Aligning Organisational Interests in Designing Rail-wagon Tracking

Journal article, 2012

The paper investigates the design and implementation of rail-wagon tracking to align the interests of rail-track owners, rail operators and third-party logistics service providers. The investigation identifies design actions to enable beneficial uses for the different rail-wagon tracking participants in a railway logistics system. Design science is used as the overall research approach. The findings are derived in the context of three organisations involved in an automotive railway logistics system. Data on the perceptions and interests of the parties is collected using case-study methodology. Our findings indicate how rail-wagon tracking can be used to improve the efficiency of rail transport operators’ maintenance operations and potentially decrease wear and tear on rail tracks owned by the government authority. These anticipated benefits have motivated the transport authority in the case setting to make investments in more intelligent infrastructure, providing a platform for future material-flow tracking by logistics companies.