Central Trains - One of Britain's major rail Operators
“The great thing about QFM is that it is such an easy system to use without compromising on functionality.”
Central Trains
Central Trains is one of the UK’s major rail operators with passenger frequencies exceeding half a million per week travelling to over 300 destinations. Central Trains have been using CAFM software to manage their facilities since 2001 and claim to manage their FM operations with a completely independent approach to other Train companies.
The underlining objective of CAFM software was the ‘capture of events’ which fundamentally relates to the identification of any faults and then the subsequent completion of work at any of the 200 stations across their central network. The successful management of facilities through integrated QFM software is considered an important achievement in itself by the rail operator. “Events can be anything from lighting faults, or vandalism and health and safety problems, to refurbishments and new installations,” explains Michelle Chambers, the facilities manager at Central Trains.
Managing Vandalism
“Sometimes a member of the public will report vandalism to our customer relations department and they in turn inform the Helpdesk at our head office in Birmingham. Normally though it will be station staff who phone, fax or e-mail the Helpdesk. The system is so straightforward that we only need one Helpdesk operator. They will do a quick check to see if the event has already been recorded (although the system does identify repeat calls) then enter the details and give the station staff a log number. The job will then be allocated where possible to a member of the FM team, or otherwise to an external contractor.”
Proactive maintenance is also managed via QFM, with schedules produced for the in-house maintenance people. Chambers has also been keen to ensure that planned preventive maintenance (PPM) is always carried out in conjunction with reactive tasks, which the system successfully manages and provides clear identification of imminent jobs in need of undertaking.
Reporting
A key benefit of the QFM system for Central Trains is the day-to-day management of live jobs and the ability to maintain an overview of fault resolution and the performance of subcontractors. “We can generate reports,” adds Chambers, “and keep a close eye on costs. All our incoming invoices are recorded on QFM so we know exactly how much each job is costing us. Some reports were set up for us at the start, and Service Works Global was very good in showing us how to adapt these to give us extra information.”
Recently the QFM Event Director module was installed. This is a management tool which provides a ‘traffic light’ system showing instant warning count down for jobs. In addition, it shows at a glance which contractors have been given jobs and how long they have had them, therefore providing fast and accurate work order optimisation and job escalation management. “It collates information to give us an overview on contractors’ performance,” explains Chambers. “And again it’s an easy system to use. With one click of a button we can bring up a quick report of a contractor’s performance and this really saves us time.”
“The great thing is that Service Works Global is always working on something new, so I know that if we need additional functionality in the future, we can be confident that we’ll be able to get it.”