kansas city southern intermodal communications...

©2016 Kansas City Southern

Kansas City Southern Intermodal Communications

Solutions


Intermodal: adjective: Involving two or more different modes of transportation in conveying goods.

KCS Intermodal


KCS IntermodalOur heaviest investment in outdoor WiFi supports eight intermodal facilities.


Intermodal.org shows a consistent trending increase in intermodal business demand. Fuel Costs

– EIA.gov Declining infrastructure conditions/Investment

– infrastructurereportcard.org

KCS Intermodal


Rail facts We can move 1 ton of freight 436 miles on 1 gallon of diesel. Common unit trains are 100 cars long, some longer. Flat cars can hold up to four containers. That is up to 400 trucks worth of freight on a single train.

Efficiency is key. To compete with more diverse trucking industry with more direct local access to costumers we need to load, unload, process, and manage inventory quickly and efficiently. Utilize handheld technologies to manage inventory faster and with fewer errors. Requires a robust wireless solution.

KCS Intermodal


Hurdles Mobile workforce. Poor cell coverage. Minimal existing WiFi within ground level range. Highly reflective environment. Dynamic, changing, expanding intermodal facilities.

Goals Use off the shelf solar and WiFi technology to establish sustainable network solutions. Gather WiFi coverage metrics, monitor, alert, and report.

Opportunities


The Solution: The eCone by Trimble with Buckeye designed solar solution. Provides WiFi where the workers are. Contained solution that can be moved. Captures real time health metrics. Solar aligns with sustainability goals.

The eCone Project


Vehicle mounted WiFi sensor/extender. (“eCone” is a product of Trimble) health reports.

The eCone Project


Issues with traditional pole deploymentCostlyKCS Intermodal facilities have existing surfaces, some several feet thick, that would have to be trenched through and resurfaced to install WiFi using a fixed pole design. This would result in a higher cost, less flexible solution potentially requiring more access points to cover the area.

StaticA pole in the ground is a static asset, a fixed investment. If yard design changes you have to redesign your network, and likely deploy new poles to support the new design.

Limited CoverageFix poles dictate the location and elevation you can effectively mount your AP’s, directly effecting coverage, requiring more investment in those fixed assets to provide comprehensive coverage where needed.

KCS Rapid Deploy Investment


Rapid Deploy Cost: Lower per unit than poles, materials, labor, and service interruption estimates. Dynamic: can be placed any were with 6 square feet of ground and can be repositioned with low

effort and no new investment. Expandable: new units can be incorporated into existing networks with low effort/cost. Sustainable: The 100% solar solution and enables the Rapid Deploy platform contributes to the

companies “Green” goals.

KCS Rapid Deploy Investment


Before: There was a limited WiFi deployment at IFG but a need for service.

After: Service provided by a single proof of concept unit.

Proof of Concept at Kansas City’s IFG

1,125,000 square feet


With our traditional model of field deployed WiFi we would have to install 18 access points. Further more these AP’s would have to be installed on the existing light rings 100’ in elevation or on new 40’ poles installed adjacent to the existing. Existing poles: The 100’ elevation is nearly 3 times the height of industry specification

for providing wireless at ground level. Est. $110,000 (equipment & labor) to provide a suboptimal design, relying entirely on mesh backbone, that would provide measurably poor coverage.

New poles: New pole installation is impactful to facility operations, provides static/fix value, at a premium cost. Our low end estimates put new poles at $35k/pole (equipment & labor). Add the soft costs of weeks/months of construction and impact to operational performance of the facility.

Kendleton


Kendleton (Before)

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Kendleton (After)

Installed 8 Rapid Deploy units with 2 supplementary AP’s installed on existing buildings. 3 days to install with no construction. Wifi is being broadcast at industry specified elevation. Near zero interruption of facility operations.


Puerta MexicoUtilizing a pole based deployment model would require the installation of 6 new poles supporting 9 AP’s, some mounted on buildings within the facility. Typical Deployment: 6 new poles at $35,000/per, 9 AP’s, 3 mounted on existing buildings at the facility.

$210,000 which includes equipment and labor but does not include VAT, weeks of construction, or operational impact.

The design:

Puerta Mexico



Puerta Mexico

Post Implementation, 3 days labor, no interruption of service or facility operations.


Comprehensive Systems Management

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