RFTrax, a purveyor of asset management technology designed for the freight industry, will roll out a new product suite tomorrow said to enable manufacturers to track goods traveling on railcars.
According to RFTrax, there are 1.6 million railcars operating in the U.S., most which lack an accurate and reliable way to track the status and condition of goods in transit. For example, the Sugar Land, TX, company contends that once the railcar door closes, the manufacturers' goods basically disappear since there is no efficient way to track their whereabouts and monitor the conditions within the container.
The company's RFTrax A.M.P. product suite aims to change that. It combines sensors, cellular networks, and monitoring software to provide visibility into the whereabouts of goods and the conditions surrounding the assets while they are in transit.
"A number of industries, from automotive and heavy equipment manufacturing to chemical and petroleum products, are increasingly relying on rail freight to transport their goods," said Hal Haygood, president of RFTrax in a statement. "We've designed a solution that addresses the rail industry's need to increase efficiencies in fuel and railcar utilization, meet target speed and delivery times, and prevent loss and damage -- all of which impact both the bottom line and customer satisfaction."
RFTrax A.M.P. includes an asset command unit (ACU) that accommodates multiple sensors that monitor conditions such as shock, radiation, temperature, intrusion, and fuel consumption. The cargo itself may have an RFID tag to trace its location, but the sensors provide a window into what is happening to cargo once inside the railcar, the company said.
"It crosses into condition monitoring of railcars, which is an interesting area," said ARC Advisory Group analyst, Houghton Leroy, in an interview with Managing Automation. "There's a lot of opportunity and applications for it, but mostly it can avoid damage to cargo."
Tracking assets and fleet management is an area that is under scrutiny as a result of the rising cost of transportation, which has increased 23% since 2002, according to a recent ARC report entitled, "Trends and Predictions in the Transportation Management Systems Market." As a result, CFOs are taking a second look at how more effective logistics management can impact a company's financial performance, the report noted.
Transportation management systems (TMS) have historically focused on truck-based transportation, but more work needs to be done to effectively address the changing logistics networks and processes of users. "For example, inter-modal processes such as container-on-rail are gaining importance in many industries, but most TMS solutions don't handle this process very well," according to the December 2005 report. ARC expects 2006 to be the year that TMS offerings move one step closer to providing a holistic solution.
For RFTrax A.M.P. to deliver an end-to-end solution -- tracing goods from warehouse to railcar to truck to their final destination -- manufacturers and transportation companies would need to collaborate more closely. But RFTrax has taken a step in that direction: RFTrax is already selling to railroad, manufacturers, and even chemical companies that need to monitor hazardous materials while in transit, according to a company spokesperson.
Marketed to the railroad industry, the RFTrax A.M.P. offering is priced between $600 and $1,500, depending on the sensor package and volume ordered. RFTrax is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Fairfield Industries, a manufacturer of electronic equipment for hostile operating environments.