PJM is the winner of the prestigious ERCI Innovation Award! PJ Monitoring GmbH was awarded “Best SME” on 26 October in Lille, France. The renowned award is presented by the European Railway Clusters Initiative (ERCI), which unites 16 railway clusters from 17 European countries. The prize is awarded by a European jury of independent railway experts from industry, research and public institutions. The decisive factor for the jury was the development of a digital overall system realizing the concept of intelligent freight wagons. The so-called WaggonTracker system is the first and only system worldwide that fulfils comprehensive monitoring functions and automates complex manual processes. "The ERCI award means a lot to us. We regard innovations and new technologies as problem solvers. Rail freight transport in particular has great potential for further development. Innovations are urgently needed to push freight transport on environmentally friendly rail and we have the digital know-how to do so. We are very pleased that European railway experts are awarding our innovative technologies!", say Martin Joch and Günter Petschnig, the two founders and CEO of PJM.

Strong Styrian railway industry

The submission for the renowned ERCI Award was organised by the mobility cluster ACstyria. "The ERCI Innovation Award is most significant prize of the European railway industry. It is awarded to companies that have successfully brought innovative products or solutions to the market. We are very proud that PJM won the category 'Best SME' in Styria. PJM has developed in only 15 years ago from a spin-off of Graz University of Technology to a stable SME. This shows, that research institutions and industry perfectly cooperate in Styria. We know how to get innovations on track," says Christa Zengerer, Managing Director of the Styrian mobility cluster. “ACstyria partner companies are not only world market leaders for bogies and tracks, but also experts in sensor and measurement technology. Due to over 50 companies and about 3.000 employees ranging from global corporations to highly specialised niche suppliers, Styria is a European centre for the railway industry.”

Award-winning WaggonTracker technology

PJM has already received several awards for the WaggonTracker, including the Austrian Mobility Award 2020, the German Innovation Award Winner 2020 and the Fast Forward Award 2019.