Page 10 - Hafen Hamburg | Port of Hamburg Magazine 4.2022

■ THE DIGITAL TRANSFORMATION
Metrans and Railwatch at work on digital railcars
10 | Port of Hamburg Magazine | December 2022
thing is wrong. The digital twin supports the wagon
DIGITAL AND ROAD SHIPMENTS
RUN IN PARALLEL
master in his work. He is notified of any cases of
Digital twins also exist already for road freight traf- damage discovered, so that he can localize these
more rapidly. He then decides whether the wagon
fic. Cargo Support of Nuremberg, specializing in flexible digital solutions for freight transport, has needs to enter a workshop or can remain in service.
one software program in its portfolio capable of Railwatch stations stand along the route on private land,
without needing to have any link with infrastructure, i.e.,
processing all relevant data in real time. “We have developed a tour model that reflects the actual tracks. The equipment is erected within four hours and
transport and remains dynamic at all times,” ex- simply require an electric power connection,” he adds.
Railwatch uses the mobile radio standard 5G, this ena-
plains CEO Volker Hasch. The model presents the entire supply chain, from truck via rail to ship move- bles data captured to be rapidly transmitted for process-
ments, and covers customers and recipients along ing to the company’s own Cloud. The Pulsar is equipped
with a special camera and sensor
with the Customs. “Here the digital twin reflects the reality technology for the purpose. On
of all movements, he adds . commission, the company will
“We wanted to fully
also install its measuring stations
at the entrances to industrial
The reality needs to be individu- exploit the limits of
sites, seaport terminals or frontier
ally set up for every shipment what is possible,
crossings.
and can change during a tour
Last year, for example, Rail-
watch joined HHLA’s rail oper-
ator Metrans Rail Germany to
launch the ‘DigiTwin’ field test on digital backing for investigation into freight car technology. “This ‘Dig- iTwin’ enables us to push on with digital transition in railborne freight traffic,” explains project manag- er Frede. Under its ‘The Future of Railborne Freight Traffic’ program, the BMVI or Federal Ministry of Transport and Digital Infrastructure is providing funding of around 3.5 million euros. The experiment will continue until end-2023.
sure. If a ship arrives late, that also has repercussions for planned truck movements. “Then the movements clerk needs to react at extremely short notice,” says Hasch. The task of the digital twins is to monitor and check separate sections of the shipment. This is done by locating the load unit or truck, the train and ship, but also through truck drivers able to notify current status with the cargo support app.
“With even the slightest discrepancy, the digital
using a digital twin,”
whether because of provision for an additional stop or the need for a truck to take another route on account of a road clo-
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