Considerable savings
Next year the railcar depot St. Petersburg-Baltiyskiy will increase the amount of repaired sections from 220 to 270. For this purpose the depot began implementing the project "Thrifty production".
Last week after a visit to the depot "RZD" JSC president Vladimir Yakunin noted that "Thrifty production" is a fundamentally new approach to quality management. Today it is not only the problem of the branch but that of economics as well. The efforts to improve efficiency, start small: how a cutter and a nut are put, and how people feel. "For example, this depot cost reduction is 1 million rubles per year, and this is just one site, but if we take all over the web, we’ll get hundreds of millions. For instance, I considered the project of the lighting replacement in the Severomuisk tunnel. Replacement of incandescent lamps gives an annual saving of 2.5 million, and how many of such tunnels exist across the country? This is the thrifty production. In regard to the labor arrangement - as the saying goes - all new is well forgotten old, and people who work here, feel comfortable, because they realize themselves as real engineers," - stressed the head of the company.
"Thrifty production" is implemented in two workshops - at the Electric Apparatus site and at the Wagon Department,"- said the Chief of commuter traffic direction "Transcom" Igor Akobardin. The first stage of the "Thrifty production" implementation is to bring workplaces into order. "When this process just began, half a ton of garbage was taken out of the depot. The workplaces must comply with the standard production process, that is, there should be only necessary tools. It gives an opportunity to avoid time loses in the initial stage, when a person comes to work," - mentioned Igor Akobardin.
According to his words, at the first stage the terms of repair have reduced, the productivity have increased. "For example, at the Electric Apparatus site a rheostat repair took about 11.3 hours. Only due to tiding up the workplace, putting the necessary tools nearby the worker, improving the lighting of the workplace, we have that the rheostat controller repair takes now 9.2 hours," - told Igor Akobardin.
One of "Thrifty production" elements is called Poka-Yoke, a system of protection against unintentional errors, in other words it prevents poor-quality repairs. To do this, at the depot at the cars diagnostics position a complex COMPACS®-EXPRESS-TR3 is installed. The uniqueness of the complex is that it allows you to diagnose almost all railcar equipment, preventing access of poorly repaired vehicles to the line.
The diagnostic system monitors the wheel motor units, measures the insulation resistance of high-voltage and low-voltage electrical circuits, static characteristics of the current collector cars, the parameters of pneumatic and brake systems of cars. "For example, previously the rheostat controller left the site without being tested and was placed on the rolling stock, and if it immediately broke down, is was returned to the depot for reworking. The diagnostic system tests efficiency of the repaired stock, which leaves the site guaranteed serviceable. While testing the system issues an electronic protocol," - says Igor Akobardin. According to his words, for the first nine months of this year due to this equipment 24 cases of reworking were excluded. Thus, 72 hours of working time were saved. As a whole, owing to the new technology the number of unscheduled repairs has decreased by 9.2%, i.e. up to 36 cases against 39 in 2008. A non-production costs have reduced by 12%.
It is planned that till the end of the year, "Thrifty production" will be implemented in three depots of the railway.
Source: The newspaper "Gudok", St. Petersburg - 11.3.2009. - №207. - p.5. Authors: Iana Pozolotchikova, spec.cor. of the newspaper "Gudok" / 2009 Download the response
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