Not knocking the product here. I think it's amazing that OpSig put this out there. But let me get hypothetical here...
I haven't tried this software yet but I remember looking at the OpSig data files some time back and a limitation I noticed was the Commodity field. I know from experience the biggest weakness of any data system is the purity of the data and maintenance of the system to ensure fields are properly used. But it seems this system could benefit from breaking down the Commodity field into Inbound and Outbound variables. PIC, an auto manufacturer is going to receive materials, parts, paint, solvents, and occasional machinery in and ship autos or components out. I get that the one existing field contains both, but it seems like a more usable feature to separate them.
Look at the GM examples on the screen shot and you notice the data field is not used properly all of the time, it's kinda one-sided and only shows the outbound product, not the inbound materials that one could expect. OpSig should consider building on that in the next iteration. If OpSig wanted to get uber real, it should be developed from the flat data set to relational that linked industry, inbound, outbound and date variables based on location (general GPS location) to incorporate changes in industry name, plant use, and rail shipping patterns based on dates.
Another consideration would be car type capacity. For instance, a bakery developing capacity from receiving sugar in bags in box cars to car loads in covered hoppers. But now you're starting to add a freight car classification level, which is also date-dependent.
The fact that the data files are in delimited files is nice though, because you can add/alter data, including your own mythical or prototypical industries. The group should consider putting a system in place for those of us with a research bent to add industries to or refine data in the existing files. Also, it should add a field to designate industries as Prototype or Mythical so layout owners can add mythical industries on their layouts to promote inter-layout ops.
