Data-intensive applications

Supply chain and asset data collection for Infrabel

High-quality data about company assets is essential for creating an effective preventive maintenance plan. Based on our work with large utility and infrastructure companies, Kapernikov set up a comprehensive data collection campaign for Infrabel and offered the company a solid data collection framework for future campaigns.

Challenge

How do you set up an efficient campaign? How can you be sure that you collect all the data you need? And can you trust the data you collect? Those are the typical questions that asset managers face when embarking on a data collection campaign. Infrabel struggled with the exact same questions and was therefore looking for a partner who could assist them during the data collection process.

Role

Kapernikov has been running a data collection campaign for Infrabel, Belgium’s railway network operator, for more than three years. By doing so, Kapernikov has developed a five-step methodology that offers a sound basis for future data collection campaigns.

Internal data collection – Collect what you can before going into the field. Field work is expensive and possibly dangerous. Therefore, it should be kept to a minimum. By involving maintenance teams early on in the data campaign you gain buy-in and you show you honor the team’s expertise. For the Infrabel project, Kapernikov first interviewed the maintenance teams about the state of the company’s assets.
Plan – Based on the first internal round of data collection, we set up a rough day-to-day work planning and project forecast for on-site data collection. Although plans need to be adapted along the way, they do set a clear target from the beginning.
Tools & procedures – If you want your field crew to deliver quality data, they need to know exactly what you want and they need to have suitable equipment. Kapernikov provided the Infrabel data collection team with all the necessary tools to label, scan, photograph and document the operational assets through a carefully developed script. It’s almost impossible to have too many photographs documenting your findings.
Check and follow up – All collected data needed to be transferred and synchronized in the cloud. Next, the Kapernikov team checked, cleaned, corrected and updated the data. This is where the pictures come in handy.
Adapt – Based on the first data collection and processing rounds, the rough planning was updated and the tools and the procedures to produce even more consistent data were refined.

Results

The Infrabel data collection campaign included more than 150.000 checks of operational assets. The campaign has been critical for the maintenance and safety of Belgium’s railway network. Kapernikov helped Infrabel to make the data collection process more uniform and also provided the appropriate tools for data collection. The systematic approach is the ideal basis for more efficient preventive maintenance and ultimately for safer infrastructure along Belgium’s railways.