| The
client, an Australian icon railway operator, maintains 510 Locos
and 12,500 wagons over 23 geographically disbursed depots throughout
Australia. That's about the same as saying "as big as Texas".
Problems
that were articulated in a detailed requirements statement were
multiple, but in the main could be solved by the introduction of
sound maintenance planning and scheduling processes, underpinned
by capable software. For example, when the production folk didn't
need a wagon they gave it to maintenance. This was irrespective
of whether required maintenance or not. The resulting problem was
that a scheduler may arrive at work to find several hundreds wagons
sitting, unannounced, in his maintenance yard, merely because the
there was no work production scheduled for them.
When
faced with the prospect of an expensive upgrade to their ERP System
and in the knowledge that, despite its expense, the maintenance
module did not meet the desired planning and scheduling capability,
the Client determined to look for a suitable alternative.
Early
July 2002 the Wagon Maintenance Division purchased FMMS and embarked
on a depot implementation pilot for their wagon maintenance.
The
pilot objectives included;
- A
maintenance scheduling system that would front end and compliment
existing systems.
- Manage
real time data recording of labour and materials.
- Obtain
measurable data accuracy between systems.
- Incorporate
bar-coding.
- Incorporate
activity base costing.
- Include
customer invoicing (for small jobs).
- Complement
existing corporate ERP software in supporting Depot, Division,
Group and Corporate asset management, materials management and
costing requirements.
- Support
Depot work planning and control processes.
- Support
Depot inventory processes and inventory accuracy requirements.
- Provide
consistent accurate business data.
- Support
commercial business approaches.
In
collaboration with KDR Creative Software’s technical staff,
the Client had within 4 weeks loaded 140,000 Facility Items along
with their respective maintenance schedules.
Within
2 months KDR delivered software enhancements aimed at the unique
requirements of the railway operations.
Within
3 months the pilot met and exceeded expectation. The Client reported
a 99% labour booking efficiency and 100% material accountability.
Even more impressive, is that the FMMS system has earned the trust
and acceptance of the Wagon Maintenance workforce.
The
unprecedented success of the depot implementation has resulted in
a full endorsement of KDR Creative Software’s Facilities
Maintenance Management System (FMMS) software and roll
out to all 23 operational locations. |
