RPM2.0 From L.B. Foster Is Here to Optimize Your Friction Management Program

The system that provides immediate, intuitive insight into the operation and performance of friction management assets has been years in the making. Comprehensive research and in-field testing led by the Company’s team of friction management experts in Vancouver, BC, paired with its software solutions team in the UK, have created a new, market-leading, data-driven monitoring solution that is now delivering on the promise of intelligent performance monitoring.

A successful friction management program comes down to three key principles:

• Maximize system uptime

• Optimize application rates

• Minimize the cost of running the program

L.B. Foster’s new platform is built specifically around helping customers achieve these goals. 

“RPM2.0 provides the capability to not only deep dive into the performance data nuances of each individual asset located in the field, but also to see at a glance how your entire FM program is running. It’s about implementing tools that allow customers to predict the future state of their system so they can plan pre-emptive maintenance, optimize track access requirements, and prevent asset downtime. For example, providing the ability to know when a tank will run empty and not just if it’s currently empty,” says Joel VanderMarel, P.Eng., Global FM Product Manager of Trackside Solutions. 

“If you want to achieve the most from your friction management program, your systems need to operate at maximum uptime. Dispensers and applicators need to apply an optimized amount of product, and you need the tools and insight to minimize the costs associated with running an efficient friction management program,” added VanderMarel.

Currently, the market is oversaturated with solutions that deliver incoming data from systems, but to what end? “When you begin to manage several assets, it can become very resource intensive to sort through the data manually. This adds to the cost portion. Also, there is the fundamental principle of ‘if you don’t measure it, you can’t manage it’. As a result, systems that aren’t actively measuring or calculating uptime aren’t giving you the tools needed to manage or maximize uptime.”

Remote Performance Monitoring 2.0 (RPM2.0) is part of a new suite of intelligent software solutions developed by L.B. Foster that provides invaluable insight into the status of customers’ friction management programs.