The client is a municipal transport service provider with over 400 trams and light rail vehicles in a German metropolitan region and is responsible for the operation, repair, and maintenance of trams, trains, and rails. The company, which has a workforce of around 2,000, transported more than 100 million passengers in 2021.
Finally paperless
Automate basic workshop processes with a decentralized system
Fast reaction
Shortened communication paths in case of faults
Everything in view
Automatic notification of material shortages
Well integrated
Connection to the ERP system
Initial Situation
Trams undergo regular maintenance to ensure the safety of the vehicles used. A fleet of more than 400 vehicles places high demands on the organization of workshop processes. Delays in individual processes and inefficiencies in communication have a direct impact on all subsequent workshop processes.
The client therefore saw a real need to address the manual processes on its shop floor by digitalizing them. Planning and controlling activities in the workshop used to be completely paper-based, which often led to delays in operations. Additional pressure to act arose in 2020/2021 following the expansion of the transport network, which in turn is likely to result in more maintenance orders for the workshop in the future.
codecentric was brought in as a technical partner and tasked with implementing the project. The aim of the project was to bring transparency to the maintenance processes of the different rail systems, to reduce manual effort and work steps, and to minimize information loss between individual process steps and workstations. The following outcomes were pursued:
- Elimination of the paper-based system for planning and controlling workshop activities, thus reducing the workload of group leaders
- Digital logging of material bottlenecks and processing of (corrective) tickets and fault reports
- Automatic transfer of recorded working hours to the ERP system
Solution
codecentric assumed management of the digitalization project in close coordination with the client. A rough draft of the application structure was available at the beginning and this was adopted and built on by codecentric. This provided the basis for developing individual applications for simpler digital processes. The application design was then developed with the help of UX/UI expertise, which codecentric also provided.
The comprehensive system was created using an event-sourcing platform and does not require a central server. This has resulted in a robust system that processes the necessary workflows in a user-oriented way and is scalable to meet future needs.
Various dashboards were created to provide the necessary insights into workshop processes, and these are displayed on tablets. A central dashboard shows overall progress across all lines, while each line has its own dashboard for its own processing progress and any fault reports.
When designing the user interface, particular attention was paid to ensuring that all important information is displayed without overloading the user. Employees responsible for tickets also receive email notifications about missing material or requested tickets. The information from the line is also automatically transferred to the client's ERP system (Zedas).
Result
Since the solution went live in February 2021, the client has had access to a comprehensive and decentralized event-sourcing system for shop floor digitalization that is perfectly tailored to the requirements of a workshop. The implemented system enables employees in the workshop to track current work progress on all lines and to respond to faults or delays in real time. This has drastically reduced the manual effort required to control jobs, record working hours, procure materials, and process tickets. Employees and management have all the necessary data and information at their disposal for operational decisions.
The new event sourcing system makes our daily work much easier and contributes significantly to improving our workshop processes. Manually recording, processing and communicating work orders used to take a lot of time in the past and mistakes could easily happen. Now we have a digital solution that we can rely on. Our employees have responded very positively to the new system.
Any questions about the project?
Do you wish to digitalize your workshop processes and use your data in your ERP system as well? Let's talk.
Head of Sales
Further projects of codecentric AG
Find out about further successful projects that we have completed with our customers. Perhaps you will find inspiration for a use case in your company.
Jürgen Wurster
Head of Sales