Swiss firm Nexxiot is helping consultancy Rail Systems Australia (RSA) bring digitalisation and asset intelligence to rail freight.

Australian industries such as mining, manufacturing and agriculture rely on a robust rail network with high reliability and efficiency. Rail freight is estimated to contribute around $6bn to the Australian economy annually and employs more than 20,000 workers.

In a country where inland environmental conditions are harsh, and rail infrastructure is often remote, it’s important to increase fleet availability. Rail operators aim to reduce bottlenecks and avoid breakdowns or derailments that cause unacceptable downtime and customer losses.

Nexxiot technology enables the monitoring of operations including railcar maintenance and fleet use while providing services for shippers and cargo owners. Nexxiot has equipped the fleets of major rail operators in Europe and the USA, where clients are already deriving value from reliable data and analytics.

Nexxiot’s combination of IoT hardware, software and AI powered services help rail operators increase fleet availability and provide visibility to stakeholders. The goal is to reduce operating costs and increase service quality for more efficient, sustainable, safe and compliant transportation of freight.

The Atex-certified Globehopper gateway lets operators access location and other essential parameters. For example, it reports total mileage combined with impact events incurred during transportation. In addition, other services can be expanded by adding sensors to address more use cases. The Vector sensor monitors the status of hatches, doors and handbrakes. The temperature sensor reports the temperature of sensitive cargo such as petrochemicals in tank railcars, and the Loadtracker monitors the load status of the railcar and detects loading events.

“There are vital rail links in Australia that are vulnerable to disruption and delays,” said Nexxiot CEO Stefan Kalmund. “Costs can quickly spiral into the millions, especially around mining operations. The safety of both railcars and goods improve as knowledge increases about the rolling stock. Nexxiot addresses use cases in fleet availability, deployment, maintenance, security, safety and cargo handling. It is our goal to remove uncertainty from the global supply chain. The partnership with RSA accelerates this by delivering new data and value to the Australian market.”

RSA CEO Tom Warner added: “We are determined to offer our clients the very best innovations from around the world. We have been looking for the right partner for rail asset digitalisation for some time. We believe Nexxiot offers the most trusted, interoperable and future-proof technology to reduce risk for rail operators and shippers. It helps them to control costs and enable safer operations.”

RSA is an Australian rail consultancy providing the rail industry with engineering services for signalling, communications and asset management. From concept to maintenance, RSA is a systems integrator of technology change, providing rail operators and their partners with advice. It operates four offices across Australia with headquarters in Perth.

Nexxiot provides real-time asset intelligence for railcars and shipping containers through its hardware, software and analytics. The technology automatically detects location, shocks, movements, modalities, border crossings and more. Users can monitor the condition of an asset, automate business processes and provide services to stakeholders.

Nexxiot has one of the largest device fleets installed globally, with more than a million assets equipped for clients, including Hapag-Lloyd, Knorr-Bremse, VTG, Ermewa, Deutsche Bahn, SBB and Railpulse. Headquartered in Zurich, Switzerland, Nexxiot has more than 150 engineers and experts, serving clients from its offices in Germany, Sweden and North America.