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Business Improvement
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Rail infrastructure maintenance –
the Lean journey
KM&T has been selected to support the introduction of Lean methodology to rail infrastructure maintenance planning and execution as part of the European AUTOMAIN project
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ever before have global rail networks been under greater pressure than they are today: l Government departments are demanding ever increasing capacity as a catalyst for Strategic National Growth, to ease mounting congestion on road networks and to use rail links to reduce carbon emissions l Passenger group demands have increased: volume, punctuality, reliability and value for money l Environmental lobbyists are demanding higher operational and energy efficiency, along with significant curbs over additional construction. All of this is against a backdrop of challenging financial constraints and a current infrastructure design which demands relatively high levels of track closure (possessions) for maintenance operations completion. Unfortunately these pressures are unlikely to reduce in the foreseeable future. Governmental strategic visions will require a significant increase in rail capacity for both passengers and freight. While financial and environmental pressures will continue to restrict development. For example, the current AUTOMAIN project being conducted by a consortium of nations from the European Union seeks to increase track availability for development of freight traffic. KM&T have been selected to support the introduction of Lean methodology to rail infrastructure maintenance planning and execution as part of this drive. The reality is that in almost all networks, we need to get more out of existing infrastructure. The ultimate question remains ‘How can we get more out of our networks, within the challenging constraints of low budgets and minimised expansion?’ – What can we do about it? KM&T, experts in rail maintenance and infrastructure, have conducted lengthy studies and analyses across a wide range of
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European and Australasian Rail Infrastructure Management Organisations to assess the use and efficiency of rail networks and rolling stock. While specific operating procedures varied in operators and networks, the observations were remarkably similar. One of the key findings identified is a universal requirement for improved structure and standardisation of end to end processes (Planning through to maintenance execution phases). It has to be noted that the majority of inefficiencies observed in the ‘execution’ phase, had their root cause lying in the planning phase, e.g.: l Track possessions time spans being poorly utilised, examples of 50 per cent or less have been observed. l Low utilisation of parallel processing – often low levels of simultaneous maintenance activity, even within large possessions l Low effectiveness of targeting most effective sections of infrastructure upon which to apply maintenance activity l Low understanding of optimum infrastructure condition to trigger appropriate intervention l Inadequate development of maintenance
prediction/projection systems. High levels of data are collected by various sources but interaction with the planning process is poor. l Variation in maintenance times, frequencies & cycles and TAT (Turn Around Times). This observation was also born out in the analysis of concerns and improvement ideas collected during extensive Value Stream Mapping studies. Over 60 per cent of the total opportunities for improvement identified were focused on the planning operations. There is without question merit in the old cliché – ‘Failing to Plan is Planning to Fail’. The results of the studies bear out one of the most fundamental of Lean methodologies – ‘Plan, Do, Check, Act’ (PDCA). This methodology advocates an increase in the proportion of total task time and effort, to be allocated to the planning phases and therefore improve efficiency of implementation. KM&T recommended Lean approaches to address many of the delays and inefficiencies witnessed during process observations by visualising and identifying waste within the process. Diagram 1 Presents that an organisation moving from total utilisation of the least
Diagram 1. Sample results for the application of Lean methodology to rail infrastructure maintenance
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efficient working practices observed – to total application of proposed future state can reduce possession length requirement by over 70 per cent. From the details of extensive studies, KM&T have drawn many conclusions, the strongest of which is the optimisation and standardisation of maintenance planning procedures as the number one priority towards long-term sustainable performance improvement. Investment in the PDCA cycle and strengthened planning operations will deliver the required performance improvements as well as – millions in cost savings and cost avoidance. Approach and alignment with generic industry milestones are presented in Diagram 2. So whilst all networks are different, all can benefit from considering ‘Lean’ as a way to standardise, plan and manage expectations rather than all activities. Lean practitioners
KM&T Change Model
working for KM&T have significant experience in leading the development of specific improvement strategies and deployment of Lean methodology across rail maintenance operations in Europe and Australasia, as well as other sectors.
Lean is a journey, not a single event. KM&T work alongside customers, transferring tools and knowledge to build up client internal capability and long-term sustainability. The KM&T Team welcome the opportunity for further dialogue with interested parties. zz
Diagram 2. Lean methodology deployment through maintenance development stages
For more information on the findings of our extensive studies contact Matt Smith on +44 (0) 7823 770645, or contact us for a free Lean Rail Assessment on +44 (0) 24 7623 6275 quoting Rail1 KM&T Email: info@kmandt.com Web: www.kmandt.com
www.railwaystrategies.co.uk
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