Insights

Arcadis Gen is excited to announce that we will be utilizing our Enterprise Decision Analytics (EDA) platform to power Network Rail’s next generation of asset and workforce planning. EDA will be configured for the Asset Lifecycle Planning (ALP) and Work Planning and Scheduling (WPS) solutions to be implemented throughout 2021-22 for an enduring impact for decades to come.

Arcadis Gen and our EDA platform were selected as the preferred supplier by Network Rail and their IT partner, Cognizant. Starting in January 2021, having already successfully completed the high-level designs we are working as “one-team” with Network Rail and Cognizant to successfully implement the solutions utilizing an agile approach to delivery.

Asset Lifecycle Planning will deliver an integrated, strategic asset management planning system that has the capability to optimize investment plans across asset disciplines, based on a common value framework of service measures. ALP will provide Network Rail a single platform in which to create and optimize their work, holistically alongside all assets, routes, and regions. The key objectives of ALP are:

• Align long-term asset management strategies with the short-term delivery plans, resources, and access,
• Provide information to help forecast the future strategic demands for resources, machinery, materials, and access,
• Produce live, multi-discipline, and cross-functional plans which are in a tailored (for route/region) but consistent format,
• Provide information from workbank to accurately forecast engineering access requirements,
• Optimize the asset intervention trade-offs (renew/maintain/enhance) based on different parameters (e.g., safety, performance, cost, sustainability),
• Produce an optimized, live workbank that takes account of a range of factors including affordability, deliverability, access, resource constraints, corporate objectives, etc.

Work Planning and Scheduling will enable the workforce, using technology, to efficiently plan and deliver Network Rail’s commitments through an optimized industry-leading maintenance regime. WPS will revolutionize work planning and its key objectives are:

• A move to more proactive work planning and away from reactivity
• Allow planners more time to make planning decisions and plan more safely,
• Reduce the amount of time it takes to create a plan,
• Reduce the amount of time it takes to re-plan following unexpected changes,
• Allow maintenance units to negotiate better access,
• The ability to measure and influence the stability of the work plan.

Joe Roebuck, Global Analytics Leader of Arcadis Gen notes “This is incredibly exciting to see. To tackle both asset and workforce planning in such a holistic way is something I have not seen by any utility across the world. The workforce planning vision is something I have personally championed for years and remain very passionate about the potential. It is now even more important than ever that each of the routes are empowered with a consistent planning platform but has the flexibility to capture their regional requirements. We are proud to help Network Rail ensure the right people are assigned to the right job, on the right assets in the right location at the right time!”