The Situation
The customers’ train depot supports and maintains two of Network Rail’s ‘grinding trains’, used to improve the performance of the railway tracks. These two trains have been running for five years and travel long distances throughout the UK’s rail network. Currently, the tools used to maintain the grinding trains were not standardised and finding the correct tools each time was wasting the time of engineers. Sometimes tools were even misplaced during operations anywhere from Essex to Scotland.
The Solution
The Sales Manager at the local HAYLEY DEXIS branch got the call and arranged to visit the depot where he met with engineers and consulted with them about their issues and took suggestions on board before a manufacturer was contacted to collaborate on the project. Facom joined HAYLEY DEXIS on the follow-up visits and a final defined list of recommended was arrived at shortly afterwards. The list was agreed upon as it balanced the need to stay within budgetary parameters with the quality of tools required by engineers to perform maintenance tasks both effectively and efficiently.
"THE IMPROVE DURABILITY OF ALL OF THE TOOLS ON THE FINAL LIST…MEANS SERVICE LIFE HAS BEEN EXTENDED, HELPING TOO LOWER TCO."
The Result
The customer was impressed with the quality of the solution provided given that it fell within their relatively tight budget. The improved durability of all of the tools on the final list, when compared to what the customer was using beforehand, means service life has been extended, helping to lower total cost of ownership. Now standardised and accounted for within a defined list, far less non-productive time is being spent by engineers searching for tools, enabling them to be more efficient in carrying-out duties. Tools used in the maintenance of the grinding trains are now sourced from a single manufacturer and a single distributor, reducing the burden posed by reordering processes and guarantees same-day and next-day access to stock.