Apptec releases case study on development of "Digital Rail Map," a spatial data platform supporting JR West's maintenance DX
Apptec, in collaboration with JR West and JR West Consultants, has developed the "Digital Rail Map," a spatial data platform to support the digital transformation (DX) of JR West's maintenance operations. This innovative system integrates railway-specific distance concepts with GIS, dramatically improving productivity by reducing information retrieval and sharing times. It also received the Good Design Award in 2024 for its excellent user experience.
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- 📰 Published: April 6, 2026 at 20:00
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Apptec Co., Ltd. (Headquarters: Kita-ku, Osaka; Representative Director and President: Takahiro Konishi; hereinafter "Apptec") announces the release of a case study on the joint development of the "Digital Rail Map," a foundational system for the digital transformation (DX) of maintenance operations promoted by West Japan Railway Company (Headquarters: Osaka, Osaka Prefecture; Representative Director and President: Shoji Kurasaka; hereinafter "JR West"), in collaboration with JR West Consultants Co., Ltd. (Headquarters: Osaka, Osaka Prefecture; Representative Director and President: Yuki Kato).
The Digital Rail Map is a spatial data platform that highly integrates "kilometer post" (a distance concept unique to railways) with geographic information (GIS). As a result of thoroughly pursuing usability on site, it received the Good Design Award in 2024 and has achieved dramatic productivity improvements, such as reducing the time required for information retrieval and sharing to approximately one-quarter of the conventional time due to its excellent UX.
Background of Development: Challenges in "Location Identification" for Extensive Infrastructure Management
JR West, which manages an enormous amount of railway equipment totaling approximately 4,900 km, has been promoting the utilization of geographic information systems (GIS) with Apptec for about 20 years to identify the locations of equipment. However, conventional systems were not mobile-compatible. Triggered by the COVID-19 pandemic, JR West decided to work on cost reduction through productivity improvement and the creation of new business models, including the possibility of external sales of the system.
In response, Apptec, which excels in agile development using OSS (Open Source Software), developed the Digital Rail Map as a spatial data platform based on the concept of "railway infrastructure data search service," in collaboration with JR West Consultants. This new platform allows on-site personnel, headquarters, and external partners to view the same map and instantly share locations.
Main Features and Implementation Effects of Digital Rail Map
Effects of Digital Rail Map implementation. Provided by: JR West
* Visualization of locations using virtual distance markers "Digital Kilopost (Registered Design No. 1790287)"
* Intuitive operability through strong integration with Google Maps
* Mechanism to digitize and share on-site "tacit knowledge"
* Received the Good Design Award in 2024
Case study article URL: Achieving maintenance DX with a geographic information system: JR West's challenge to build a spatial data platform
Digital Rail Map
About Apptec Co., Ltd.
Apptec Co., Ltd.
The Digital Rail Map is a spatial data platform that highly integrates "kilometer post" (a distance concept unique to railways) with geographic information (GIS). As a result of thoroughly pursuing usability on site, it received the Good Design Award in 2024 and has achieved dramatic productivity improvements, such as reducing the time required for information retrieval and sharing to approximately one-quarter of the conventional time due to its excellent UX.
Background of Development: Challenges in "Location Identification" for Extensive Infrastructure Management
JR West, which manages an enormous amount of railway equipment totaling approximately 4,900 km, has been promoting the utilization of geographic information systems (GIS) with Apptec for about 20 years to identify the locations of equipment. However, conventional systems were not mobile-compatible. Triggered by the COVID-19 pandemic, JR West decided to work on cost reduction through productivity improvement and the creation of new business models, including the possibility of external sales of the system.
In response, Apptec, which excels in agile development using OSS (Open Source Software), developed the Digital Rail Map as a spatial data platform based on the concept of "railway infrastructure data search service," in collaboration with JR West Consultants. This new platform allows on-site personnel, headquarters, and external partners to view the same map and instantly share locations.
Main Features and Implementation Effects of Digital Rail Map
Effects of Digital Rail Map implementation. Provided by: JR West
* Visualization of locations using virtual distance markers "Digital Kilopost (Registered Design No. 1790287)"
* Intuitive operability through strong integration with Google Maps
* Mechanism to digitize and share on-site "tacit knowledge"
* Received the Good Design Award in 2024
Case study article URL: Achieving maintenance DX with a geographic information system: JR West's challenge to build a spatial data platform
Digital Rail Map
About Apptec Co., Ltd.
Apptec Co., Ltd.