General - Page 6

European Award: PJM is winner of the ERCI Innovation Award

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.

Shift2Rail: Technologies for sustainable and attractive rail freight cargo in Europe

PJM is one of 14 Austrian enterprises and research institutions pushing technology and further development of a sustainable and attractive rail freight. In this big initiative, PJM‘s know-how is crucial:

The so-called core market wagon is a “high-tech-train” equipped with digital technologies. PJM’s sensor technology will be on board, too.
In autumn 2021, a train of the “Styrian Regional Train” will be equipped with comprehensive monitoring functionalities. The focus will be condition based maintenance. AC2T will be in charge of lubricants monitoring, PJM will be responsible for measurement technology, wagon integration and power supply.

Shift2Rail is a public-private-partnership of the European Union and the European railway sector. The aim of the research and innovation undertaking is to ensure and strengthen the competitiveness of the European railway industry and to support achieving the shift to rail road traffic which is defined in the white paper of transport and traffic. For this undertaking, 920 million Euros in a period or six months are at disposal, from which 450 million Euros coming from Horizon 2020 which is the EU-programme for research and innovation. Another 470 million Euros come from the founding members and associated members. Companies and research institution of Austria are represented by three associated members, among them the VVAC+ („Virtual Vehicle Austria Consortium+“) with 12 Austrian and one Slovak partner and the das EUROC („EUropean Rail Operating community Consortium“).

General / Waggon Tracker - 09/22/2021

Live in Berlin: We present novelties at the Railway Forum

The railway industry meets again "live" at the Berlin Railway Forum. Mobility know-how "Made in Styria" also will be presented at the first-class industry event. We are looking forward to your visit at the joint booth of AC Styria!

The major headlines of the industry meeting are, among others, the development of the railroad system, digitalization & automation as well as sustainability. We are the innovation leader in all of these topics: our digital overall system WaggonTracker, which makes SGV more attractive, better and faster, our technical solution of automated brake testing and our system for automated load monitoring. In measurement technology, too, we are constantly coming up with new solutions and technologies, such as our autonomous measurement system.

General - 09/01/2021

New loading scheme: 25 % more transportation capacity

As an overall logistics provider, Innofreight develops innovative solutions and thus optimises rail freight transport. One of the latest innovations is the further development of the double wagon IW 90 ft Gigawood to transport log wood and timber. In order to realise new rail freight concepts, Innofreight counts on the engineering and testing expertise of PJM.

Due to the adapted loading scheme of the vehicle, the carrying capacity was increased by 25 %. Thus, more capacity also results in more competitiveness to shift goods traffic from road to rail.

General - 08/26/2021

Completed: 500+ wagons of Mercer & TRANSWAGGON equipped with automated load monitoring system

“The capacity has increased many times over. Another big benefit is that the loading staff sees at once if the wagon is overloaded”, says Lothar Krebs, Deputy Sales Director of TRANSWAGGON in Hamburg when he is talking about the automated load monitoring system of PJM. Recently, the last of 512 wagons in total was equipped with the automated system. The wagons are in use by Mercer Holz which is one of the largest purchasers in Europe. More than 3.5 million tons of logs, chips and lumber are transported by rail every year.

Wood can have weight differences of up to 50% due to differences in density and moisture content which is a big uncertainty factor in loading the wagons. “We need reliable, stable monitoring of the loading process to protect against overlading of the wagons”, explains Jürgen Köhler, Division Manager for Rail and Ship Logistics at Mercer Holz. The load monitoring system meets all these demands: The system analyses the load and the load distribution during the loading process. Signal lamp indicate as soon as the maximum load capacity is reached. Further benefits: real-time, precise and reliable data transfer and lists of train composition are provided per app, scan, NFC or manual input. “Mercer Holz pushes efficiency exemplarily and its wagon capacity is very high”, says PJM CEO Günter Petschnig. “By increasing the system efficiency and its safety significantly, the automated load monitoring system ensures a quick ROI.”

More information on the load monitoring system and its benefits:

https://pjm.co.at/en/waggontracker/

Credit: TRANSWAGGON

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General / Waggon Tracker - 05/04/2021

Merry Christmas & a Happy News Year!

Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays & a Healthy and Great 2021!

General - 12/17/2020

A short video portrait of the WaggonTracker system provided by Houska Award 2020

All crucial features on our WaggonTracker system are shown in a less-than-2-minutes-video. The film crew of the Houska Award 2020 has packed the technology of our digital overall system in a "how to explain the WaggonTracker assets video" (in German language).

The WaggonTracker system was nominated the renowned Houska Award 2020 and thus among the best five Austrian research projects.

Credit: With courtesy of houskapreis.at

General / Waggon Tracker - 10/01/2020

Around the world: Successful projects in over 30 countries

From Graz into the whole world. PJM had realized test rides and tests for approval in more than 30 countries. Among them: the subway in Chicago and Oslo, the tube in London, the suburban rail in Berlin and the Indian Railway in Hyderabad, the passenger train in Canada and the Brightline in Florida. Customers all over the world appreciate the know-how and experience of PJM. Our team is familiar with country-specific regulations. Our global experience is the basis to plan and organise our projects in an efficient way. For our customers, we travel around the world – even if takes longer than 80 days.

General - 08/13/2020

Key player: The automatic brake test in the one-person-operated-train

10 minutes instead of 40: This crucial time saving is no longer just a future vision but reality. The automatic brake test has been in operation on rail freight trains by SBB Cargo. By the end of the tests, 1 million km will have been run. Regarding the development of the automatic brake test, crucial know-how comes from PJM. Get more about the status quo of the “one-person-operated-train” by SBB Cargo and the automatic brake test developed by SBB Cargo, PJM and Rail Cargo Austria in the latest issue of the German special interest magazine PJM.

https://pjm.co.at/en/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2020/07/PriMa_ABP_SBBC0720.pdf

General - 07/21/2020

Engineering expertise for developing new rail freight wagons

Developing new types of rail freight wagons requires a high level of engineering know-how. The basic concept of a rail freight wagon is maximum load capacity as well as a low tare weight with a maximumg safety level. Exactly these requirements are in the focus in developing a new 60ft rail freight car ordered by innofreight, the Austrian specialist for innovative systems of rail freight transport. Due to our highly experienced engineering team, PJM was the first choice: Our profound metrological know-how ensured a perfect link-up to the ral product during the whole delelopment process.

Learn more on our wide range of engineering: https://pjm.co.at/en/engineering/

General - 04/16/2020