With more than 600,000 signs statewide, MoDOT has its hands full making sure the signs are well maintained and visible to the traveling public. However, a new program put into practice by MoDOT’s Sign Production Center known as SignTrack will help workers track a sign’s lifecycle and keep up-to-date records.

“SignTrack will save MoDOT workers a lot of time and resources and make Missouri roadways more visible,” said Eileen Rackers, MoDOT state traffic engineer. “Every sign and its condition will be regularly monitored, which will allow district staff to quickly and easily identify signs that need to be replaced or repaired among other applications.” 

Monitoring a sign’s life cycle is important in reaching MoDOT’s goal of improving roadway visibility. With the program, sign production and delivery will be more efficient and sign quality will be easier to maintain. A sign’s reflectivity decreases with age and SignTrack will be able to determine when it should be replaced. The replacement depends on the sign sheeting’s life expectancy, between 10-12 years.

Another part of SignTrack, the inventory log, will allow workers to keep track of the signs' condition and any maintenance performed. The log will also help determine how well each product is holding up and provide data on actual warranty duration. The inventory log portion of the program will replace and enhance the current manual methods of cataloging the signs.

Currently, the production center uses a spread-sheet system to keep track of inventory. Requisitions come in electronically, are printed and then job tickets are hand-typed before being sent to the production floor. SignTrack will roll these processes into one, saving time and reducing the margin of error.

The system will be maintained, shared and backed up regularly. Users will be able to log onto the system and choose the particular function they wish to perform, whether it be entering field data or adding signs to the warehouse inventory. The program was developed and modified by SignCAD, a company already used by MoDOT’s Sign Production Center.

The portion of the program that will automate the Sign Production center is currently being tested in the sign shop and will hopefully be up and running by the end of the year. The inventory log should be complete this fall.

These two components of SignTrack will eventually be part of an overall system that will take a sign through its entire life cycle. The system also has room for added technologies that will help with data entry and sign location, such as bar coding and GPS identification.