The Situation
The customer operates a busy rail depot in Bedfordshire that is key to the operation of the West Coast Main Line, one of the most important railway corridors in the UK. The depot is in a remote location, meaning that delivery of stock and spares to site could take up to two hours. Delays were having a costly knock-on effect, with a breakdown having the potential to cost the customer up to £250k a time, due to the turnaround of repairs and servicing being hindered.
Inventory onsite was being controlled manually causing inaccuracies and stock-out situations which only lead to further delays when tools, consumables and spare parts were needed at short notice. The logistics co-ordinator from the depot approached HAYLEY DEXIS | Rail on their stand at the Rail Live exhibition to talk about vending and critical stock management. A site visit was quickly arranged as a follow-up.
The Solution
The customer was impressed with the functionality and many benefits of the unmanned store, a unique engineering store with intelligent digital stock management and automated reordering capabilities. Consultations took place where decisions were made on the customisation of the unit, from the amount of racking on the inside of the container to the stock profile required. Due to the isolated location of this particular depot, electricity was unable to be delivered to the unit in the regular way.
HAYLEY DEXIS worked with the manufacturers behind the unmanned store to install an innovative ‘Green Pack’ as a work-around. This enabled the unit to be powered by a wind turbine and solar panels, delivering a sustainable solution using renewable energy.
"INVENTORY IS NOW CONTROLLED APPROPRIATELY, STOCK LEVELS MONITORED AND REORDERING AUTOMATED."
The Result
The software connected to the unit, now onsite, has given the team invaluable visibility of their stock via a user-friendly dashboard. This dashboard also tells users who last checked-out each item, enhancing traceability. Thanks to the internet-enabled unit, inventory is controlled appropriately, stock-levels monitored, and reordering automated. This has eradicated the problems previously caused by manual stock management including critical products being unavailable when they are needed most.
Engineers are no longer having to travel away from the depot to access required products, minimising delays in sourcing such items. Less travel has also meant less fuel consumption by workers, helping to reduce the carbon footprint of the depot’s operations. Delays in jobs being completed have been dramatically reduced since Remote Store 1 was installed onsite, reducing the financial risks associated with this.