Intelligent Infrastructure: Why You Need a Strategy
Whether your program is Remote Condition Monitoring (RCM), Intelligent Infrastructure or Sensor Based Maintenance, the goal is the same: harnessing remote sensing with data collection and analysis to transform the way you operate and maintain rail assets. However, there are numerous pitfalls that can make you regret decisions taken early in the project development lifecycle. Developing a strategy requires consideration of the future of how RCM fits into your business and its future.
Many railroad administrations begin their RCM journey through product offerings from equipment suppliers, often introduced as low-risk pilots or free trials. These implementations often grow organically, and their success is predicated on input from enthusiastic individuals that make them work. When those individuals move on, systems can fall into disuse and disrepair. If new individuals become interested, it may be difficult to get training and instructions, and the systems do not have a place in the organization’s operating processes.
Systems from small suppliers may be lacking in areas such as cyber security and can be vulnerable to changes made in software libraries and operating systems. As a result, organizations may find themselves investing in upgrades simply to keep the service running without improving functionality, which can be a difficult sell to those responsible for budgets and investment decisions.
RCM systems can deliver distinct levels of capability and therefore careful consideration is needed to identify how much capability is required to deliver value to the business. This means the purpose for RCM and the reasons for embarking on the project need to be debated and agreed with stakeholders.
Attaining higher levels of capability, such as predicting the remaining life of an asset, requires a large quantity of empirical data. However, there is an opportunity for the RCM system to provide early benefit whilst waiting to collect sufficient data to feed an AI or machine learning solution.
Once the reasons for implementing RCM are identified, the next step is to define a roadmap of changes to update existing standards and processes, enabling a shift from current manual methods to a model powered by automated data. Where the program has defined benefits, we would recommend identifying a method for measuring the realization of those benefits.
When considering an enterprise-wide roll out of asset condition monitoring, rail organizations should consider whether there will be a future need to integrate data from different disciplines and sources. Investing in individual monitoring systems may limit this potential, reducing the value that a unified approach can deliver. The same is true for who is going to operate the system. Is there a need to integrate and prioritize alarms so that the operator doesn’t miss an important alert whilst their attention is on another system?
Setting out a medium to long term strategy offers the chance to define a procurement approach that limits dependence on individual suppliers and in turn can bring cost reductions. Early consideration of the methodology for installation allows the process to be streamlined to increase efficiency and reduce costs.
Data retention and aggregation also need to be clearly defined. If suppliers are offering a hosted service, this may soon become increasingly expensive if the agreement contains a unit rate for storage; yet discarding data may slow the development of the patterns and insights needed for accurate failure prediction. Aggregating data into daily, weekly or monthly averages as it ages may be a solution to this. Ownership and access to data are key to the development of high-level capabilities and failing to consider these issues sufficiently early can hamper future progress.
Network Rail, began its RCM journey over 20 years ago. Our first strategy was completed 15 years ago in response to many of the challenges above. The UK rail network now has over 60,000 assets fitted with condition monitoring and we have used the data gathered to develop predictive tools. Our experience has grown over time, and whilst many of the strategic decisions made at the start have supported this growth, there are things we would do differently with the benefit of that experience.
At Network Rail Consulting, we have staff who were involved in the strategic development, planning and implementation of RCM in the UK and have since supported railroads around the world with both strategic and technical advice.
Embarking on an RCM program and enabling truly data‑driven decision‑making is an exciting step forward. If you want to benefit from over 20 years of RCM experience and lessons learned across real‑world applications, contact us today. Take the next step in your RCM journey and let our team help you build a future‑ready, data‑driven maintenance strategy.