Enhancing Passenger Car Availability Through Maintenance Excellence
Client Context
A national rail operator’s Commercial Group needed to increase passenger car availability to support growing demand in a busy region. Following a previous diagnostic, leadership launched an Operational Excellence initiative at a large maintenance center to improve mechanical performance and address key operational bottlenecks.
Key Challenges
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Insufficient passenger car availability to meet service demand in a key business corridor.
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Operational inefficiencies in inspection workflows and material handling.
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Delays driven by limited parts availability and inconsistent frontline execution.
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Need for sustainable performance improvement and stronger daily management.
Approach & Key Success Factors
EFESO deployed a structured improvement plan focused on process optimization and frontline leadership development:
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Workflow Optimization: Applied Industrial Engineering methods to streamline inspection activities.
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Material Availability Focus: Launched targeted efforts to ensure timely access to required parts.
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Daily Visual Management: Introduced a “Pulse” process to manage planning, scheduling, and performance in real time.
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Frontline Coaching: Trained and coached supervisors on performance management and sustaining gains on the shop floor.
Results
17%
Reduction in line of road failures
11%
Decrease in train delays
5 to 3
Reduction in number of cars waiting for materials