Hitachi Rail has acquired the cutting-edge digital rail monitoring business Omnicom from Balfour Beatty in a strategic move to further grow HMAX, Hitachi Rail’s digital asset management business.
With HMAX already installed on over 2,000 trains globally, Omnicom solutions will now feed into the platform’s bespoke offering for Hitachi Rail’s customers around the world.
The new solutions and proprietary technology acquired by Hitachi Rail include software and hardware for surveying, inspecting and monitoring rail infrastructure assets including the overhead line and the track. The monitoring technology can be installed on trains and uses edge computing and machine learning to provide near real-time anomaly detection on rail tracks. The technology can enable the collection of trillions of bytes of images per day, allowing customers to optimise their trackside maintenance planning and the asset lifecycle.
Commenting on the announcement, Hitachi Rail Executive Director and CTO, Koji Agatsuma, said:
“This strategic acquisition complements our existing cutting-edge proprietary technology, backed by the digital power of the Hitachi Group.”
“Our HMAX platform is driving the digital transformation of rail, and the addition of Omnicom’s track monitoring tools further strengthens our global offer to optimize our customer’s railway systems.”
Sanjay Razdan, Managing Director of Omnicom, said: “From today, our technology will complement Hitachi Rail’s existing digital asset management solutions, enabling HMAX to deliver even more for customers around the world. This acquisition will also enable us to benefit from the unique digital capabilities of the wider Hitachi Group, enabling us to continue to innovate and deliver AI-enabled systems that can optimise the management of railway infrastructure.”
HMAX is a comprehensive digital asset management solution which seamlessly integrates a vast array of live data from the train and the surrounding rail infrastructure into a single platform. HMAX harnesses Lumada 3.0 unique digital capabilities to combine the IT, OT(Operational Technology) and Products of the Hitachi group to deliver this cutting-edge set of solutions. The platform uses AI and machine learning to process the data, extract knowledge, and apply it to achieve operational and service enhancements, including traffic optimisation, energy consumption reduction, and an on-condition/ predictive maintenance process.
HMAX also enables huge volumes of data to be processed at the ‘edge’ (on the trains or infrastructure) in real time, with only relevant information sent back to the operational control centres. This enables an unprecedented improvement in the speed at which actionable insights reach transport operators, as previously it could take days for data to be processed in maintenance locations.
Image credit: Hitachi Rail
