Solution: Process Automation Industry:

Migrating a Wheelset Module to a Centralized Web Portal

1,400%
Search Times Reduced
<process.optimized>
Improved Analytics
<work.enhanced>
Future-Oriented Tool
<options.opened>

The Challenge

GATX Rail Europe is the European division of a global rolling stock leasing leader. The company manages a fleet of tens of thousands of railcars and has to monitor it for maintenance and repairs on an ongoing basis.

Continuing its good relationship with Unity Group, focused on the development and maintenance of Shop Portal, the one-stop system used to manage the company’s fleet of railcars and wheelsets, GATX decided to hire Unity Group to continue developing the portal. One of the key steps on the way to unifying all systems within the organization, was migration of the wheelset module from SAP to Shop Portal.

  • GATX wanted to ensure communication between the modules rather than between the systems, thereby synchronizing wheelset repairs and maintenance.
  • In addition, GATX wanted to reduce inquiry processing times and be better positioned to make changes and improvements to the system, sealing the workflow of all the users involved (customer, workshop, GATX).

The Solution

  • Moving the whole wheelset handling process to Shop Portal enabled unifying the wheelset repairs and maintenance process and accelerating communication between stakeholders.
  • SAP to Shop Portal migration enabled us to automate the process of railcar and wheelset maintenance and repair, optimizing user system times and the ease of access to features and tools.
  • A big improvement was achieved by boosting enquiry performance relative to SAP and by reducing search times to less than 30 seconds.
  • After migration to a single system, GATX can now effectively ease integration with other platforms without having to build new modules, as was the case with SAP.
  • Shop Portal users are familiar with the interface, so no additional training is needed.
  • Migration to Shop Portal has made it possible to analyze and implement changes to streamline the organization’s internal processes and to add features to support identified use cases and features designed to prevent actions inconsistent with the process.
  • The wheelset repair and maintenance history was moved too, enabling further optimization of work performance and of the process of ordering new parts.

The Result

1,400%
Search Times Reduced
Time of searching for a wheelset has been reduced from 7 minutes to less than 30 seconds
<process.optimized>
Reduced Errors
Diminished number of erroneous actions in the system.
<risks.avoided>
Improved Analytics
GATX gained the ability to search for more complex and accurate wheelset data.
<work.enhanced>
Future-Oriented Tool
Enabling easy and fast integration with other systems.
<options.opened>
Preserved Historical Data
Migrating to Shop Portal, alongside the transfer of historical wheelset data, enables GATX to make key decisions concerning wheelset repair and maintenance.
<records.maintained>
Entire Repair Process in One Place
By integrating data into a single system, different teams can work with information that is being updated on an ongoing basis.
<knowledge.shared>
Ease of Adding New Features
GATX can quickly streamline the process with additional features.
<opportunities.grasped>
SSoT (Single Source of Truth)
Unifying wheelset maintenance for repair management ensures data storage in one main portal.
<data.connected>

What We Learned

During the project, changes were made in mapping wheelset fields from SAP to Shop Portal. We needed to add new fields that had not been included in project plans.

Also, it turned out that wheelset number validations could be duplicated, which we had not anticipated during the system migration. So we had to create additional options in the new system to enable these actions.

The Technologies
/ Behind Solutions

x Unity Group

We previously helped GATX develop and maintain their Shop Portal, and we continue to support them in further transformation efforts.

Digitalizing Wagon Repair Verification
GATX Rail Europe

The goal of the project was to pursue a custom, dedicated solution that gave company complete control over documents handling and exchanging.

<business.transformed>  <risks.removed>  <process.automated> 

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As Well

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