Investigating the Significance of 4.0 Digital Transformation on the Improvement of Railway Transport System in South Africa.

Abstract

Numerous studies have been conducted to define and address the challenges and benefits linked to Industry 4.0 including various advantages. As Industry 4.0 continues to advance and as the digital, physical, and human realms become more integrated, reliability engineering must adapt to address present and future challenges. Integrating Industry 4.0 technologies has resulted in a new wave of advancements across diverse industry sectors, including railways. In South Africa, companies like PRASA and Transnet, both state-owned enterprises, are leveraging Industry 4.0 technology to optimize the reliability engineering of point machines and crucial railway infrastructure components. This research study aimed to investigate the current state of South Africa’s railway system and the potential 4.0 digital transformation on reliability engineering of the systems. While new technologies have been transformed based on industry 4.0 technologies, old and existing infrastructures are faced with possible upgrades through replacement or modifications. The study therefore investigates the possible 4.0 digital transformation of existing railway infrastructure to optimize the existing facilities (both in efficiency) and the cost of total replacement. The results showed that at a lower work rate of 20 or fewer operations per day, the efficiency of the Railway Point Machine is between 50% - 100%, and there is reduced total failure. At a much lower efficiency of the Railway Point Machine, there is an increased number of failures which indicates a slower performance of the Railway Point Machine. The study therefore indicated that 4.0 digital transformation could offer a solution for health monitoring of the RPM for improved reliability.