CASE STUDY
New York Air Brake Optimizes Operations,
Helps Customers Save Billions
Industry
• Transportation
Splunk Use Cases
• Internet of Things (IoT)
Executive summary
New York Air Brake (NYAB), a Knorr-Bremse company, is a leading
• Business analytics
• IT operations
supplier to the railroad industry of braking systems and components,
Challenges
training simulators and train control systems. NYAB division Train
• Make sense of growing streams of
unstructured data
Dynamic Systems (TDS) is considered the industry expert in train
dynamics, train control and training simulators. TDS customers needed
a way to make sense of growing amounts of unstructured data
generated by onboard and back office systems. Since deploying Splunk
Enterprise, TDS has seen many benefits, including:
• Provide real-time reporting on train
performance
• Create greater value and tighter integration
between onboard and back office systems
• Gain new insight into driver behavior
• New value-added revenue-generating services
Business Impact
• Real-time insight into train, operator and system performance
• Improved customer operations by mining
large volumes of unstructured data
• Improved customer operations
Why Splunk
While railroads are considered the most efficient form of freight
transport, reduced fuel consumption is still a primary objective. NYAB’s
TDS division is helping many of the world’s top railroads achieve billions
of dollars in savings on fuel and other operational metrics with its
LEADER (Locomotive Engineer Assist/Display & Event Recorder) train
• Moved from monthly batch analysis to
flexible real-time reporting
• Delivered value-added services
• Minimized in-train forces
• Optimized operational efficiency
• Extracted and leveraged new insight from
multiple train simulations
management system. The system uses data from onboard train systems
Data Sources
to help railroads achieve ‘golden runs’ where fuel economy, in-train
• Onboard sensors on couplers, brakes and
other components
forces and schedule compliance are optimized.
• GPS location and track topology
TDS continually works to provide LEADER users with even greater
• Onboard Positive Train Control (PTC) platform
value and tighter integration. The system must be able to make sense
• Computer-controlled braking systems
of a growing stream of mostly unstructured data. Train engineers need
real-time information and railroad managers need snapshots as well as
long-term analysis.
TDS evaluated a number of different analytical platforms before
deploying Splunk Enterprise. According to Greg Hrebek, director of
engineering, TDS, “With Splunk, we have the ability to add any type
of additional data without having to redesign our systems. Customers
frequently send us new types of information and with Splunk we don’t
need to rebuild anything. We just start piping data in and consuming it
in any way we need.”
• Consist database (train characteristics)
Splunk Products
• Splunk Enterprise
• DataFlare™ (Splunkbase application)
CASE STUDY
Real-time reporting leads to value-added
services
“Railroads used to rely solely on industry standards
and engineer experience. Thanks to Splunk, our
systems allow our customers to provide engineers
with real-time feedback and use operational insight
to achieve optimal runs every time.”
Before Splunk, TDS spent hours using Excel
spreadsheets to prepare monthly reports for
customers on system performance and resource
utilization. If a customer requested a unique report,
Greg Hrebek, Director of Engineering
it would take up to five hours to prepare. In addition,
Train Dynamic Systems (a division of NYAB)
most analyses ran in batch mode, with almost no
online or dynamic interactivity.
TDS engineers use Splunk to index unstructured train
TDS now uses Splunk Enterprise and the DataFlare™
data collected by the LEADER systems and turn it
Splunk app to provide real-time dashboards
into meaningful Operational Intelligence for real-time
correlating information on fuel efficiency, time-
alerting, analysis and long-term trending. Data flow is
to-destination, in-train force reduction and driver
expected to rise dramatically with the government-
compliance with overall savings and other business
mandated installation of Positive Train Control
objectives. This new capability is now mission critical
for TDS customers.
systems. “Splunk plays an important role in helping us
These advanced visualizations have led to value-
growing range of data sources,” notes Hrebek.
and our customers extract critical intelligence from a
added services and a source of additional revenue
for the company. The LEADER system enables
The track ahead for TDS and Splunk
customers to consider a vast number of variables and
Splunk Enterprise and the DataFlare app are already
operational adjustments, such as the impact on fuel
providing TDS and its customers with the ability to
consumption if a coal train arrives a half hour later
gain new efficiencies and operational insight. TDS is
than expected. Says Hrebek, “We are using Splunk
also beginning to use Splunk software to incorporate
Enterprise to help customers sort out the many ‘what
new types of sensors being deployed on locomotives
ifs’ and they are willing to pay for that service.”
and train cars. Hrebek concludes, “We expect the
Real-time operational insight helps achieve
‘golden runs’
A freight train is like a 20,000 ton Slinky, can be as
number of sensors on trains to grow ten-fold in the
coming years as railroads work to achieve greater
efficiency. Splunk gives us the flexibility to handle any
data our customers may send us, and the confidence
long as 1.5 miles and have up to 400 feet of slack. If
to know we’ll be able to provide them with
precise control is not maintained, particularly over
meaningful insights.”
hilly terrain, this free movement can lead to severe
in-train forces that can lead to inefficient operation,
premature wear and even decoupling.
TDS LEADER is tightly integrated with the locomotive’s
on-board electronics and uses data acquisition to
determine status, location, speed, in-train forces and
many other metrics. The system provides engineers
with real-time information and coaching.
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