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Supply Side: SGS Maine Pointe, Duos Technologies

Written by Carolina Worrell, Senior Editor
Duos' RIP technology performed more than seven million comprehensive railcar scans in 2022.

Duos' RIP technology performed more than seven million comprehensive railcar scans in 2022.

SGS Maine Pointe partners with RailState to provide rail network visibility. Also, Duos Technologies Group, Inc. (Duos) reports that its Railcar Inspection Portal (RIP) performed more than seven million comprehensive railcar scans in 2022.

Global supply chain and operations implementation consulting firm SGS Maine Pointe, a member of the SGS Group, announced Jan. 9 that it has partnered with RailState, a comprehensive platform “for real-time visibility of freight railway network conditions, performance, priority to provide ail network visibility.”

With the RailState digital solution, SGS Maine Pointe says it will be able to “enhance its strategy of providing clients with end-to-end supply chain visibility, and more granular data that can be used to make better decisions and boost ROI.” According to SGS Main Pointe, using the system, shippers will be able to, for the first time, see rail network conditions, including real-time current velocity, train volume and mix, and priority. In addition, shippers will also have access to commodity data showing how many shipments are moving on the network, where they are, and where the flow might be disrupted.

SGS Maine Pointe Managing Director, Data Analytics Nathaniel Powrie

“We see this digital experience becoming a solution to provide our clients a competitive advantage when shipping by rail,” said Nathanael Powrie, Managing Director, Data Analytics at SGS Maine Pointe. “The team is very excited to work with RailState to develop a customized journey map on how this technology can help make better and more informed decisions for managing transportation.”

The need for enhanced visibility of the rail system has been made even more apparent over the past few years, said SGS Maine Pointe. “The powerful combination of SGS Maine Pointe’s TVO strategy, and the real-time visibility of RailState, will now give SGS Maine Pointe clients all the tools, insights and foresight they need to make the best decisions possible for shipping across all modes.”

“Rail is an integral part of our Total Value Optimization™ (TVO) end-to-end supply chain and operations services,” said Powrie. “This partnership harmonizes our decades of rail experience with the desire to offer our clients ways to strengthen real-time visibility and mitigate risk to the supply chain.”

SGS Maine Pointe’s TVO–enhanced with RailState’s unique visibility into the rail system–“gives customers a competitive advantage with unparalleled visibility throughout the entire end-to-end supply chain, powered with a modernized, digitized and transformed system of analytics, leader and organizational improvement, and sales and operational planning,” the company said.

Duos, through its operating subsidiary Duos Technologies, Inc., reported Jan. 10 that its RIP technology in 2022 performed more than seven million comprehensive railcar scans, of which more than 573,000 were unique railcars. This metric, Duos says, encompasses all railcars scanned at locations across the U.S., Canada and Mexico and represents approximately 35% of the total freight car population in North America.

Duos’ RIP technology is “rapidly becoming the industry standard for detecting and identifying mechanical issues on railcars as operators aim to meet the increasing need for compliance and safety solutions that are efficient, reliable and cost effective,” the company said. Duos’ major North American railroad clients have multiple systems with artificial intelligence (AI) actively running on their rail networks.

According to the company, Duos was also recently awarded a contract for two high-speed systems (“Super RIPs”), which are expected to be operational in mid-2023 in the Northeast U.S. as part of a major passenger rail infrastructure upgrade. The Super RIPs, Duos says, will deploy new machine vision technologies capable of capturing safety data at speeds of up to 125 mph. Duos, which expects to deploy new wheel and brake inspection technologies with this installation, also recently disclosed that it intends to build and deploy additional systems around the network, which can be accessed via subscription, lowering the barriers to entry for acquiring a RIP system for railroads and railcar owners alike.

Duos CEO Chuck Ferry

“Shortly after I joined Duos in 2020, we developed a five-year strategic plan that remains the guiding framework for much of what we do today,” said Duos CEO Chuck Ferry. “I am pleased to say that 2022 was the first year where the early financial results of that plan are visible. In recent months our traditional business model has been complemented by the introduction of our subscription offering, which will help to monetize the growing amount of data that we collect on railcars that pass through our systems. Together, these models will allow us to support our existing clientele with improved services and add-on opportunities as well as attract a much wider range of prospective customers.”

“Our mission remains focused on the long-term growth and profitability of the Company. Moving forward, we will continue to execute on that mission through these increased offerings as well as a sustained concentration on delivering high-quality solutions for our customers. The recent shifts in our business model have shown signs of widespread reception, and we plan on using that momentum to guide a strong performance in 2023,” Ferry added.

Duos expects to release preliminary results for the fourth quarter and full year 2022 later this month.

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