RFID-automation of accounting and maintenance of material and technical resources of the South Ural Railway

CJSC “OСV” (Subsidiary Dependent Company of JSC Russian Railways), implements a comprehensive project for the automation of accounting for railway telecommunication equipment of the Chelyabinsk regional communication center based on modern marking technologies.

The Chelyabinsk Regional Communication Center is a structural unit of the Central Communication Station, operating in the region of the South Ural Railway, and is engaged in the maintenance of railway telecommunication equipment.

In order to control the movement of equipment, the quality of service facilities and preparation for the accumulation of data for the transition to electronic document management, the Chelyabinsk Regional Communications Center decided to introduce RFID technology.

At the stage of the pilot project, which was launched in 2013, the specialists of RST-Invent LLC and OСV CJSC managed to work out the tasks of automating the accounting process and actually tracking the entire operational cycle of technical resources of the South Ural Railway.

RFID system: principle of operation

All objects subject to accounting, starting with vehicles and ending with working tools, are marked with RFID tags. The variety of items required the use of several types of tags in the project.

So, for large objects (motor vehicles, laboratory car, etc.), packaged PatchTag RFID tags were used, which provide a large registration distance. For marking working tools, as well as stationary and portable equipment – small-sized labels of foreign manufacturers.

With the help of stationary RFID readers, the equipment brought in / taken out to the service center is recorded, its delivery and receipt is recorded at the warehouse, and the maintenance and repair operations are recorded in the control and repair center (CRC).

To perform on-site maintenance, fixing parameter measurements and checking equipment operability, the CRC engineers use mobile RFID readers connected to the PORC GSM wireless network. The task to the engineer goes directly to the mobile reader. When leaving for the object, the specialist reads the RFID tag of the object to be repaired, and then, upon completion of the task, sends data with the result of the work to the Center’s accounting system, where they are recorded with the exact coordinates of the serviced object.

The implementation of the RFID system has proven its effectiveness by allowing specialists of the Chelyabinsk regional communication center to significantly reduce the time taken to account for available equipment, minimize the human factor in obtaining and processing information, and quickly monitor the degree of wear of equipment and facilities of the South Ural Railway.