, further comprising identifying an available railcar loaded with a product associated with a damaged railcar for a replacement shipment.

57. The method of claim 56, further comprising:

identifying one of a customer, a sales representative and a bill of lading associated with the damaged railcar;

updating the bill of lading with information concerning the replacement shipment; and

transmitting said updated bill of lading to the customer and sales representative.

58. The method of claim 54, further comprising displaying the data in one of a historical form, summary form and graphical form showing the magnitude and direction of the impact.

59. The method of claim 58, further comprising displaying the location of the impact on a map.

60. The method of claim 54, further comprising communicating data regarding the location and impact to the railcar telelmatics system immediately after impact occurrence.

61. A method for monitoring a railcar valve and hatch comprising:

receiving data including a time and a location of a railcar and a condition of a valve and/or hatch on the railcar;

storing the data in a railcar database;

evaluating the data from the railcar database against a metric of a business rule to determine whether the condition of the seal on the valve and/or hatch has changed; and

when the condition of the valve and/or hatch has changed, issuing a proactive alert.

62. The method of claim 61, further comprising:

identifying one of a customer, a sales representative, a bill of lading, a facility, and a product associated with the railcar;

determining whether the product requires special handling; and

providing a response scenario to the users, when the proactive alert is issued.

63. The method of claim 61, further comprising displaying the data in a historical form, in summary form and in graphical form showing the location of the railcar on a map when the proactive alert is issued.

64. The method of claim 61, further comprising sensing a condition of a seal on the valve and/or hatch to determine whether the condition of the seal has changed.

65. A method for the management of railcar assets comprising:

receiving data regarding a time and location of a railcar and a status of a product on the railcar;

storing the data in a railcar database;

categorizing the data with data from a business table based on the product, a customer, and a destination;

comparing the data communicated from the railcar and the categorized data to a category of historical data;

analyzing the data for an event trend in the category of historical data against a business rule; and

when the trend is established, issuing a proactive alert and/or adjusting a metric regarding the mean and a threshold metric for issuing a proactive alert and/or task.

66. The method of claim 65, wherein the historical data includes a round trip time of the railcar, a time for loading, a transit time to the customer site, a time for unloading the railcar, and a time to return to a product manufacturer.

67. The method of claim 65, wherein the historical data includes the car status information.