History
of FOIS |
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Initially, the FOIS project
was sanctioned and included in the Northern
Railway Works Programme for 1983-84, at
an abstract cost of Rs 1,098 crore. Phase
I envisaged the all-India implementation
of core functionalities. This included
train and wagon movement control, including
the Empty Wagon Management and Locomotive
Control modules of the TRACS software,
bought from CN. The Yard and Terminal
Management System was to be developed
indigenously. The implementation of the
remaining modules was to follow in Phase
II. But the detailed estimate sanctioned
was only for implementation of Phase I
core modules, only on Northern Railway,
at a cost of Rs 267.20 crore. |
| After necessary modifications,
the TRACS-based system was subjected to
field trials by the Northern Railway and
CRIS. Successive attempts to customise
the TRACS software for the Indian Railways
operating practices failed, and a committee
of experts from IIT Delhi was set up to
do a technical study of various aspects
of FOIS and to suggest a future course
of action. The Committee recommended a
review to identify the best suited application
and systems architecture, to abandon the
TRACS system if necessary, by migrating
to state-of-the-art technology.
The Ministry of Railways'
accepted these recommendations in January
1998 and, based on an understanding between
the Ministry of Railways and the Department
of Electronics (DOE), CMC and CRIS were
directed to: |
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Draw
out an overall IT architecture and
an approach plan for the implementation
and modular growth of FOIS on the
Indian Railways. |
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Design, develop, and implement
prototype systems for rake and terminal
management functions on a test bed
to demonstrate its efficacy. |
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Conduct
a techno-economic study of TRACS in
the interim and formulate a detailed
strategy for implementation of a production
system for rake and terminal management
functions over a corridor. |
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| New
beginnings: The FOIS pilot |
CMC and CRIS drafted the overall architecture
based on the Railways organisation and
hierarchy, as well as its present and
future requirements. It relied on consultancy
from IBM on best practices abroad, and
inputs obtained from visits to foreign
railroads. The business model that emerged
was shared with the end users through
a series of interactions with the chief
operating managers and the Railway Board.
The feasibility study of
TRACS submitted by CMC in December1998
revealed that the technology was obsolete
and incompatible with present-day operating
systems and system software available,
even on an IBM platform. TRACS was neither
Y2K compatible, nor did it support integration
of revenue and an operational database.
This meant a major rewriting effort, which
was risky, time-consuming and expensive.
CMC and CRIS developed
a prototype of the Rake Management System
(RMS) module of FOIS and deployed it on
all the divisions of the Northern Railway.
It got a positive response from the users.
In the prototype, the basic functions
of freight operations were defined to
constitute capturing of demand; supply
of rakes and wagons; planning and controlling
movement; loading, unloading and accounting
of freight. The Rake Management System
(RMS) is the operating module and the
Terminal Management System (TMS) is the
commercial module.
Phase I of FOIS addresses rake and train
movement, locomotive movement and yard
management. Phase II extends the functions
of Phase I to include individual wagons.
Together, the two phases constitute the
RMS or operating portion. Phase III introduces
Terminal Management or the commercial
portion. Benefits from these two modules
can accrue only when an end-to-end sharing
of information is achieved. It was therefore,
imperative to spread them quickly over
the entire Railway network, instead of
confining them to a limited corridor. |
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| The
Business Model |
The current business practice of bulk
movement in rake formations is the accepted
norm even for the future. Around 80 to
85 per cent of traffic already moves in
trainloads, the majority of which comprise
rakes of a similar type of rolling stock.
A global perception
in real time is required more for tracking
of consignments and rakes rather than
individual wagons, locomotives and trains.
The pipeline of consignments and rakes
should be seamlessly available. Information
on booking and movement of consignments
need to be shared with individual customers. |
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Operations
and data capturing remain control-centric
for rake, locomotives and stock management,
and terminal-centric for booking,
loading, unloading and delivery. |
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Operations and commercial data
must be integrated. |
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Operations
and commercial functions covered by
RMS/TMS are global, and must be implemented
on an end-to-end basis to be effective. |
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Implementation
should start from control offices,
where computer awareness is of a higher
order, instead of from a large number
of stations over a limited corridor. |
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This
approach will yield benefits from
the very first phase, during which
train/load reporting is done on a
load summary/rake basis from control
offices. Stock is taken in terms of
wagon types and indents are captured
as demands for rake movement instead
of individual forwarding notes. |
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Items of global utility, pipeline
and insight for terminals are made
available across the Railways network,
to manage, control and adjust traffic
flows. |
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The
implementation can be extended for
wagon-based reporting, covering one
corridor after another on a need basis
driven by the Railways itself. The
consist is captured at the point of
origin, as soon as the invoicing is
done for a rake The initiative to
add more reporting infrastructure
comes from the user. |
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| FOIS:
In operation, today |
| At present, FOIS comprises the Rake Management
System (RMS) and the Terminal Management
System (TMS). Over 1,400 reporting devices
have been commissioned at 350 locations
around the country. TMS is functional
at 159 locations and this number is expected
to grow to 300 by the end of the current
year. |
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| Systems
architecture |
The design conforms to the state-of-the-art
client-server technology, using middleware
and a relational database management system
(RDBMS) on an open platform, making it
highly scalable to meet growing requirements.
Data from control offices, yards, goods-sheds,
etc, is captured through intelligent terminals
and sent to the CRIS computer centre through
reliable communication links for transaction
processing. Application servers at the
centre are networked and linked to a central
database for global level transactions.
The central database provides management
reports, both at the Board and Zonal levels
and acts as the repository of all current
and historical data. The application is
interface-ready for web-based services
like connectivity to customers, a payment
gateway interface and flexible information
to both internal and external users.
The FOIS network plan utilises
the available terrestrial network of the
Indian Railways wherever it has been upgraded
and is fit for data transmission. Where
it is lacking, telecommunication services
are hired from other agencies. The FOIS
network plan includes a judicious mix
of Railways telecom systems, DoT and a
satellite network to ensure reliability. |
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| Operational
functionality |
| The system in use performs the following
functions online: |
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Live
monitoring of all freight trains,
giving their current position (in
the area which is computerised) and
their expected time of arrival at
the destination. |
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Commodity-wise flow of freight
trains for customers like power houses,
refineries, fertiliser and cement
plants, steel depots and public freight
terminals, enabling the recipients
of consignments to get an accurate
forecast of cargo arrivals, and giving
them adequate time to complete preparatory
arrangement to handle the cargo. |
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·Monitoring
of outbound loaded rakes in the same
manner. |
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Monitoring of detachments from block
rakes, to track wagons being detached
at a location or missing. |
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·Analysis
of total demand for rail transport
and its logical matching with incoming
rakes, to optimise the supply of empty
rakes for loading. |
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The
system generates as many as 1200 managerial
reports |
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| Tangible
benefits |
There has been a visible reduction in
the anxiety levels and mental stress among
operating staff. The voluminous and repetitive
exchange of data on telephones round the
clock has now been replaced by a minimum
data input. The improved work environment
has significantly simplified planning
and execution of assigned tasks.
The Northern Railway and
Western Railway use the system to club
less-than-trainload consignments into
a trainload. This has helped them earn
additional revenue, and earned them praise
from the trade. Bulk customers like the
Food Corporation of India (FCI) and the
Indian Farmers' Fertiliser Co-operative
Ltd (IFFCO) are being informed by Email
about the status of their consignments
regularly and have shown their appreciation
of the service. This is a clear indication
that the anticipated benefits from FOIS
have already begun to accrue.
With FOIS, the Indian
Railways has begun an endeavour to provide
its bulk customers with complete supply
chain management services, taking care
of the critical requirements of the nation
like oil, coal, steel, cement, foodgrains,
etc. It is a framework to integrate rail
freight movement with the customers' supply
chain systems.
This joint approach was an innovation
in itself, a first of its kind in the
Indian Industry. Textbook recommendations
were translated into action based on the
actual field conditions, and a mission-critical
application deployed, with interdependencies
on transactions taking place at diverse
geographical locations. |
| The key factors of its
success were: |
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A
total commitment from the top management
of the Railways, from the Railway
Ministry to the field. |
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A well-researched and properly
defined customer focus. |
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Innovative
change management, with a clear view
of the Railways business model. |
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User involvement from the conception/design
stage, resulting in user ownership. |
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| The project was initially
envisaged at a cost of Rs 1,098 crore,
and an imported solution was to be implemented.
Today, it has actually been commissioned
using a totally indigenous solution, at
a fraction of the envisaged cost (the
expenditure incurred is approximately
Rs 250 crore). This underlines the success
of the venture |
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