Business development in Rail Maintenance Evaluation of monitoring axle/wagon distance
(2010) MIO920Production Management
- Abstract
- Due to recent accidents involving goods wagon axle failure, there is an increasing international focus on axle safety. One way of increasing the safety of goods wagon axles is monitoring the distance traveled by the axle and using this information to improve maintenance of the axle. This fact has sparked the belief that regulations regarding monitoring distance covered by goods wagon axles will become stricter in the future.
The belief in upcoming stricter rules together with the fact that EuroMaint Rail has recently moved into the German market for rail maintenance has resulted in a desire to be able to offer monitoring of goods wagon/axle distance to customers. The company has little knowledge about the concept of monitoring goods... (More) - Due to recent accidents involving goods wagon axle failure, there is an increasing international focus on axle safety. One way of increasing the safety of goods wagon axles is monitoring the distance traveled by the axle and using this information to improve maintenance of the axle. This fact has sparked the belief that regulations regarding monitoring distance covered by goods wagon axles will become stricter in the future.
The belief in upcoming stricter rules together with the fact that EuroMaint Rail has recently moved into the German market for rail maintenance has resulted in a desire to be able to offer monitoring of goods wagon/axle distance to customers. The company has little knowledge about the concept of monitoring goods wagon/axle distance, and increasing this knowledge is the basic objective of this project.
To provide a basis for decisions regarding future actions in the field of goods wagon/axle distance monitoring, the project has been focused on identifying and evaluating different techniques as well as establishing the uses of goods wagon/axle distance information. Also, the suitability and possibility for EuroMaint Rail to incorporate this type of product/service into its portfolio has been evaluated.
Possibilities to monitor goods wagon/axle distance have been established by classifying and identifying techniques available and under development. The techniques identified have then been evaluated with respect to their suitability for the company. The most promising concept has been found to be a GPS-based solution where distance is approximated using registered positions of the wagon at different points in time.
To establish the demand for distance monitoring and the possibilities to offer the concept in the market, potential customers have been consulted regarding their potential use for the information, the willingness to pay and customer requirements on the product/service. Although there is a visible demand for distance monitoring in the market, the willingness to pay has been found to be very low.
Due to the availability of technical equipment in the market, the in-house competences, and the low willingness to pay for distance information, the recommended course of action for the company is to focus on customer specific offerings and not attempt to develop a tangible offering until a deal is made with a customer. This approach keeps risk at a minimum while at the same time keeping the window open for the possibility to offer a solution to the right customer. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
http://lup.lub.lu.se/student-papers/record/1976107
- author
- Forsberg, Oscar and Hjemqvist, Tove
- supervisor
- organization
- course
- MIO920
- year
- 2010
- type
- M1 - University Diploma
- subject
- other publication id
- 10/5365
- language
- English
- id
- 1976107
- date added to LUP
- 2011-06-17 08:12:20
- date last changed
- 2011-06-20 11:14:37
@misc{1976107,
abstract = {{Due to recent accidents involving goods wagon axle failure, there is an increasing international focus on axle safety. One way of increasing the safety of goods wagon axles is monitoring the distance traveled by the axle and using this information to improve maintenance of the axle. This fact has sparked the belief that regulations regarding monitoring distance covered by goods wagon axles will become stricter in the future.
The belief in upcoming stricter rules together with the fact that EuroMaint Rail has recently moved into the German market for rail maintenance has resulted in a desire to be able to offer monitoring of goods wagon/axle distance to customers. The company has little knowledge about the concept of monitoring goods wagon/axle distance, and increasing this knowledge is the basic objective of this project.
To provide a basis for decisions regarding future actions in the field of goods wagon/axle distance monitoring, the project has been focused on identifying and evaluating different techniques as well as establishing the uses of goods wagon/axle distance information. Also, the suitability and possibility for EuroMaint Rail to incorporate this type of product/service into its portfolio has been evaluated.
Possibilities to monitor goods wagon/axle distance have been established by classifying and identifying techniques available and under development. The techniques identified have then been evaluated with respect to their suitability for the company. The most promising concept has been found to be a GPS-based solution where distance is approximated using registered positions of the wagon at different points in time.
To establish the demand for distance monitoring and the possibilities to offer the concept in the market, potential customers have been consulted regarding their potential use for the information, the willingness to pay and customer requirements on the product/service. Although there is a visible demand for distance monitoring in the market, the willingness to pay has been found to be very low.
Due to the availability of technical equipment in the market, the in-house competences, and the low willingness to pay for distance information, the recommended course of action for the company is to focus on customer specific offerings and not attempt to develop a tangible offering until a deal is made with a customer. This approach keeps risk at a minimum while at the same time keeping the window open for the possibility to offer a solution to the right customer.}},
author = {{Forsberg, Oscar and Hjemqvist, Tove}},
language = {{eng}},
note = {{Student Paper}},
title = {{Business development in Rail Maintenance Evaluation of monitoring axle/wagon distance}},
year = {{2010}},
}