DXI transfers combined transport data

COMBINED COMMS

DIGITISATION • GREATER VISIBILITY THROUGH THE COMBINED TRANSPORT CHAIN IS VITAL IF THE IDEA IS TO GAIN GREATER LEVELS OF ADOPTION. DX INTERMODAL AIMS TO PROVIDE JUST THAT

COMBINED TRANSPORT INVOLVES – by definition – a large array of players in any transport operation: shipper, logistics service provider, road transport company, rail operator, infrastructure manager, container terminal operator and possibly a port or airport. Getting such a transport chain organised and running smoothly is key to wider adoption of the combined transport concept, which will reap benefits in terms of efficiency and a reduction in CO2 emissions, while also ameliorating the effects of road congestion and driver shortages.

Hupac, one of the leaders in European combined transport, believes that the best way to achieve acceptance is through greater visibility and, to that end, it has been working since 2019 with partners on the development of digital systems. As the company says: “Our investments in the digital transformation of the intermodal transport chain are a high priority. Today’s customers expect the milestones and ETA data of their orders to be made available digitally throughout the entire intermodal chain, without gaps, errors and in real time. This requires a standardisation of the data formats in the European combined transport market, to which Hupac, as a market leader, wants to contribute.”

That process has now achieved reality with the establishment in June of DX Intermodal (DXI), which is using a data hub to connect all the players in the combined transport chain. The shareholders are the combined transport operators Hupac and Kombiverkehr, the transport companies Hoyer and Paneuropa, the railway undertaking Lokomotion as well as Kombiterminal Ludwigshafen.

DXI emerged from the research project ‘Digitalisation of intermodal supply chains - KV4.0’, which over the past five years has created a cross-system data platform for combined transport. DXI is now aiming to further develop the system and enable all players in the intermodal transport chain to access the data hub. It is expected that DXI’s customers will include transport companies and intermodal operators, terminals and railway undertakings.

WHERE’S THE BENEFIT? “With the help of the DXI hub, transport operators can exchange all data of their intermodal units between the combined transport operators and their own system, including railway undertakings and terminal data,” explains Aldo Puglisi, head of digitalisation at Hupac and one of the two joint managing directors of DXI.

The system is based on the Ediges data exchange standard, developed by Hupac, Kombiverkehr and Mercitalia Intermodal and using the European platform for tracking and tracing in the intermodal sector, Cesar. It allows access to timetables, bookings, terminal status and train journeys as well as pre- and post-carriage on the road. The data exchange is real time and barrier-free, but always within an authorised distribution circle.

A one-time technical connection to the data hub enables the exchange of data with the participating intermodal companies. For example, timetable data, tracking data or bookings from one participant’s IT application will be made visible to other participants in future. This is “an open-data approach that brings benefits for all the players involved,” says Christoph Büchner, Kombiverkehr’s head of IT and the other managing director of DXI.

Timely knowledge of the expected volume of consignments improves the planning of terminal slots. Railway undertakings can schedule locomotives and drivers more flexibly if they know about delays. Truck movements to and from the terminals can be optimised by providing information ahead of time. “Ultimately, data transparency leads to higher reliability and productivity and thus also to higher customer satisfaction,” say the DXI directors. www.hupac.ch www.kombiverkehr.de

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