Traffic Technology International | September 2022
Made in the USA
Localizing manufacturing can help solve supply chain woes in the traffic and ITS markets.
With global demand for components and raw materials outstripping supply chains, there are few, if any, industries unaffected by product shortages and delays. There are many causes of the ongoing supply chain problems, each of which have compounded on top of each other – raw material availability, labor shortages at factories and throughout shipping and delivery channels, port and warehouse capacity issues, and increased freight costs.
The pandemic forced many companies to scale back or even mothball production, but budgets and delayed projects have been ramping back up for the past year faster than suppliers can hire and reestablish supply chains. In some cases, the old suppliers are no longer in business or costs have increased such that new suppliers must be found.
Transportation agencies implementing new ITS projects or trying to keep up with traffic system maintenance have also faced these challenges. With so many of the critical items containing semiconductor chips, availability has become a major source of concern as it affects major projects and schedules. Even older, less sophisticated components like inductive loop detector cards are in short supply.
Historically, many companies have outsourced to China to keep prices low for customers, but Chinese tariffs and supply chain woes have lessened these advantages. The North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) has made Mexico another attractive option for US manufacturers to source components to keep costs low, but during the pandemic, disinfectant spraying that was required in factories adversely affected many electronics manufacturers, further impacting part supplies.
1. Improved inventory and shortened lead times are a few of the benefits for manufacturers who localize their supply network
28% The proportion of businesses worldwide that reported stock shortages during Covid, leading them to seek alternative suppliers*
2. Sensys Networks has successfully pivoted to local suppliers, streamlining the supply chain for detection customers
Localizing manufacturing
successfully pivoted to local suppliers and streamlined their supply chain to mitigate these supply issues and aggressively reduce lead times. This also means that the Sensys Networks’ wireless traffic detection systems are now primarily produced in the US, the country with the most deployments of its technology.
Of course, dramatically shrinking a global supply network is not always possible if there are few domestic equivalents for some raw materials or specialized components. But those who are localizing most of their manufacturing are far less susceptible to supply chain disruptions that have plagued so many others and are minimizing the impact on the global transportation and distribution networks.
The benefits for US transportation agencies are clear: shortened lead times, less planning uncertainty, improved inventory availability, and access to a better pool of domestic suppliers (i.e., keeping manufacturing jobs in the US). With the global supply chain issues likely to linger, there has never been a better time to support and use domestic providers for traffic projects and maintenance.
The benefits for US transportation agencies are clear: shortened lead times, less planning uncertainty, improved inventory availability, and access to a better pool of domestic suppliers (i.e., keeping manufacturing jobs in the US). With the global supply chain issues likely to linger, there has never been a better time to support and use domestic providers for traffic projects and maintenance.
” WITH THE GLOBAL SUPPLY CHAIN ISSUES LIKELY TO LINGER, THERE HAS NEVER BEEN A BETTER TIME TO SUPPORT AND USE DOMESTIC PROVIDERS FOR TRAFFIC PROJECTS AND MAINTENANCE “
Traffic control systems for the next decade
If you want to future-proof your city transportation, two technologies are key
– communications to enable smarter public transit and advanced traffic detection
1. Traffic systems for urban areas
25 The number of years for which Cross has been providing smart city solutions
Traffic control systems have been the right speed, or wait at the bus stop longer to save fuel and improve the comfort of traveling. It Tdeveloping rapidly i recent years, of save fuel and improve the comfort travelin in prediction, public transport prioritization and microsimulation are a daily necessity in the requirements for traffic control systems. But is this really what makes real improvements in traffic control quality? Cross believes that there are now two important topics that can define the improvement of traffic control in the near future. These trends are two-way public transport communication and advanced traffic detection.
Two-way communication
Public transport prioritization is a technology that is more than 30 years old, and there have not been so many changes in recent years. The systems are operating mostly using a defined number of virtual points where the login and logout of the vehicle is processed and executed in the controller logic. But what about sending the information back to the main public transport computer? If two-way communication is used, public transport can approach the stop line with should be using in the future… and Cross has had a solution for this for more than 10 years.
It doesn’t matter if the operator wants to use radio communication or the newest V2X standard, Cross is able to deliver information about the time to green’ to the driver. Moreover, the unique system from Cross has been successfully implemented in many cities. As pioneers of V2X communication, Cross has also successfully tested this technology with autonomous public transport vehicles.
Advanced traffic detection
Precise traffic detection is the key to reaching the next level of traffic control efficiency. To make traffic detection precise, traffic control systems must work with point detection and binary information from each detection zone. In this way all the data can be delivered to the controller-speed, number of objects in each zone (including pedestrians and cyclists) classification and heading. This is the future of traffic control and Cross is ready for it.
Advanced video traffic detection is directly integrated into Cross controllers, which can define various scenarios for improving capacity of each intersection or to improve traffic safety. especially for pedestrians and cyclists. As a next step, controllers are able to collect and transfer the all the information into control centers and smart city platforms. At the centralized level the data is used for online traffic control of urban areas. The data itself is then very precise information that is useful for future infrastructure planning and decision-making processes for the municipalities.
If you are searching for the newest technological solution in traffic control field, Cross is ready to deliver them.
