Unipart Rail business, Instrumentel, has commenced the fitting of sensors to Porterbrook fleets to enhance asset management for the company.
Porterbrook’s objective was to find a solution which would enable them to drive change by having the ability to proactively monitor their assets on the rail network and provide them with intelligent data to highlight early warning signs and degradation patterns. This would allow them to plan maintenance in advance, therefore reducing costs and the negative impacts to both the business and customers, of having trains out of service.
They required a partner that would support them on this journey through the utilisation of Digital Technology. The Instrumentel condition-based maintenance systems are being increasingly adopted by asset owners, operators and maintainers to deliver optimal maintenance programs and cost savings, and were therefore, a perfect fit for Porterbrook.
The objectives of this strategic partnership included:
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To instrument a full fleet of vehicles with Condition Monitoring Equipment
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To work in partnership in order to reduce failures in service - this was targeted at a 60% reduction in engine failures
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To specifically target poor performing vehicles
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Proactively perform maintenance - the result of which will be an improvement in passenger satisfaction
Working in partnership for over 15 years, Unipart Rail has an extremely strong relationship with Porterbrook and provides them with a variety of services across both product and supply chain solutions. Porterbrook chose to work with Instrumentel based on the company's history and experience in data science and the combination of multiple data assets - the business has been doing this in the automotive sector for years and is now a world-leader in the design and manufacture of telemetry systems for extreme and inaccessible environments. They also required a true partnership approach, rather than a standard commercial or transactional relationship.
Stephanie Klecha, Porterbrook’s Head of Digital Services commented:
“Their (Instrumentel) business directive and our business directive is all about utilising digital technology to drive change in rail. That is going to be a challenging task and having a partner who understands that and is collaborating with us on that journey is critical to its success.”
Through the implementation of sensor technology, Instrumentel’s Condition Based Maintenance Solutions integrate data with real-world incidents. These solutions provide enhanced data science that will deliver more actionable insight for Porterbrook as well as systems that will assist them with the automation of asset maintenance.
The condition monitoring systems are now being fitted on engine and fuel systems across the Porterbrook fleets, providing them with insight into engine performance and fuel usage that will enable them to manage their fleets more effectively and drive performance and cost improvements, whilst reducing the risk of system failure.
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