GRAMPET Group – Grup Feroviar Roman (GFR) is developing innovative and digital solutions as is currently working on 18 new apps besides the already deployed 20 IT solutions to answer new transport trends accelerated by the Coronavirus pandemic.
“Competitiveness in a company is today closely linked to its level of digitalisation, and this year’s health and economic crisis has once again confirmed it. This is what we anticipated from the beginning, as we have constantly been investing time and resources into the development of innovative solutions to optimize our business,” Gruia Stoica, the President and founder of the GRAMPET Group said.
Next year, GFR plans to launch an application that collects real time data from most existing applications (information about trains, wagons, locomotives, train service staff, traffic schedule, etc.), and provides decision makers with general information and the option to focus on details regarding the ongoing and planned operation process.
At the same time, all major players in the oil products industry are currently using the Electronic Consignment Note, which has replaced approximately 90% of GFR’s hardcopy transport contracts by moving online the entire activity performed for partners and customers, such as online editing, management and tracking.
GFR manages more than 7,000 transports each month and issues the same number of consignment notes, over 2,800 from the total number being issued locally. In the traditional paper-format version, the issuing of consignment notes used significant resources (12 pages printed for each shipment, manual filling in of forms printed on atypical printers, which required higher costs than normal printers). Transferring these operations into a computer-based system has greatly reduced the environmental impact, but also the risk of human errors and delays.
From July to September, the company has tested the Perform.Expert IT solution “based on a new performance indicator for the Operations department, which is measured in real time and updated every five minutes (Daily Operational Routes), using the network-wide rail traffic data transmitted by CFR SA,” Amedeo Neculcea, the deputy general manager at Grup Feroviar Roman explains. During the trial, the commercial speed of transported commodities increased by 15%. Moreover, “this September the company overpassed the speed record for the past 10 years, since we have this type of data available),” Neculcea said.
In addition to the solutions developed for the railway freight transport activity, the GRAMPET Group has a strategic objective to increase the digitalisation rate at organisational level, in all its activity areas. Currently, the group is carrying out an extensive process of analysis and internal diagnosis to identify other areas of activity that can be streamlined through digitalisation, robotisation and artificial intelligence solutions. The team of specialists is working on solutions adapted to prevent cyber security breaches, a growing threat in recent years.
Two years ago, Grup Feroviar Român has developed and launched the Shunting Expert application which is currently used or is under implementation by all major refineries in Romania. However, the growing shortage of qualified staff as well as the health crisis have slowed down the implementation process of this new technology. The app provides a real time data system for monitoring and controlling the geographical position of wagons operated on huge refinery-specific infrastructures, as well as their commercial and technical status.
The application facilitates and helps the coordinator handling operations to make the most appropriate decisions. Data accuracy generates important operational benefits, improving decision-making processes and use of resources, while also compensating for staff shortages whenever necessary.
The operator is also using the Command of Train Service Personnel (CPDT) application, which is an excellent tool to ensure adequate operational human resources needed for the uninterrupted movement of trains. This application is almost 10 years old and it also serves as a training platform for young engineers who have the opportunity to practice train scheduling, network geography and decision-making.
For the development of the innovative and digital solutions, the Institute of Computing Technology (ITC), part of the GRAMPET Group since 2008, has an important contribution.
Share on:
