The described implementation was carried out at PKN ORLEN in Płock and across the country in one of the largest entities in the refining and petrochemical segment in Europe The main objective of the project was to be able to identify in real time the rolling stock belonging to both PKN ORLEN and external companies. The project also included improvements in the area of rolling stock formation and transfer, identification and tracking of own locomotives. The implementation used a rail tank car localization system made on the basis of UHF RFID technology. Preparation of the concept and design negotiations took about two years, and the pure implementation work, related to design, testing and launch of the production phase, took about 1.5 years. A prerequisite for fulfilling the concept was the construction of a network that would allow the identification and tracking of rolling stock. To this end, 101 RFID gates have been installed across the country and about 200 RFID cards have been issued. In addition, employees were equipped with 64 mobile RFID readers allowing them to read data from RFID tags. The whole thing was networked, with nearly 5 km of cables. In order for the localization system to work, each wagon was identified with two RFID tags (a total of about 11,000 were used, including those for identifying locomotives). GS1 identification numbers, i.e. GCP (Global Company Prefix) and EVN (European Vehicle Number), were used to identify the tank cars in the radio tags. The information encoded in the radio tags, is read both by gates permanently mounted at the track, as well as by personnel equipped with mobile readers. An identification solution prepared in this way provides an additional benefit. It guarantees that the data stored in the tag will be read correctly by all railroad operators in Europe. An additional benefit of using the RFID network is the ability to identify rolling stock located on a railroad siding, along with the possibility of obtaining information on current statuses according to the division into: tank car empty, loaded, out of service. Real-time access to the data, has made it possible to carry out delivery planning and on-time delivery tasks more efficiently. Both processes related to transportation and loading of fuel into the tanker have been streamlined.
The solution prepared by HADATAP was prepared in accordance with the following standards:
Such a solution, on the one hand, is compliance with EU recommendations for the identification of wagons and unification of the transport network. On the other hand, a guarantee of compliance with the international open standard GS1. In summary, the innovative technology used in the implementation as well as the transparency achieved thanks to it in the implementation of processes taking place at the fuel terminal, increased the competitiveness of the company and brought improvements in the following areas, among others:
In addition, the results of the pilot project showed that paper handling activities were significantly reduced. The electronification of some of them allowed more efficient management in the area of periodic examinations of rolling stock. Better monitoring and the ability to react faster (preventive actions), resulted in a decrease in the number of rolling stock repairs. The implementation used is scalable and flexible, thus allowing to cover internal rail logistics in Poland and guaranteeing interoperability with IT systems of companies cooperating with PKN ORLEN. The result of the pilot implementation has been transferred to 16 locations, and system integration with contractors is also expected. In addition, work has been completed on integration with scales and automation of the process related to the detection of flat spots in the rolling part of the wheel.
