Automotive Data Warehouse

Over the past decade, railroad automotive groups have made significant investments in technology to improve the tracking of vehicles en-route to the retail dealer. In order to expand the customer base and raise customer expectations, railroads are seeking to track shipments on a per-vehicle basis. The visibility of data at the Vehicle Identification Number (VIN) level corresponds with plans to support used car shipments and co-loading of vehicles belonging to multiple auto manufacturers.

The key components in HCL’s ADW solution allow its rail client to maintain details on every VIN’s end-to-end movement for routing analysis and improved shipment tracking by customer. It records and maintains billing details that allows management (of contract provisions with the carrier’s automotive and multi-level fleet customers), cost analysis execution, asset utilization effectiveness while continuing to meet customer demand, analysis of damage/ compile occurrences and liabilities to optimize ramp locations, and accord comparison and analysis of actual rail car volume to budget and forecast estimates.

Solution Highlights

• Greater visibility within the automotive distribution network down to the VIN number of the automobile via RFID readers and tags on autos (new and used) at loading and unloading ramps
• Greater asset utilization (specialized and restricted usage rail transport cars) by the railroads
• Optimized relocation of railhead car - loading and delivery (final destination) facilities of Autoramp sites whether owned by the rail carrier or by a third party vendor