Rail Supply, Technology and IT

Implementation of Project i-TRACE under two months away

The Project i-TRACE team is ramping up industry engagement in the final weeks of the year, ahead of the implementation of GS1 standards in 2019.

Project i-TRACE is a joint campaign by the Australasian Railway Association and not-for-profit multinational GS1, to standardise the capture of data across the rail industry, with the view to
improve efficiency, lower costs, and deliver better customer service.

Since it was founded to administer the barcode in 1974, GS1 has developed and maintained a range of symbols and systems aimed at improving the efficiency, safety and visibility of supply chains across both physical and digital channels.

The GS1 Australia rail team will be in Canberra at AusRAIL 2018 to talk about Project i-TRACE and how the implementation of GS1 standards in 2019 will improve asset management in the rail sector.

GS1 has been working closely with the ARA and its board members to communicate to the industry the importance of Project i-TRACE.

AusRAIL delegates will hear from GS1 Australia’s Senior Manager – Freight Logistics and Industrial Sectors, Bonnie Ryan. Ryan will take part in a panel on smart rail on day two of the event, to discuss technologies of the future alongside rail operation and research experts.

As the program move towards implementation in 2019 GS1 expects a pick up in pace.

“Engagement is strong,” Ryan told Rail Express ahead of AusRAIL. “Key suppliers like Siemens, Vossloh, Pandrol, OneSteel and Thermit have started their implementation journeys.”

At a recent Project i-TRACE supplier workshop in Melbourne, Infrastructure Procurement and Inventory Manager from Metro Trains Melbourne, Adam Morley, said “MTM sees these standards and the project as a great benefit for the industry. It will allow us to have a greater control around the quality of the materials that we are using in our network, ensure safety through tracebility of materials based on the barcoding and build stronger partnerships with our industry suppliers.”

At the same workshop, V/Line Inventory Manager Ramesh Reddy said: “In the last two years, we started to look at the types of standards to bring across. GS1 labelling and barcoding is now used to scan and see what sort of product it is.

“We are looking for standardised information from our suppliers so we can trace products from inventory through the network.”

ARA Chief Executive Danny Broad said improvements on how the rail industry traces and tracks assets through their lifecycles is critical to unlocking efficiency and safety improvement, saying: “This is why the Australasian Railway Association is working closely with GS1 Australia to standardise how materials are identified in the value chain through Project i-TRACE.”

For more information about Project i-TRACE, contact Bonnie Ryan, Senior Manager – Trade, Transport & Heavy Industry, GS1 Australia at bonnie.ryan (at) gs1au.org, or Duncan Sheppard, General Manager – Freight & Industry Programs, Australasian Railway Association (ARA) at dsheppard (at) ara.net.au.