KONUX, Miller Ingenuity Receive REMSA 2023 Innovation Award
Written by Carolina Worrell, Senior Editor
The Railway Engineering-Maintenance Suppliers Association (REMSA) has named KONUX a 2023 Innovation Award Winner in the Technology Category for its Switch predictive maintenance system; Miller Ingenuity has also been named a winner in the Product Category for its ZoneGuard Yard Protection System.
According to the company’s website, KONUX Switch is an end-to-end predictive predictive maintenance system that helps infrastructure managers “improve network availability, prolong asset lifetime, and empower their employees to make maintenance more efficient.”
The system uses IIoT (Industrial Internet of Things) devices and AI (Artificial Intelligence) to improve network capacity, extend asset lifetime and reduce costs. It continuously monitors and analyzes the health of key switch components, such as the trackbed, frog and point machine, and provides actionable recommendations. The system, KONUX says, ultimately allows for better maintenance planning by helping infrastructure managers anticipate failures before they happen and know the optimal time and type of maintenance needed.
Miller Ingenuity’s ZoneGuard Yard Protection System “works as a secondary warning device to help prevent common human error factors that contribute to close calls and tragic accidents for transit and freight workers, such as fatigue, distractions, miscommunication, inexperience, or complacency,” according to the company’s website.
According to Miller Ingenuity, ZoneGuard’s “patented multiple and diverse sensor technologies set it apart from other legacy solutions. The sensors work together to ensure that track vehicles are detected consistently and accurately every time and in all conditions. Its proven accuracy has helped customers eliminate the chance of false alerts, that when occurring frequently, can give a false sense of security or wrongfully establish complacency among work crews.
“ZoneGuard’s flexibility allows it to perform in unique settings, including across multiple tracks, over bridges, under high power lines, within high-noise environments and through long curves and tunnels giving maintenance crews the ability to provide safer work zones wherever they need to operate.
“The system can be configured to operate as a portable detection kit or be permanently installed along the right-of-way or installed within rail yards.”
“REMSA is proud to announce the winners of the 2023 Innovation Award,” the association announced in its August 2023 newsletter. “Thank you to all who participated; we are proud to support and recognize the innovative achievements of our member companies.”
More information about the 2024 award will be available this fall.
