Unlocking frontline knowledge

15/06/2023

Infield knowledge capture for RTS, with a return on investment in 6 weeks Downer Group’s Rail and Transit Systems (RTS) Business Unit provide end-to-end transport solutions, including the maintenance and assembly of trains.

Across various sites in Australia, the RTS team needed to enhance its operations during large maintenance projects to save time and money, while simplifying the way it demonstrated customer and regulatory compliance.

Utilising a new digitised infield data capture system, RTS enabled streamlined data capture through pixel perfect forms. The team also created a defect management system with prefill options and a dashboard view to capture critical knowledge with higher accuracy for faster decision making. The solution has almost eliminated the reporting burden for RTS, and now taking learnings from the RTS team, xDNA are assisting other Downer business units and external customers gain the benefit this solution brings.

At a glance

• Laborious physical paperwork management processes removed from the operational shopfloor
• Complex five-page forms with approximately 250 data fields were digitised within 40 minutes
• Hundreds of thousands of data points were unlocked
• Accurate tracking of defects near real time, straight from shopfloor input
• Ability to identify trends and predict potential defects in near real time.

Problem

Assessing defects on trains is typically a manual process. For RTS sites such as Cardiff, Maryborough, Newport and East Preston, defects were captured on paper-based forms and pictures were captured on digital cameras. These were then transposed and downloaded so they could be inputted into various unlinked Excel spreadsheets. For instance, assessing one wheel set included 3 documents, 7 pages and about 400 individual cells! This administrative process took significant time and delayed the workflow. All these tasks were time-consuming and taking personnel away from their core tasks of managing production and carrying out maintenance. This process also made it difficult to report on KPIs in a timely manner to show performance, analyse data or make decisions.

Solution

The first step was to digitise a backlog of forms. Using a partner product, and a standard implementation method, integration and change methodology, forms that had been used for years were quickly digitised, suddenly unlocking data that had for the past 20 years been captured in manual files with no real practicality for further use by the business. The new method made this data accessible, with easy extraction for monitoring and visualisation of performance and trend assessment. For one project at a site, providing this digital capability saw a return on investment in just 6 weeks.

As well as the digitised forms, a defect management and quality alert system were introduced. Workers on the ground could complete detailed defect forms on a mobile tablet. They could note the exact location of issues on a train or tram image, upload photos, complete checklists and add signatures. These data inputs can now be displayed on dashboards, linked with other data and shared with customers and other parties.

The intuitive interface meant nominated users could become familiar with the software within an hour. Users were set up with different levels of authority, so automated communication could occur while still maintaining data security.

xDNA have now worked with RTS and the platform provider to streamline and standardise the implementation method and enable fast efficient deployments of this solution, striving to be a key delivery partner of the solution across Australasia. The flexibility of the solutions makes it a perfect choice to meet a wide range of data and knowledge capture opportunities across the whole operation.

Outcome

The RTS team have set the standard for implementation, utilising the solution across multiple projects of varying size and complexity, the solution has resulted in a 60% reduction in process steps, data being captured at source, unlocking hundreds of thousands of data points and automating and speeding up workflows. Trigger notifications make communication across some 10 different departments much simpler and data is now extracted directly and automatically from the forms and defects raised.

RTS now use the infield data capture functionality across 5 sites and a power station. It is also used within the High-Capacity Metro Trains (HCMT) project (Victoria’s largest train order), for train assembly records, other production and inspection documentation (testing and commissioning, quality control and NCR reporting), facility maintenance activity, and the management and tracking of training competence assessments.

In a period of just 6 months, 20 RTS projects used the infield data capture technology, with more than 18,000 defects created and 8,000 forms raised. This equates to a saving of about 64,500 pieces of paper and reliable access to 1.5 million data points.

‘The InField Data Capture solution makes collating data easier and more practical. It makes reporting simpler, it’s easy to download, view and customize and it gives us capability to maintain and run ourselves. We have all the information we need right at our fingertips.’ Nick Mountford, Head of HSEQ, Rail and Transit Systems, Downer Group

About xDNA

We serve to support Downer's internal digital transformation and to bring lived experiences and intellectual property to Downer's clients, partners, and the industries in which we operate. We focus on unlocking real opportunity at the intersection of the human extraordinary and emerging technologies.

A key focus for our business is the future of front-line work. We offer a deep understanding of emerging tech solutions to augment critical frontline worker tasks. Using smart systems, workers can capture, analyse, and communicate infield data knowledge to increase training speed, operations efficiency, and protection of critical subject matter expertise.

To find out how we can help transform the DNA of your front-line please contact hello@xdna.com.au.