Introducing the Smart AEI Tag: Revolutionizing Railcar Tracking with Real-Time Data and Enhanced Connectivity for the Perfect Rail Ecosystem

SPRING, Texas, Nov. 14, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Industrial Networks LLC (INet), a pioneer in industrial logistics systems, has been involved in automating over 300 rail sites with their mobile and stationary AEI solutions for more than 20 years. Now, building upon the knowledge and experience gained from these successes, INet is proud to unveil the Smart AEI Tag, the next evolution of the AEI Tag solution for the rail industry. The Smart AEI Tag is engineered to provide real-time tracking, comprehensive connectivity, and unmatched durability for railcar monitoring and management.

The legacy AEI Tag has been the standard for railcar tracking for over 30 years. While well established, this system uses a much older technology that is unable to participate in real-time tracking and requires significant investment in infrastructure, equipment, and maintenance to implement or update. Due to the restrictions of this technology, developing systems to accurately track railcars in real-time both in the railyard and in transit has been prohibitively expensive and labor intensive for all but the simplest of scenarios while only providing an information snapshot that is instantly out of date. The Smart AEI Tag (SAEI) system is vastly more cost-effective and will not only help improve efficiency, safety, and accuracy within a railyard but also across regional and national rail lines.

The Smart AEI tag will incorporate both our newly released SMRT technology which participates in a highly efficient, decentralized, massive, self-optimizing and self-healing BLE mesh network, and a decentralized, self-healing, private 5G NR+ network. In addition, the Smart AEI Tag will still contain a legacy AEI chip for backwards compatibility assuring a seamless transition between the current rail ecosystem and the new Smart Rail Ecosystem. In a railyard, the Smart AEI Tag uses our SMRTag™ mesh network to provide tracking of all railcars with sub-meter precision and provides the most accurate geo-location of railcars in the industry. Outside a railyard the Smart AEI Tag switches to our SMRT Train mesh configuration which allows the SMRTags™ to communicate with each other and provide the railroad the ability to track railcars wherever they move. In-transit, each locomotive carries a SMRT Hub which receives transmissions from the Smart AEI Train mesh network and relays that information to our secure, highly available, distributed data centers that, in turn, provide the railroads with live telemetry and sensor data. Even with all of these updated capabilities and features, the Smart AEI Tag will retain the current industry-standard AEI Tag dimensions for a more seamless transition.

Along with retaining industry standards, the new Smart AEI Tags will integrate revolutionary applications that transform the older AEI technology from simple segmented point-in-time data into a real-time integrated IoT data ecosystem, connecting every part of the freight rail supply chain and providing an enhanced customer experience. Smart AEI Tags contain a continually expanding list of integrations with a wide variety of sensors including, but not limited to, rail car health, collision detection, and rail car speed. In conjunction with these sensors, the Smart AEI Tag system will be able to provide a complete, live, operational profile of every rail car that each customer requires including its complete status, current location, and estimated arrival time. This IoT information, together with information from the customer, can be used to build AI models which would recommend the best customer service and delivery strategies for the freight rail industry. 

"We are very pleased to be able to offer the rail industry these revolutionary Smart AEI Tags which offer significant improvements over the conventional AEI tag while simultaneously preserving existing rail infrastructures." said Jimmy Finster, President of Industrial Networks. "We believe the new Smart AEI Tag has the potential to transform the rail industry by enhancing operational efficiency, providing real-time visibility, and improving overall railroad safety."

As the rail industry continues to evolve, the SAEI Tag's advanced features will allow it to support future applications, creating a smarter, safer, and more efficient railway.

For more information about the SAEI Tag, e-mail [email protected].

About Industrial Networks LLC

Industrial Networks (known as INet) is the leading provider of innovation and technology solutions for manufacturing and shipping operations in North America, specializing in automation tools that drive operational efficiency. With a legacy spanning 20 years, INet continues to pioneer innovations in the rail and logistics industries. INet's focus is to advance industry standards, and continue to develop products that are smart, safe, secure, and sustainable solutions. The company's close collaboration with Bourque Logistics, a leading provider of rail transportation software, combines decades of experience to deliver state-of-the-art rail automation solutions. For more information, please visit www.inetlp.com.

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Industrial Networks LLC

Claire Daniels

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SOURCE Industrial Networks