Strategic Consulting Services
Canadian National Railway
ALK Technologies, Inc. developed the first version of the Motive Power System (MPS) for Canadian National Railway in 1991 and has provided software enhancements on an on-going basis, the most recent being completed in 1998. One of the first client-server systems in the transportation industry, MPS was also the first transportation management system to offer advanced visual computing workstations, providing CN managers with a representation of the operation in real time, helping to achieve maximum control and accuracy.
MPS utilizes "push technology" to automatically update end user screens every second around the clock, showing the real-time location, current usage, mechanical condition, and future availability of locomotives across the entire railroad. The system helps power managers optimally deploy the CN locomotive fleet from a central location, displaying operating characteristics such as horsepower and load capacity. It also provides decision support for the type of locomotive assigned to each train and indicates if the appropriate amount of motive power has been provided. Once locomotive-to-train assignments have been completed by systems managers and distributed to the field, they become the work schedules for future operation activities.
Railroads often trade locomotive equipment on an as-needed basis, and MPS accounts for any borrowed or owed "horsepower-hours." It also tracks the locations of EOTs (end of train devices).
MPS doubled the productivity of motive power distributors and helped CN absorb the Grand Trunk without adding additional personnel, thanks to increased productivity and efficiency.
- Hardware: SGI Indy workstations & SGO Origin 200 server
- Operating System: IRIX 6.2/ IRIX 6.0
- Language: C
- Database: INFORMIX
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