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2. CSX Bill of Lading Image Processing System
Summary
CSX Corporation is a diversified transportation company best known as a major railroad that serves the East and Midwest. CSX Transportation is the unit of CSX Corporation that handles railroad operations.
As with all of today's railroads, most of CSX Transportation's business comes from freight service. Shipments are recorded on bills of lading prepared by customers and sent to CSX by facsimile transmission (fax). Most customers have direct fax connection to CSX. Electronic data interchange for computer-to-computer bill of lading transfer also is available from some customer sites.
The railroad translates the bill of lading information onto waybills, which contain all pertinent information--such as the origin, shipper, destination, consignee, route, payer, and freight charges--about each shipment on a given rail car. When you consider the number of rail cars owned by a major railroad such as CSX, you get an idea of the enormity of its waybilling operation. Imaging plays a large part in enabling the railroad to process approximately 2.3 million bills of lading annually.
The waybilling operation is centralized in Jacksonville, Florida. CSX previously used regional sites to gather bills of lading but needed to reduce document handling and improve data entry. With imaging as the obvious solution, the regional sites were deemed to be prohibitively expensive and difficult to coordinate.
Waybilling is the focal point of recordkeeping and control for the vast number of CSX shipments, and the nerve center of waybill processing is the Automated Waybilling System (AWS). Each bill of lading is entered into AWS, which runs on the CSX IBM mainframe. AWS produces waybill data that are sent to rail yards nationwide. The imaging system vastly simplifies and expedites the process of gathering and grouping bills of lading and entering them into AWS.
Images of the faxed bills of lading are received automatically in the CSX imaging system in Jacksonville and routed to the customer representative who handles that type of account (e.g., coal, chemicals, automobiles, and grain). The representative, working with a split screen showing a bill of lading on one side and AWS input screens on the other, enters the data into AWS. As each bill of lading is entered, the image is stored on optical disk.
After considering several vendor cost estimates for a turnkey imaging system, CSX decided to form a development team comprised of its technical staff and personnel from Apple and Digital Equipment Corporation (DEC). This approach combined the best that CSX could offer with the best of Apple and DEC, and it saved CSX over $1.5 million.
CSX enthusiastically endorses the imaging system and says it has exceeded expectations. The system, which cost approximately $1.6 million, has enabled the railroad to process its huge volume of bills of lading and enter them into waybills quickly, cost effectively, and at a central site. As a by-product, CSX now can satisfy requests from other railroads for documents.
At first, the railroad's main concern about imaging was whether its credibility with customers would be damaged because of lost documents. Just the opposite has happened.
Courts can relate to several elements of the CSX imaging experience. First, many documents are received in clerk's offices from external sources such as attorneys, law enforcement, probation, pretrial diversion, and community services and other alternatives to incarceration. Information from these documents must be entered into the clerk's case processing system. Increasingly, these documents are being faxed to the clerk. CSX improved data handling and entry by receiving faxed images from customers and displaying them with input screens for more efficient data entry. Second, like most potential imaging users, the courts need to know there are alternatives to expensive, off-the-shelf solutions from vendors. CSX realized this and cut its costs in half.
Information on the CSX imaging system was provided by Mr. Albert Lancaster, the CSX Director of Waybilling Operations. We appreciate his assistance.
Enterprise Description
CSX Corporation has headquarters in Richmond, Virginia and, in addition to CSX Transportation, consists of American Commercial Barge Lines, an inland waterways barge operator; Sealand, a container steamship operator; and several non-transportation divisions. CSX Transportation has annual revenues of almost $4.5 billion and approximately 30,000 employees. Its headquarters address and telephone number are
500 Water Street
Jacksonville, FL 32202
904-359-3100.
Within CSX Transportation, there are finance, sales and marketing, transportation, and technology units. Waybilling Operations is in Customer Service and Systems, whose vice president reports to the head of the transportation unit. Information Services, which supports computer activities throughout CSX Transportation, gave Waybilling Operations technical support in the imaging project. Information Services is in the technology unit.
Imaging Application
Overview
In 1987, CSX implemented regional waybilling, through which customers faxed bills of lading to regional locations to be keyed into AWS. The volume of documents (2.1 million annually in 1987) and the need to retain them for three years caused CSX to consider imaging in early 1989. The railroad realized central waybilling was the best approach because of the document volumes and the costs and difficulties of establishing, coordinating, and maintaining regional imaging sites. The central imaging project that resulted in the current system began in September 1989 and was completed in January 1990.
At Waybilling Operations in Jacksonville, each bill of lading is processed by a dedicated IBM PS/2 set up to receive fax transmissions. Since it is received by fax, the bill of lading already is in image form and scanning is not required.
All imaged bills of lading received from the customer in a fax transmission are automatically given an image reference number and routed to a waybilling representative assigned to handle that type of customer (e.g., coal, chemicals, automobiles, and grain). With the images on the left side of the screen and the AWS data entry forms on the right, the representative successively enters each bill of lading in the transmission into AWS. Since the customer profile automatically displays certain basic information for each customer, the representative must enter only what either differs from the norm or varies with each bill of lading. Each representative, and their supervisors, have Apple Macintosh microcomputers.
When data entry has been completed for a bill of lading, the AWS screens are committed to that system's database on the IBM mainframe and the images are stored on optical disk. The optical disk is accessed through a jukebox connected to a DEC VAX 3900. Data files used for imaging and data entry are stored on the VAX's magnetic disk storage.
Since the main purpose of the imaging system is to receive imaged documents and enter them into AWS, there is minimal retrieval of stored documents from optical disk for subsequent processing. There is no provision for rapid document retrieval and processing by using magnetic disk for intermediate storage of optical images. User workstations retrieve documents directly from optical disk.
The image processing flow is shown in Figure A - 5, and the equipment and configuration of the image processing network are shown in Figure A - 6.
The specific equipment in the imaging system is as follows:
- The IBM PS/2 fax receivers are Model 80s running under DOS, with 1 million characters of memory and 128,000 characters of disk storage. There are six of these personal computers.
- The Apple Macintoshes used by the representatives and supervisors are IIcx's, with 8 million characters of memory and 40 million characters of disk storage. Two shared Apple Laserwriter II printers are available to this group. There are about 100 of these microcomputers.
- The DEC VAX 3900 functions as a dedicated file and database server and runs with Sybase database software.
- The IBM, Apple, and DEC equipment function together in a DECNET local area network for which the VAX is the server.
- The network is connected directly to the IBM mainframe through a communications controller.
- The Apple Macintosh used for retrieval is a stand-alone IIcx, and it has an Apple Laserwriter II printer.
The imaging software in the system is customized and was developed by Apple and Information Services personnel.
Planning, Implementation, and Management
Waybilling Operations had to contend for scarce Information Services resources before they could be sure there would be an imaging project. Once this was decided, the primary concern became whether documents would be lost in some bottomless imaging pit, resulting in damage to customer service. Tension was heightened by the knowledge that another major railroad had failed in a similar endeavor.
After the project was approved by CSX Transportation's upper management, Mr. Lancaster searched for the most cost-effective imaging solution. Cost estimates from and meetings with several vendors who were proposing turnkey systems persuaded him to look to Information Services for much of the work.
This led to a combined effort with Information Services, Apple, and DEC. In many ways, Mr. Lancaster got the best of all worlds by using Information Services, who knew how CSX applied technology to waybilling, and the two vendors, who knew imaging, computer, and network technologies. There were other benefits; because of this approach, CSX
- Had direct project involvement, which meant better project control;
- Got customized software; and
- Dramatically reduced costs because CSX knew exactly what equipment was needed and ordered new equipment only to supplement what already was installed.
Against this backdrop, Waybilling Operations and Information Services devised the following strategy:
- Acquaint Information Services personnel with concepts of imaging in waybilling data entry;
- Acquaint Waybilling Operations personnel with the technical considerations;
Figure A - 5: CSX Corporation Image Processing
- Conduct a requirements analysis to document the functions the imaging system would perform and the volumes of documents it would handle;
- Use the requirements analysis to communicate with vendors and CSX staff; and
- Make sure CSX Transportation management supported the project and was apprised of its progress through initial presentations to obtain approval and monthly status presentations thereafter.
Even though CSX had no formal implementation plan for the imaging system, it proceeded systematically through the project one step at a time. Other significant elements of the implementation are described below.
Figure A - 6: CSX Image Processing Network
- Since direct entry from faxed documents was a new feature, some modification of AWS was required to process image reference numbers;
- Procedures in waybilling operations were adjusted to accommodate the new system, but this was delayed until the system had been used long enough to produce meaningful operational reports showing what changes were needed;
- The system was tested in a “laboratory” environment before it was available to users; and
- The Macintosh computers were installed before other equipment so the representatives and supervisors could become familiar with them and the main interface software.
Management and control of imaging system use are exercised through the users manual, mainframe procedures for updating and using the database, and supervisor functions. The system produces management reports that assist in monitoring performance.
The representatives' supervisors are important elements in system management. Although the preset criteria for automatically assigning bills of lading to representatives by customer type seldom require modification, supervisors can control workloads by adjusting work queues. When representatives have a problem or question about a document, they can route it to the supervisor for assistance.
Quality control of data input into AWS is handled informally by representatives and supervisors. Problems with bills of lading usually are detected as the representative goes through each page of a transmission during data entry. Normally, the representative calls a customer if there is a problem or, alternatively, he or she asks the supervisor to call.
Standards for the waybilling operation are high. The system must be operational 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, and the goal is to have each bill of lading entered into AWS within 2 hours of its receipt. This means that each representative should process at least 65 bills of lading each day.
Security is achieved through:
- Normal system passwords and user sign-on procedures;
- Supervisor control over the representatives' work queues;
- Restriction of representatives from automatically receiving documents other than for the customer types they are assigned to work on; and
- Limitation of no more than one representative working on a document at any given time.
Operation and Maintenance
Waybilling Operations and Information Services staffs operate the imaging system, and Information Services provides maintenance. The only problems cited by CSX so far are (1) a frightening total system outage about three months after it became operational (caused by an accidental severing of the main power cable) and (2) system glitches following the addition of the optical jukebox.
Advantages and Disadvantages
CSX has derived the following benefits from imaging:
- Improved customer service;
- A reduction in the number of representatives needed to enter waybills from 165 to 87;
- An increase in the number of waybills entered daily from about 65 to an average of 90 and, in some instances, as many as 150 to 200;
- A reduction in the amount of space required for staff;
- A reduction in the amount of space required for document storage;
- Better operational reports, leading to improved management of representatives' workloads with fewer peaks and valleys, more visibility over work queue contents, and better document tracking; and
- Elimination of many paper- and fax-handling problems and costs.
There are some disadvantages of imaging at CSX:
- System failures immobilize the entire waybilling operation;
- Software problems can be difficult to isolate and fix;
- Document retrieval by customer identifier would have been easier if it had been based on customer name instead of fax (or other) telephone number; and
- There is the potential (so far unrealized) for employee morale problems because of staff cutbacks and the feeling that control has been lost to the system.
The Future
In its continuing quest to eliminate keystrokes, CSX is increasing its use of the following:
- Electronic data interchange in which an industry-standard bill of lading is defined and installed on customers' computers so that bills of lading are transmitted directly from these computers into AWS. Eventually, this will eliminate the necessity of faxing the documents to CSX and entering the imaged data into AWS.
- An intermediate approach whereby optical character recognition (OCR) permits automatic entry of specific data from the faxed documents into AWS. This eliminates keyboard entry of these data unless there are errors or unreadable data. CSX is pilot testing this capability now.
Detailed System Description
The faxed bills of lading in a transmission may consist of many pages, and an entire transmission is routed to the work queue of a representative for processing. When the representative completes a transmission, the system automatically brings the next transmission from his or her queue onto the computer screen for processing. The first page of the first bill of lading in the transmission is displayed on the left of the screen, and two AWS data entry screens are displayed on the right, as shown in the Imaging System Workstation Display (Figure A - 7).
The representative processes each bill of lading in the transmission by entering its contents into corresponding AWS screens on the right side of the monitor. The system contains a profile for each customer, and basic information is copied automatically from the profile onto the data entry screen so that only changes and variable information need to be key-entered.
At any time during entry of a transmission, the representative can:
- Look through its pages either individually or all at once with each page reduced;
- Select specific pages to work on;
- Change the displayed image (e.g., rotate it or enlarge specific parts of it for closer inspection);
- Add and review comments;
- Route the transmission to the supervisor if help is needed; and
- Look at previously entered transmissions.
Since each transmission can generate several waybills, the representative indexes each waybill as it is completed. Indexing enables the system to associate the image reference number of the transmission with the waybill.
When the representative designates the transmission as "finished," the first page of the next transmission in the queue appears on his or her screen.
Figure A - 7: CSX Imaging System Workstation Display
Previously entered documents are archived as they are processed and can be retrieved from any workstation. Documents are retrieved based on their image reference and rail car numbers, which are available from AWS.
Supervisors perform their functions using a screen that has the document image on the left half, supervisor activity selection icons or information displays on the lower right quarter, and information from the mainframe on the upper right quarter. Samples of the Supervisor Maintenance, Supervisor Operator List, and Supervisor Inquiry screens are shown in Figures A - 8 through A - 10.
Conclusions
CSX is delighted with the imaging system and states emphatically that it was worth the money, time, and effort expended to obtain the equipment, develop the software, install the system, and make it work. The system was right for CSX for one simple reason: it solved the major operational problem of how to establish a cost-effective and reliable method to receive bills of lading from customers and enter them into AWS to create waybills.
Initial skepticism has been replaced by enthusiastic realization that the benefits of the system have exceeded the railroad's expectations. Lack of interest from Waybilling Operations' sister departments has been replaced by requests from these units to use the system. Fear that CSX, like the other major railroad that tried bill of lading imaging, would fail at its endeavor has been replaced by firm assurance that the system is a big success.
Figure A - 8: CSX Supervisor Maintenance Screen
Figure A - 9: CSX Supervisor Inquiry Screen
Figure A - 10: CSX Supervisor Operator List Screen
