BOLANO. (BOlogna LA Spezia NApoli)

Transcription

1 BOLANO (BOlogna LA Spezia NApoli) Introduction The BOLANO demonstrator has set distinctive and incremental priorities regarding the "terminals of the future" aiming at positioning them as dynamic and collaborative facilitators for the whole transport network. Thus, the emphasis has not been put only on upgrading the quality of the internal processes but especially on introducing added value services for the whole community and terminals increased competitiveness and market share. In this context, innovative concepts and related ICT tools are developed i.e.: Transport/Terminal Services Publisher (T2SP), open service, for the dynamic and unified publishing/discovery/updating of detailed terminal services weighed per time, cost and CO2. Cargo consolidation in the terminal network, based on the "Proximity Network" concept, involving collaborative terminals supported by a consolidation tool to facilitate the optimisation of the cargo management along the transport chain. Mobile repair services sharing, as provided by IPBO, supported by a publishing/discovery/reservation solution facilitating the optimised recovery of wagon damages on the spot. All these BOLANO services address current business potentiality restrictions and provide added value to collaboration prospects of the intermodal players towards lead time reduction through coordination, cost savings through load factor increase and environmental sustainability through comodality. The T2SP application Description The proposed solution aims at changing both the business and operational orientation of the terminals in order to become competitive and equivalent elements of the total transport chain. The Transport/Terminal Services Publishing (T2SP) application - made available through the Ecosystem - increases the visibility of the transport network (terminals included) to the benefit of the whole transport logistics community. The contribution of this solution to the environmental sustainability is evident since the CO2 factor for terminals will be included in the overall chain assessment. Additionally, an innovative dynamic mechanism is introduced allowing the temporary/permanent updating of the services performance and instant notification of the subscribing actors. This is quite critical for the whole network environmental performance since frequently incidents/changes in the terminals lead to major delays. The accurate estimation of the nodal contribution to the whole transport chain performance facilitates the improved efficiency of the freight transport through realistic planning of the cargo shift from mode to mode. Cargo managers can dramatically reduce the time required for incorporating the terminal services in their databank thus saving significant resources which for the SMEs constitute a barrier for their business. On the other hand, the prompt awareness of terminal services changes will facilitate corrective actions by cargo managers thus reducing energy/co2 consumption and improving efficiency through the timely

2 selection of alternative routes and modes, thus assuring the proper foundation for a synchronized framework of operations. Finally, the involved terminals become more extroversive and attractive in their market place demonstrating that they support the main priorities of the end customers (cargo owners/shippers) for efficiency, greening and economy. In the same context, the dynamic functioning of a terminal contributes to its credibility and customer's confidence on reliability of services thus supporting its marketing strategy. T2SP - Functionalities The functionalities of the Transport/Terminal Services Publishing (T2SP) application include: Publication of terminal services, including shunting and yard activities, administrative control, repair / maintenance of terminal equipment and transport units / wagons, supported modalities and cargo types. All terminal services are associated with cost, time and CO2 profile values. Discovery of terminal services can be performed by selecting from a predefined set of criteria. The user among others can search by terminals located within a geographical area, specific modality, cargo type, defined terminal operators and so on. Subscription & notification services, subscribers are fed with the most up to date information in a standardised way thus facilitating the prompt undertaking for possible corrective actions. Upon updating the service profile using either HMI or B2B integration, T2SP automatically provides related notification messages to all associated LSPs thus allowing them to assess the severity of the incident and act accordingly. B2B Integration for publication and discovery as well as managing subscription to terminal services. B2B integration supports standardized information (Common framework, Transport Service Description - TSD message) and communication mechanisms (Access points) as well as web services for fast discovery of data. Human to Machine interfaces (HMI) to allow both cargo managers and small terminals joining the system at no cost.

3 T2SP - Benefits The benefits and the beneficiaries of the solution are: Cargo Managers: easily access complete terminal profiles in terms of services provision, time (operating hours, duration of operations etc), cost and environmental performance. Assess the transport chain performance with emphasis on terminals selected, for decision making and future use. Can evaluate if re-planning actions are required due to changes inside the terminal. Terminals: publish their services in a wider network of potential users. Upgrade their role in the transport chain by becoming an active partner who dynamically updates the services level. Shippers: better service and just in time delivery of their shipments. Transport Service Providers: benefit from the transparency of the information for better planning and utilisation of their resources. optimization solution that consolidates common or complementary consignments passing through the Proximity Network. This collaborative model contributes to the greening of the hub network through increased load factor for multimodal transport and reduced utilization of road transport in long distance assignments. The efficiency factor can substantially increase for various stakeholders since the load factor can be higher, cost can drop, resources utilisation for all increase, itineraries credibility improves etc. Finally, the Proximity Network Manager is an attractive partner for all Cargo Managers relieving them from complex assignments in remote areas thus generating new opportunities for the partnership (BOLANO terminals) to penetrate new markets across EU. The Cargo Consolidation Description The introduction of the "Proximity Network" concept is quite new in the intermodal terminals world since they currently function more as individual entities in competition than a collaborative group following a horizontal integration. The global financial crisis and increased customers demand for time and cost savings as well as environmentally friendly transport impose effective interventions. This innovative approach introduces a) new business models with the introduction of regional terminals partnership towards consolidation and the new entity of Proximity Network Manager (PNM) as a cargo bundling facilitator and b) an Functionalities The functionalities of the cargo consolidation in a terminal network application include: Proximity Network Publication: The Proximity Network Manager in collaboration with the terminal operators use T2SP to define the Proximity Network functioning and terminals involved. In this way, cargo managers are aware of the collaboration possibilities in the area in order to undertake long distance and multimodal planning.

4 Consolidated transport planning: supports Proximity Network Manager to bundle cargo volumes by consolidating consignments passing through the terminals of the Network. Thus the planning module takes into account both the terminals business and operational model within the Proximity Network as well as the transport and terminal services for multimodal long distance cargo flow. Smart cargo consolidation mechanisms allow the timely, most economic and CO2 efficient transport from origin to destination. The system checks and proposes the common transport legs that match the transport chains for cargo consolidation for the transport sections that are under the responsibility of the PNM. Planning is supported by combined booking activities allowing the collaborative management of many transnational transport chains by more than one Cargo Managers under various levels of responsibility. Transport monitoring: Status information is collected from the service providers during the execution phase. Transport progress is automatically available to the involved FIs, depending on their responsibility. Status dissemination is done on a need to know basis. Potential incidents occurring along the consolidated terminals network are spotted, disseminated and recovered by PNM on behalf of the primary Cargo Managers. Benefits The benefits and the beneficiaries of the solution are: Cargo Managers: efficient and reliable services for collaborative managing of transport chains leading to savings in terms of cost and environmental performance through the higher load factor. Furthermore, the availability of new destinations with new connections opens their business portfolio. Terminals: opportunities to increase their throughput and consequently revenues, through the enlargement of their catchment area and creation of new connections. Rail Service Providers: running services with increased load factor reduce the operational costs for the SPs and increase their margins. Furthermore, the creation of additional connections - e.g. shuttle trains - provides opportunities for promoting intermodal transport also for short and medium distances. Shipper: benefits from the lower prices for the Cargo Managers. Furthermore, with the availability of more alternatives than just road transport they can promote their environmental consciousness in the market. Mobile repair service sharing Description The availability of mobile repair service can play a quite unique role within the catchment area of its operation. However, though this service is currently available, in order to become accessible in a wider geographical area it needs to be promoted and managed in an effective way. Therefore the proposed application responds to this demand in an innovative way by making available this service in the T2SP: a) as a new service of the terminal and b) as a dynamic mechanism in discovering its availability through time. In this way, an optimized utilization of the service is made available thus contributing to the efficient exploitation of an extended market place. Additionally, the wagon repair time can substantially be reduced to the

5 benefit of all actors involved. The environmental added value is related to the fact that fewer workshops need to be established for wagon repair and no wagon movements across terminals are required for repair. Functionalities The functionalities of the Mobile Repair Services application include: Wagon repair service publishing: Terminal / Maintenance Workshop operator specifies the characteristics of the mobile repair service such as the terminal based, the geographic area of coverage, the availability of the service through time etc. This information is made available to the ECOHUBS community through Transport/ Terminal Service Publishing (T2SP) module and is discoverable by Entities in Charge of Maintenance (ECMs) that wish to make a reservation for wagon repair activities. Repair service reservation: a maintenance service booking mechanism allows the negotiation between the involved stakeholders to report wagon damages (by Railway Undertakers - RUs/ Multimodal Transport Operators - MTOs) as well as book repair services (by ECMs). Repair service scheduling: the assignment of the mobile repair unit is optimised according to the bookings of ECMs and the available time slots for repairs. Dynamic updating: the availability of the mobile repair unit as well as the status of the unit during a repair assignment (i.e. available, en route, busy, etc) is published via T2SP. Through the notification mechanisms provided by T2SP the subscribed stakeholders (e.g. ECMs) are notified of the present/ future availability of the mobile unit. B2B Integration is used to: a) connect to T2SP for publication / discovery of mobile repair services through Access Points; b) to facilitate the communication between stakeholders for repair services reservation through web services. Human to Machine interfaces (HMI) to support the functionality mentioned above. Benefits The benefits and the beneficiaries of the solution are: Terminal Operator (mobile repair equipment owner): for the owner of the equipment, the added value is the higher possible utilisation of the equipment. Better work organisation in a quicker manner, also communicating with the ECMs with standardized modules. Wagon Keepers: the damaged wagons will be repaired in less time and cost. This is a key factor since a damaged wagon leads to utilization losses. ECM: the mobile maintenance service will be available for the damaged wagons on the spot instead of carrying them to the workshop, thus saving maintenance costs. Furthermore, with using standardized communication it is possible to easily obtain a maintenance record and keep the related book constantly updated.

6 Demonstrator All tools and services presented are demonstrated in the BOLANO (BOlogna LA Spezia NApoli) demonstrator. The publishing of terminal services as well as their updates are exploited by the main terminals along the BOLANO corridor and the Proximity Network (i.e. Bologna Interporto, Parma Castelguelfo and Villaselva). On the other hand, Cargo Managers operating along various corridors will have the opportunity to discover the terminal services (associated with time, cost and CO2 performance) and getting updates for any services changes that might affect the transport planning and/or execution. A number of relevant players in the freight transport field (MTOs, RUs, etc.) are involved in the BOLANO activities. The Proximity Network terminals with their available connections are a test bed for several consolidation scenarios to be created replicating real life business cases; real and transnational transport chains are addressed. The strategic advantage of Interporto Bologna as the only terminal in Italy with a maintenance workshop also providing mobile services is the basis for the demonstration of mobile repair services sharing application. The sample of terminals such as Parma, Piacenza, Modena - where the mobile service is already offered - is the starting point for demonstrating this application.