Challenges of Matching Maintenance Programs to an Aging Rolling Stock Fleet

Challenges of Matching Maintenance Programs to an Aging Rolling Stock Fleet

Rail Conference 2013

Michael Weiss, P.Eng. Senior Project

Manager-Vehicle Engineering Kingston, Canada

Railroad & Transit Agencies

Organizational Demographics

 Service Schedule Demands

 Rolling Stock & Various Vintage Fleet Mix  Maintenance Facilities Capabilities

 Materials Supply Management Processes  Technical Support Services Structure

Hierarchy of

Operational Objectives

SERVICE and COMFORT

EQUIPMENT UTILIZATION

RELIABILITY and AVAILABILITY

CONTROLLING OPERATING COSTS

Maintenance Program Types

& Their Characteristics

 Preventive -

Routine scheduled activities following OEM and regulatory requirements

 Corrective-

Necessary Unscheduled responding to failures in operation, “speedy in/out”

 Reliability Centered-

Predicted schedule based on

Maintenance Program Types

& Their Characteristics

 Condition Based-

Incorporated in Scheduled Maintenance ‘evaluate’ condition of equipment

 Scheduled Intervention-

Pre-Planned modification and overhaul activities

 Investment Based-

Achieve highest value and productive output based on rolling stock equipment condition, & capital investment programs forecasts

Effective Integration of

Maintenance Programs

limited but valued function within

managing the life cycle of the Rolling Stock equipment.

• Need to determine the effectiveness of

these maintenance work program outputs in achieving the planned objectives of the operating railroad.

• The absence or neglect to do so, will lead

Goal of “Balance and Adaptive”

Implementing Maintenance Programs

 Plan to address the non-controlled and continuous “morphing” environmental factors:

• Aging Condition Effects

• Ever-Changing Operational Demands • Work Place Culture Changes

• Accelerated Rate of Obsolescence • External Social/Economic/Financial

Influences

Maintenance Programs Common

Constraints and Limitations

 Capital Investment & Financial Funding  Work Force Skills & Labor Relations

 Resources Available Plant Service Facilities Plant Time Parts Tech Support

Capital Investment , Funding,

Financial Planning Influences

 Unpredictable commitment from

Federal/State/Municipalities impacts Investment Based

 Dependence on intermediary overhaul type Scheduled Intervention

 Unmatched aging rates of components, Condition-Based, Reliability Based

 Activities to Reset Equipment Timeline to be Equalized

Plant –Service Facilities

Resource Influences

 Sufficient Bays

 Designed and Equipped to Handle LRU Approach

 Accommodate Longer Unit Trains  Effect of Plant Restrictions

Clogged train movement can impact multiple train-sets scheduled for maintenance

Material Management and

Parts Availability Influences

 Material Management – timely forecasts, due to supplier ‘just-in-time’ create long lead time

 For Rolling Stock Availability, Mat’l

Mgmt-stocked inventories, storage areas, efficient part control tracking & transportation

 Absent Part, inability to complete service task, and

 Revenue Producing Train is Waiting Part

 LRU to Combat Constraints of Plant & Time  Promotes Quality Assurance

 Dilemma of LRU process:

 Bulky high cost assembly  Larger storage area

 material handling equipment  Exchanged LRU transported to

remote shop for corrective service,

 Additional Costs - shop space, service person time, parts management

Time Management and

LRU-Line Replaceable Unit-Dilemma

LLRU Alternative

Decision of Efficiency

 Practical Decision of Weighing LLRU Replacement Energies

 Replace the fault causing reasonably

accessible LLRU component contained in the identified faulty LRU assembly

LLRU Alternative

Benefits

 Reduce risk of damage to other healthy components

 Employ less service and material handling manpower,

 Eliminating the removal and installation time of large LRU,

 Gain Knowledge of the ‘Cause’ of fault verses the Symptom

 Eliminate Testing the LRU remotely performed on vehicle

 Focus Testing the function of the replaced LLRU

Employing New Vehicle

Enhanced Diagnostic Technology

 New Vehicle Designs provide

operator/maintenance monitoring devices “real-time operational health” of on-car

equipment

 Decision of LLRU or LLRU equipment repair activities.

 Wifi Technology direct failure reporting for corrective maintenance activities and

 Instant Data Records for reliability base

and/or scheduled intervention maintenance planning.

Employing New Vehicle

Enhanced Diagnostic Technology

“Who is being assigned to take ownership of these maintenance tasks?”

 The maintainer? to be skilled to interpret

information & independently perform work?

 Or the technical support person who performs the analysis to direct the plan and issues the work-order to service personnel ?

Workforce Skills

& Labor Relations Influences

 Trends of Training -less technical skills, more procedural & workplace safety.

Aligned with QA processes.

 Broader work scope and labor grade categories

 ’Generalist’ concept being fostered.

 Use on-board vehicle equipment diagnostics

 Portable Test Unit

The PTU and LRU Dilemma

Affects on Workforce Role

Questionable if the PTU being used as intended !

 Multiple scope ‘Generalist’ service worker only performs PTU corrective actions.

 PTU typically default to LRU replacement,

 Fault Finding Information does not get to the “Back-shop” repair person who is analyzing the fault causing LLRU !

The PTU and LRU Dilemma

Affects on Workforce Role

Other Realities of PTU use:

-Limited number of PTUs-not one for everyone -Troubleshooting by Technical Support Person

- Service person with or without the PTU will exchange the LRU

- “Trial and Error” methodology resulting in stack of suspect parts that must be

re-evaluated and tested before it can be returned to stores.

- This can lead to a misrepresentation of number true fault causing LRU items.

Workforce Role Challenges

Return of the ‘Specialist’

 Impact of PTU and LRU Dilemma has eroded the benefits of “one-man-do-it-all”

 Service persons becoming “parts changers”  Absent are Old Days of “Technician”

“Millwright” “Mechanic” “Electrician”  Hierarchy of “System Specialists” total

functional role of –troubleshoot, repair, validate and ‘sign-off’

 Necessity of the Disguised Return of the

Technical Support Services

Influences

 Structured roles,

 Interact with Railroad Demographics to support Hierarchy of Operation.

 Provide link for operating and maintenance understanding resolution issues

 ‘Neutral’ Analytical Decipher of external influences i.e. climatic, physics type

stresses, passenger/ operator/maintainer interactions

 Necessary resource for Conditioned-Based and Reliability Centered

Triggers for Maintenance

Alterations

 Reacting to Equipment Health

 Monitoring & Recording Equipment Behavior

• Evaluate ‘your’ information to the ‘Norm’ of

comparable Railroad Equipment Statistics!

 Implementing FRACAS Process–Failure

Reporting, Analysis, Corrective Action System

• Unbiased “Eyes”

• “ Set of Legs’ walk freely

• Have an “Authoritative Voice” • Present Recommended Action

Combating the Constraints

 Financial- Ask not “What we can afford?” but “What can’t we afford? In terms of Consequences!

 Time- Implement process that are timely to: acquire information, implement plan and

evaluate Results!

 Resources– Work within what exists but do so Effectively, be prepared to Invest to meet Objectives!

 Work Force Skills- This is the dependent resource to manage the Equipment that requires Attention!

Case of Railroad Changing

Maintenance Processes

Use of Reliability Information

 Improved equipment change-out process

Preventative

 Implemented Test Study to Evaluate Equipment Reliability-Based

 Enhanced Scheduled Maintenance Go/No-go instructions to evaluative equipment

performance Condition-Based

 Extended change-out period OEM perform overhaul Scheduled Intervention

 Evaluated Equipment Reliability Statistics with ROI for Higher Values on Hierarchy of Operational Objectives !

Coordination of Planned

Equipment Acquisition

 Create Seamless Transition of Maintenance practices

 New vehicle technologies, diagnostics reporting

 Old fleet sustained it’s predicted life

 Mat’l mgmt and parts storage adjustments  Assign locations for new BTEs

Coordination of Planned

Equipment Acquisition-cont’d

 Plant alterations to handle LRU & train length

 Plant address new vehicle demands

Service Contracts vs.

Localize In-house Capability

Contract OEM supplier as parts provider via stock or off-site repair center

 Insurance premium priced for component availability

 Contractor meet services demands and adjusts quantities.

 Contractor offer ‘rolled-in’ design enhanced upgrades

 For larger fleet owners investing to have

local site repair service

 Specialized capabilities- re-engineering

abilities, lower level parts stores, sophisticated BTEs,

 Create pool stock for shop floor exchange

Value of Periodic Investigations

for Maintenance Alterations

Impact of additional stress from environment, or duty cycle demand changes to equipment wear rates

Equipment Performance Auditors

 Evaluation plan using onboard diagnostic tools,

 Extract service personnel testimonials ,

 Perform analysis confirm design suitability to service operation

demands.

 This is rarely performed,

yet no Railroad remains in status quo of their service operation or cost management targets.

Presentation

Summary

CHALLENGES

 Working Effectively within Constraints  Adjusting to the “Morphing” Hierarchy of

Operational Objectives

“TRIGGERS”

 Utilize Timely Monitoring Mechanisms  React to Equipment Health Conditions

 Exercise “Kaizen” Continual Improvement Process

Adjust to New Vehicle &

New Technologies

AFFECTING the 4 “P”s

PLANT

Facilities PARTS Management

PROCESS Procedures PEOPLE

Evaluate Equipment’s Life Cycle

Position for “R” Decisions

31 LIFE CYCLE DECISIONS Replace New Repair Retire Resell Run As Is Rebuild Same As

Create Balanced & Adaptive

Maintenance Programs

Michael Weiss with Best Regards