DUSS drives digitization

Digitalization in combined transport? Apart from individual players, railway companies, operators, freight forwarders or terminal operators have barely stood out as pioneers in Germany. But now the market is surprising with one cross-company project after another. With Modility, there is a portal for booking and arranging intermodal transport; with KV 4.0, there is an IT concept for the continuous digitization of all logistical processes up to delivery to the recipient, which is now being marketed. And the project “Autonomous Innovation in Terminal Processes” (ANITA) is setting the course for digital container handling with automated trucks at Deutsche Bahn's intermodal systems in Ulm.

Big lever for higher productivity

For Andreas Schulz, managing director of Deutsche Umschlaggesellschaft Schiene-Straße (DUSS), digital business processes are the “biggest lever” for higher productivity in terminals, in addition to expansion and new construction. The shorter the turnaround times for trucks and the set-up times for trains, the more throughput the systems could handle.

With ANITA's results so far, the DB subsidiary is able to implement the first detailed solutions. Logistics scientists from Fresenius University of Applied Sciences have determined that the registration processes for drivers at the Ulm DUSS terminal take many minutes. With automation and digitization solutions, this process can be reduced to just a few seconds.

Start-up Conroo as a partner

This is exactly what an app from Nuremberg-based startup Conroo ensures. DUSS intends to introduce them in all its terminals by spring 2023. Drivers log on to the facilities on their smartphones and book time slots. They can also transmit freight and other data in eight languages.

The Conroo product can be integrated into any terminal operating system (TOS) and makes registration a completely paperless process. The app is currently being used in around half a dozen larger terminals — including Frankfurt/Main, Kornwestheim; Munich and Ulm. By the end of 2022, it should be part of everyday life in at least 20 facilities.

Cross-company app

Such slot management solutions are nothing new. Operator Metrans has been using smartphone applications for drivers for several years, but their current versions only allow logins to the terminals of parent company HHLA. The Conroo app, on the other hand, works across companies. Today, it is already being used at Bayernhafen's trimodal Tricon terminal in Nuremberg, in which DUSS has a minority stake of 25 percent. “We are holding talks with other operators at an advanced stage,” reveals Felix Paul Czerny, managing director of Conroo. According to Czerny, the app is also attracting interest in Austria, Switzerland and other European countries.

Potential for industry solution

The Nuremberg-based IT solution also has the potential for an industry solution because it has multiple accesses. Users can also enter and book data via their TMS or a web frontend. Several combined carriers are already working with such accesses.

For Czerny, the entire logistics sector should benefit from the railways decision for a neutral platform. “The app has what it takes to become an integral part of every transport management system for multimodal transport,” says the founder, who has developed further terminal-specific applications with his team. In keeping with the app, there is a slot management platform that, based on ETA and other truck data, coordinates loading and unloading times and organizes container handling.

Operators are also approaching Nurembergers and commissioning IT tools that facilitate processes in selected terminals. For terminal operator DUSS, Conroo solutions have the advantage that they connect every participant. Small partners who do not have a direct interface also benefit.

Otherwise, Nuremberg-based IT is a decisive component for the continuous digitization of terminal processes. “With the app, we can utilize our infrastructure more evenly and use it more efficiently,” Schulz is certain. Because the load carriers are handled more quickly after the trucks arrive, trains can also be assembled more quickly.

Video doors as the next step

However, the DB subsidiary still needs to do some homework for this. It is currently equipping its sites with video gates that automatically recognize trucks and load units and use AI tools to identify vehicle and load damage. The rail entrances and exits of all terminals will also work with video gates in the future. There is currently a call for tenders for more than 50 goals at all locations. Frankfurt, Hamburg, Leipzig and Stuttgart are already working with this technology, and the rollout for the remaining plants is due to start at the end of this year.

Other DUSS projects involve digital train reconciliation with direct interfaces to the various terminal operating systems (TOS) or remote control and partial automation for gantry cranes. The DB subsidiary is also venturing into predictive maintenance solutions that use digital monitoring to initiate early maintenance of individual crane components. “We have lots of ideas and are trying to convince as many partners as possible of the benefits of digitization and open data exchange,” Schulz assures.

This requires sufficient data from the terminal operators themselves. Another project deals with this topic. On July 1, a research project by Fraunhofer and university scientists from Hamburg will start on how terminals can ensure better slot allocation and parking space arrangements with the help of artificial intelligence (AI). Conroo is taking part in this project.

Source:

https://www.dvz.de/rubriken/land/kombinierter-verkehr/detail/news/duss-treibt-digitalisierung-voran.html