“Huld’s experience in driving similar workshops helped us to better perceive the project as a whole. Consequently, we were able to reach our goals promptly,” says VR FleetCare Head of Digital Services Sami Kalevirta.
VR FleetCare is a Finnish company maintaining rail vehicles. VR FleetCare works to develop an IoT-based system for monitoring the condition of railway tracks and electrical circuits. The system would make it easier to identify possible problems and predict fault situations before they appear. With the help of our Design Puzzle concept, Huld’s experts helped the company to identify how expertise in railway environments and knowledge management can be used to develop the system in the future.
The goal with the system under development is to collect real-time information in order to improve track circuit maintenance. Simultaneously, the company wanted to identify the various actors involved, and to determine their role in the maintenance of track circuits. Thus, the idea was to better understand how the information produced by the system could be utilized in the future to expand the VR FleetCare supply of services.
VR FleetCare was engaged in producing a technical IoT pilot for track circuits. The company needed help from Huld’s experts to get a clearer picture on how knowledge-based management could be utilized more effectively in the development of the entire business. Thanks to our business-centered operations model, Design Puzzle, Huld’s experts assisted the company in crystallizing their business needs and clarifying their projects in both product and service development. In practice, the cooperation was carried out in workshops together with the client. Ensuring a fluent information flow with all participants was essential for getting an overall view.
Working together in the workshops, we combined our forces with the client to create a complete view on track circuit maintenance, processes and the various interest groups. This “big picture” of maintenance was enriched by dividing it into preventive and corrective actions, and after care. These phases were then assessed regarding e.g. the present condition, challenges, possibilities and the future.
As an end result, the workshops were able to produce a value proposition specifically drafted for VR FleetCare. The goal of VR FleetCare is to use knowledge management to develop the company’s digital services and condition monitoring of railway track circuits. Thanks to this pilot project, knowledge management and preventive actions may lead to a future where correcting maintenance is no longer required in the same extent as now. This leads to improved track safety and traveller experience, and also reduces possible traffic disturbances. Furthermore, VR FleetCare customers can use the collected data when designing and prioritizing their investments, and renewing their track assets.