Information support of the system for managing technical assets in railway transportation

Abstract

Aim. JSC RZD is one of the largest and most advanced companies in Russia who actively deploys and uses best practices in asset and risk management. In 2010, the railway industry initiated the project for the management of resources, risks and dependability at lifecycle stages of railway facilities (URRAN) that is currently under way. The aims of this paper are to overview the asset management tasks covered by URRAN; examine the marketed IT tools designed to address such problems; present the progress of the URRAN project in terms of process automation implemented by JSC RZD in light of the international best practice and the specificity of the Company. Methods. The preparation of this paper involved empirical and theoretical research. The authors analysed the URRAN project’s package of guidelines and regulations, public information on the globally available software products enabling asset management, as well as the program documentation of the EKP URRAN automated system. They analysed the functionalities and and engineering solutions used in the development of this automated system. The results of the EKP URRAN deployment and practical application by units and branches of JSC RZD were evaluated. Results. Asset management involves using Enterprise Asset Management Systems (EAMS) specially designed to suit the needs of specific companies or mass-produced “out-of-the-box” systems, e.g. SAP ERP, IBM MAXIMO, ABB AbilityТМ and SimeoTM that are examined in the paper. The EKP URRAN implements a single information space that is a decision support tool for the asset management system as it possesses the required regulatory and procedural resources, hardware and software assets intended for comprehensive management of assets and processes for the purpose of efficient railway service. In the future, the EKP URRAN is to become part of the Digital Platform for Risk and Traffic Safety Management deployed in JSC RZD and will comprise modules that implement dynamic predictive analytics models for the purpose of predicting undesirable events involving infrastructure and rolling stock that may disrupt traffic safety. Conclusions. Further development of the EKP URRAN will soon provide all levels of company management with an efficient tool that allows, in the context of limited resources, making substantiated managerial decisions and rational investment allocation. The EKP URRAN is an asset of JSC RZD designed to be used by the managers and specialists of various JSC RZD units. It can be implemented as a standalone IT product for the purpose of developing and deploying an asset management system in various railway companies.