May 11, 2020 [Bulk Transporter] – Tank storage terminal operator Evos has begun using a digital connection to the Hamburg Port Authority (HPA) in Germany to improve rail tankcar management.

Via a new interface to a cloud communication service, the tank terminal and the HPA now exchange train data fully automatically. Manual data entry and transfer by employees are no longer necessary. The solution was developed and implemented by Implico, a specialist for tank terminal software solutions.

Every year, thousands of railcars are handled at the Evos terminal in the port of Hamburg. These ensure the rail-based supply of various hydrocarbon products from different refineries and terminals.

Until now, an incoming freight train meant a lot of manual work for the Evos team: The employees had to record each arriving railcar by hand, including the associated master data. Based on this information, they generated the required unloading order. This process was both time-consuming and error-prone. Now that the HPA and the terminal management system OpenTAS “Blue Edition” used by Evos are connected, the terminal operators receive all information about incoming freight trains in advance. The data is imported into the system via an interface and the unloading order is generated automatically.

To further digitalize the remaining safety check of the railcars, Evos has planned the introduction of additional mobile devices. These handhelds will be integrated into the terminal management system. They allow the terminal crew to check the railcars directly and digitally–from the master data to the sequence of the wagons to the visual security inspection via checklist.

This increases safety as the employees cannot overlook anything. In addition, the use of handhelds eliminates redundant tasks and supports the field staff optimally with state-of-the-art technology. Consequently, it makes the process much more efficient.

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