How Modern Materials can Optimize Asset Design Smart railway OEMs are now building wagons that are lightweight, and have low payload to tare ratio
Transportation | Whitepaper
Contents
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Abstract
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How Emerging Technologies Can Redefine Railway Operations
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Capacity Enhancement for FutureReady Railway Systems
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Our Solution: Leveraging the Cyient Edge
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Success Stories: Unlocking Value with Innovative Solutions
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The Cyient Thought Board
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References
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About the Authors
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Transportation | Whitepaper
Abstract Operating more than 20,000 trains a day, Indian Railways is the third biggest railway network in the world and a key driver of the country’s economic development. However, increasing competition from alternative modes of transport, primarily road, has resulted in substantial loss of revenue for this national transporter. Rise in the number of rail accidents is also a major concern. To improve passenger experience, safety, and overall efficiency of the railways, it is crucial to incorporate superior engineering technologies and modernize assets that have become redundant over the years.
Indian Railways (IR) is the third largest railway network in the world with 7,2161 railway stations; 1,33,1602 railway bridges; 11,1223 locomotives; 68,8364 passenger coaches; 251,2565 freight cars; and 66,6876 route kilometers. Today IR operates more than 20,000 trains each day, comprising 12,6177 passenger trains and 7,4218 freight trains. In 2016-17, it transported 1,107.1 million tons9 of freight traffic and 8,219 million passengers10. Indian Railways currently employs 1.331 million people11 and posted an annual revenue base of INR 158.8 billion12 as of March 2017. IR’s vision is to be the key driver of India’s economic growth story by becoming financially more viable, environmentally friendly, and increasingly focused on achieving excellence in passenger safety and experience. In recent years, however, there has been a disproportionate diversion of freight and passenger traffic to other modes of transportation, primarily road. This has caused a substantial loss in revenue to IR and has also
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imposed a heavy burden on the country, which is measurable in terms of a much larger freight cost to GDP ratio and higher environmental cost per route km of freight and passenger traffic as compared to other countries. There is an undeniable and urgent need to enhance capacity and modernize Indian Railways to meet the country’s social and economic aspirations of the 21st century. With modernization and restoration of balance in the intermodal transport mix, railways can be a significant engine of inclusive growth and development for the country. IR will then create more jobs, save energy, and conserve the environment while moving people, raw materials, and goods more efficiently across the country. Highly critical industrial inputs such as coal, which contributes nearly 45% to IR’s freight traffic, will get the much-needed special attention as a modernized railway system will focus on efficient and effective evacuation, movement, and delivery of coal or other important goods.
Transportation | Whitepaper
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Leveraging new opportunities would, however, require generational change with bold vision, clarity, and multiple new initiatives to look beyond the day-to-day operations and toward building next-generation technologies, networks, systems, and processes. This is essential to significantly enhance safety, productivity, efficiency, and quality of services. At present, there is a unique window of opportunity, which must be capitalized with a sense of urgency to transform the railways to deliver timely benefits to the people and the nation.
product and system engineering technologies and services, and how they can be effectively leveraged across multiple areas—from concept to prototype—to improve business outcomes.
This paper discusses how organizations such as the Indian Railways, can leverage design and system re-engineering solutions along with predictive and reliability analytics to effectively maintain and enhance the existing rolling stock. The paper also provides an overview of
This paper highlights how Cyient can make a significant contribution to capacity enhancement in freight fleets—an area where Indian Railways is keen to adopt and apply emerging technologies.
At Cyient, we focus on providing agile, effective, and robust solutions to meet disparate needs of major railway organizations across the world. As their strategic partners, we help them better leverage their design and system reengineering solutions and seamlessly adopt modern technologies in rail and rolling stocks to enhance productivity.
Transportation | Whitepaper
How Emerging Technologies Can Redefine Railway Operations The railways are the most preferred mode of transport for more than 70% of the global population. With changing times, railway operations and services have evolved and are better orientated toward meeting customer expectations. Management of railways, ticketing systems, and availability of services are now more robust, catering to the needs of a very large customer base. Let us discuss the areas where modern technologies are bringing in process excellence to railway operations:
Railway Tracks New technologies help enhance capabilities for safe, secure, and more productive freight and passenger trains with a focus on expansion and excellence. They can help assess: • Present status of track, bridges, tunnels, and rail overpasses in terms of track structure, category of track, speed potential, axle load, route-wise, sectionwise, and summarized position • Need to modernize track/route by way of expansion of network, raising of speed, increasing the axle load, fitness for running of double stack container trains, and longer freight trains
Stations and Terminals Stations and freight terminals are aggressively being modernized to provide comprehensive, state-of-the-art infrastructure, services, and facilities.
Passenger Amenities Emerging technology can be effectively deployed to measure metrics for improvement of comfort, hygiene, cleanliness, catering, reservations, and also introduce modern amenities.
Rolling Stock Expansion of new-generation freight and passenger rolling stock with advanced technological features enhance capability for higher speeds while lowering per unit costs. Technology can help: • Identify present status of coaching and freight rolling stock in terms of class of travel, speed potential for passenger trains and payload to tare ratio, and axle load for freight trains • Install manufacturing capacity for various types of rolling stock • Identify the need to upgrade rolling stock keeping in view the requirement to raise speed, improve design and comfort level, and provision of modern facilities • Identify technologies essential for modernization of rolling stock • Deliver local production status and need for import of technologies
Signaling Modern electronic signaling technologies help optimize track utilization and deliver high-speed operations safely and efficiently. They can help highlight: • Present status of electronic signaling at the stations, both route-wise and section-wise • Need to modernize signaling for improving safety, augmenting capacity, and increasing train speed • Specific signaling technology for modernization
The ICT Impact Modern information and communication technology is now part of the wagon fleet operations and helps reduce theft and plan maintenance schedules proactively. Some of the most important advancements impacting the railway sector are in the fields of security, operations, customer services, and access to railway services. The impact of ICT includes: • Utilization of high-capacity digital technology with comprehensive set of functionalities • New technologies such as high-bandwidth systems and IP-based networks to strengthen safety and security in railways • Voice data and train control messages are critical for strong security; IP and Ethernet technologies are bringing in new aspects of secured railway networks • Video surveillance, and remote access monitoring and equipment telemetry • Corporate LAN networks integrated with public address systems can be created using advanced ICT • RFID-based freight consignment tracking can be implemented improving railway freight services 03
Transportation | Whitepaper
Capacity Enhancement for Future-Ready Railway Systems The rail transportation industry is an instrumental player in providing logistical support and moving products along the supply chain. However, key market trends such as demand for product individualization, shift from heavy bulk commodities to lightweight products, and smaller consignments of high-value goods are impacting overall business. There is an urgent need to improve the overall efficiency of rail transportation to keep pace with the market dynamics and provide sustainable logistics. Optimization of one key resource—the rail freight wagon—through innovative design and use can help rail freighters achieve substantial economic efficiencies and growth. Heavy investments, privatization, and emerging trends are reshaping industries, making them more competitive and demanding. To move goods faster and more efficiently, freight operators need to improve process and freight efficiency. A global strategic partner with relevant domain expertise can help drive significant efficiencies by introducing viable freight and operational best practices.
Challenges: Factors Disrupting Fleet Optimization and Efficiency Freight companies are under severe pressure to move goods quickly, efficiently, and at minimal costs. This in turn has increased the pressure on freight operators to innovate and come up with new means and methods to improve fleet efficiency. However, factors such as lack of visibility into failure data and uncertainty are making it difficult to predict the reliability of components, resulting in the needless accumulation of spares/inventories. The aging rolling stock equipment is proving to be a major setback for fleet operations, impacting operational efficiencies significantly. The resulting high inventory costs are restricting the ability of freight operators to invest capital in new and futuristic products and equipment that can optimize fleet productivity and costs. To address these challenges and achieve business objectives, use of tools and technologies such as reliability predictions and failure projections for accurate inventory planning is critical. 04
Overcoming the Challenges Most of the containers and wagons used by freight operators today are obsolete and dated, which makes a time-consuming process, reducing efficiencies and profitability. It is essential to upgrade or replace existing containers and wagons to overcome this challenge. Product engineering solutions from experienced partners can help freight operators in several ways. For instance, a partner with deep domain expertise can help analyze the existing rolling stock and suggest modifications for enhancing material handling capabilities. Design re-engineering can increase carrying capacity of the current wagons and containers, thus, optimizing usage. Additionally, advancements in metallurgy and composites have opened up new avenues for innovation. These advanced materials can be used to build wagons, containers, and coaches that are lighter and more efficient. Lighter rolling stock helps in reducing the carbon footprint by increasing fuel efficiency of the locomotive.
Transportation | Whitepaper
Our Solution: Leveraging the Cyient Edge At Cyient, we have leveraged emerging product and system engineering technologies to develop cost-effective, cutting-edge solutions to help customers address business challenges and meet their organizational goals. Our comprehensive service delivery framework spans multiple areas including: • System Engineering: Developing system design specifications, identifying and quantifying system goals, creating alternative system design concepts, performing design trades, and selecting and implementing the best design. This also includes verification of the design to ensure it is properly built and integrated, and a post-implementation assessment to verify that the system meets the specifications and objectives. • Concept Engineering: Developing alternative concepts, evaluating performance parameters, as well as merits and disadvantages of each concept to propose a viable solution, and enable improved decision making. • Product Engineering: Refining system requirements, creating solution description, building, verifying, and validating the system. • Product Optimization and Support: Optimizing the existing and new products for manufacturability and reliability, and reducing parts’ count through parts or component commonization. • Reliability Engineering: Predicting reliability and inventory optimization through failure data analysis. Our approach, as depicted in the figure below, extends from conceptualizing to developing the prototype. In-depth market research, analysis, and stage gate reviews ensure effective solutions.
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Stage Gate-1
Stage Gate-2
Stage Gate-3
Stage Gate-4
Stage Gate-5
Requirement analysis
Development of alternative concepts
Create solution description
Prototype build
Market research
Evaluation of performance parameters
Refine system requirements
Optimization of products with respect to
Benchmarking merits and demerits
Enabling decisionmaking process by proposing viable solutions
Verify and validate
- Manufacturability - Performance - Serviceability - Reliability
CYIENT‘S METHODOLOGY 05
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Testing and validation
Transportation | Whitepaper
Improving or extending the life of existing wagons and containers can offer long-term benefits to freight operators. Increased focus on revamping the existing rolling stock equipment helps reduce costs and make provisions for future upgrades based on market and customer dynamics. We have worked across geographies and have comprehensive experience spanning more than 20 years in product design and engineering. We offer solutions across design, repair, development, and innovation, resulting in the following business benefits: • Enhanced Performance: End-to-end solutions from concept development to validation that helps improve freight capacity, meet growing market demands, and provide competitive advantage. • Optimized Cost: Innovative design and re-engineering solutions that enable freight operators to optimize cost and enhance fuel efficiency. Additionally, the savings from deferred investments in locomotive and wagon replacement can be diverted to critical areas of growth. • Increased Availability: In-depth risk and predictive analysis enhance freight reliability and stability, and in turn improve its life expectancy. It also ensures increased wagon utilization i.e., use of lesser wagons per fleet, without impacting the amount of material carried.
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Transportation | Whitepaper
Success Stories: Unlocking Value with Innovative Solutions Case Study 1 Improving Freight Container Efficiency by Accelerating Innovation
A leading freight operator from an emerging market wanted a new design for a container that would substantially reduce the cost of unloading manganese ore from fleet/wagon to bulk vessel (ship) and improve freight efficiency. Challenges The new design needed to • Have gross weight of 30 tons and tare weight of three tons (to carry two containers on one flat bed wagon). • Adhere to ISO 1496-1. • Be bottom discharge and capable of stacking four containers at a timee. Our Solution • The bottom discharge container was conceptualized and designed to carry 28 tons of ore with overall dimensions of 20 feet x 8.5 feet x 8 feet, and with an optimized weight of required three tons. • The container was validated as per ISO 1496-1: 1990 (E) for stacking load, lifting loads, and accelerated load cases. • A hydraulic unlocking mechanism was designed to unlock the bottom doors and to unload the contents within minutes. • An intermediate lifting frame was designed to accommodate hydraulic cylinders within the frame, which was fixed to the reach stacker. The reach stacker, along with the intermediate frame, could lift the container from the wagon. • A lever mechanism was designed to lock or release the doors with the help of hydraulic cylinders.
Business Benefits • Significant reduction in time taken for unloading and loading the bulk vessel. • More streamlined operations—the whole container can be unloaded onto the bulk vessel. • Minimal infrastructure compared to setting up of a tippler arrangement, saving significant installation costs. • Increased wagon availability and optimization as containers can be stacked and unloaded later; containers can even be stacked on the ship if bulk vessels are not available. • Enhanced customer experience with greater availability, reliability, and cost-effectiveness of our solution.
Case Study 2 Supporting Failure Analysis and Repair of Hand Brakes
A reputed locomotive manufacturer wanted to reduce the replacement cost of hand brakes. Challenges Identifying the root cause of the handbrake wheel-wobbling issue and providing a relevant solution to repair and re-install the same cost-effectively. Our Solution • Based on the failure data, a crow model was prepared to analyze the root cause. • Teardown analysis of a failed hand brake indicated bush wear and spring failure. • Field service personnel were advised to replace bush and spring in the field to restore handbrake functionalities. 07
Business Benefits • Provided instruction to repair group to measure and inspect the component which had contributed to wheel wobbling. • Went through design and service tollgate review and successfully cut in project in field locomotive. • Helped save $4.33 million for the client.
Transportation | Whitepaper
Case Study 3 Enabling Locomotive Component Longevity and Reliability Prediction
A reputed locomotive manufacturer wanted to increase the life expectancy of components used in locomotives to increase productivity and reduce costs. Challenges • Validating the possibility of extending components’ life from 10 years to 20 years. • Reducing the cost of labor and materials by extending the life of suspension links used in locomotive bogies, until the next overhaul. Our Solution • We conducted extensive lab tests on metal and rubber bushing used in suspension links and analyzed the data to assess the possibility of life extension. • Failure data analysis and reliability risk assessment were performed to analyze the impact of failure. • We proposed that the suspension link be re-used with minor refurbishments over the next 10 years.
Business Benefits • Conducted lab test on metal/ rubber bushing used in suspension links and extrapolated data for extension of life from 10 to 20 years. • Went through design and service tollgate review and successfully cut in project in field locomotive. • Helped save $2.56 million for the client.
Case Study 4 Delivering Enhanced Capacity and Reduced Costs for Hopper Wagons
A leading freight operator from an emerging market wished to increase carrying capacity of their existing bottom discharge hopper wagon from 54 tons to 60 tons. Challenges • Modify the wagon by retaining the existing underframe and restructure the body for enhanced carrying capacity. • Suit the body structure for the standard bottom discharge doors. • Optimize weight to the maximum possible extent for light weight structure. Our Solution • The wagon was redesigned by increasing the height of the hopper body to accommodate the enhanced carrying capacity with adequate structure. • FEA analysis was carried out in different stages of the design to optimize the weight of the wagon. 08
Business Benefits • Helped reduce manufacturing cost by 15% and optimize freight capacity by implementing commonization across client’s product portfolio. • Lightweight hopper wagon has enhanced carrying capacity of up to 80 tons. • Wagon was redesigned with approximately 8% increase in capacity.
The Cyient Thought Board
Transportation | Whitepaper
How Modern Materials can Optimize Asset Design
What factors are impacting efficiency and competence of IR?
Frequent breakdowns and downtime
Need for improved safety standards
High noise and greenhouse gas emissions
Growing operation and maintenance costs
Underutilized network capacity
What focus areas can benefit from new technology in IR?
Track: For network expansion, and increased speed and load
Signaling: For augmented safety, capacity, and train speed
Rolling Stock: For better speed, comfort, and facilities
Stations and terminals: For better infrastructure, services, and experience
ICT: For better passenger experience, and systems security
Passenger amenities: For improved hygiene, catering, and reservations
What factors are impacting fleet optimization and efficiency in freight?
Lack of visibility into failure data
Predict reliability of components
Accumulation of spares/ inventories
Aging rolling stock equipment
Limited investment in new products and equipment
How can improving existing wagons offer long-term benefits to freight operators?
Meet growing market demands
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Provide competitive advantage
Optimize cost and enhance fuel efficiency
Enhance freight reliability and stability
Increase wagon utilization
Transportation | Whitepaper
References Statistical Summary—Indian Railways http://www.indianrailways.gov.in/railwayboard/uploads/directorate/stat_econ/IRSP_2015-16/Summary%20Sheet_Eng_pdf_pdf.pdf http://www.indianrailways.gov.in/railwayboard/uploads/directorate/stat_econ/IRSP_2015-16/Facts_Figures_Eng/14.pdf
The Business Standard http://www.business-standard.com/article/beyond-business/18-interesting-facts-about-india-railways-business-standard-news-115021600404_1.html
The Times of India http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/aurangabad/indian-railways-register-rise-in-freight-passenger-business-in-2016-17/articleshow/58084106.cms http://www.business-standard.com/article/news-cm/indian-railways-posts-8-7-revenue-growth-for-march-2017-117041000362_1.html http://www.indianrailways.gov.in/railwayboard/uploads/directorate/stat_econ/IRSP_2015-16/Facts_Figures_Eng/22.pdf
About the Authors Yogesh Mudlapur is Assistant General Manager, Rail Transportation, at Cyient. He has over 18 years of experience in the transportation industry including areas such as locomotives, rail transportation/rolling stock, heavy engineering, and automotive. He has worked with several global OEMs and helped them in product development, design, and engineering. Throughout his experience in India and the US, Yogesh has been focused on product development, innovation, and customer relations.
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Sugadha Kandi is Project Manager, Rail Transportation, at Cyient. He has over 35 years of experience in the rail transportation industry, with more than 25 years in product design for rail coaches and different types of wagons in BEML. He has spent another 10 years of his engineering career in the design of rail coaches and wagons for several global OEMs. He has acquired significant global exposure in his career while supporting the development of rail coaches and wagons for OEMs in Australia and South Africa.
Transportation | Whitepaper
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