Infor, provider of beautiful business applications specialised by industry and built for the cloud, has announced that ScotRail, the train operator responsible for 95% of Scotland's rail network, has deployed Infor EAM in the Cloud with Infor ION.
Infor EAM will help ScotRail manage planned and corrective maintenance across its fleet more efficiently, boosting productivity, risk management and reliability while supporting ScotRail's agenda to be a leader in innovation within its industry.
Infor EAM in the Cloud is expected to minimise capital expenditure through a reduced technology infrastructure footprint. Infor ION provides purpose-built middleware which is fundamental to the deployment, ensuring smooth integration across the rail operator's critical systems, maximising visibility.
Abellio was awarded the ScotRail franchise in April 2015, with responsibility for managing 292 trains across eight different fleets in Scotland. The fleets are diverse, spanning diesel multiple units and newer electric vehicles. This diversity impacts on maintenance requirements, representing an enormous challenge for the operator. Given the scale and breadth of its operations, both planned and corrective maintenance takes place across a number of sites to accommodate cleaning, fuelling, repairs and servicing. It is supported by over 500 staff.
ScotRail adheres to strict safety, legislative, competency, training and ISO requirements, so its associated business processes are rigorous and reliable. In order to optimise standards and customer service and to boost efficiency, these processes must be capable of supporting activities in real-time.
Prior to April 2015, ScotRail was using a system from SAP, but decided to replace it with Infor EAM in the Cloud and Infor ION to take advantage of industry-leading functionality. Abellio's confidence in the solution was based on experience gleaned from its other franchises.
Key to the selection was Infor's ability to deploy the application to meet timescales of less than six months, something which was achievable based on Infor's understanding of the industry and of the operator's business processes. Mobile access via tablets was key in supporting real-time asset management; and the application's interface and intuitiveness was deemed imperative in engaging the 550 staff using the system. Finally, flexibility and the ability to customise aspects of the solution were vital in ensuring that the application met the organisation's needs within the timescales.
"Installing an EAM system on this scale within just a few months is a tall order by any standards," comments William Marshall, Head of Engineering, ScotRail. "Infor acted diligently, professionally and with clear expertise, helping to address challenges along the way and working with us to ensure the system delivered precisely what we needed to meet our objectives.
"Now that we are live, we are able to make much better, faster decisions, boosting the efficiency and reliability across our fleet. And through Infor EAM we feel that we are well placed to pursue our objective to be one of the most innovative organisations in our industry," Marshall said.
"Looking ahead, we will be exploring using Infor EAM in other ways. For example, we know that we can use train monitoring devices to monitor precisely how a given train behaves and performs in order to adjust maintenance strategies and boost reliability further. We are also looking at how devices, combined with Infor EAM, can process oil sample results or brake pad wear more closely in order to create a work order and ensure appropriate action is taken in a set time frame."
"It goes without saying that assets are the absolute lifeblood of rail companies, or any other organisation operating in the transportation sector, and with intensely strict safety, legislative and reliability standards to adhere to, it is pretty much impossible to operate efficiently without an asset maintenance system," comments Frederic Russo, European Regional Vice President, EAM, Infor.
"Given ScotRail's ambition to consolidate its position as a leader in innovation in its industry, there is little doubt that only the most sophisticated, cloud-based, mobile enabled system would fit the bill. We are delighted to be working with the rail operator to achieve its goals and establish a robust platform to explore future improvements in performance."
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