Improving Freight Train Departure Performance
Despite determined efforts from local management, only 42.5% of train services were departing from the Sydney Freight Terminal (SFT) on time. Whereas on time departures needed to be greater than 80% to meet customer needs. To provide context, departing Sydney thirty minutes late correlated to arriving into Perth about twenty hours late.
This business improvement project was led by Chris Schroeder utilising the Six Sigma DMAIC methodology, along with drawing upon Lean and innovative thinking techniques, resulting in transformed performance.
Some of the key changes implemented were:
- Working Smarter – Getting “ahead of the game” and optimising resource utilisation
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- Changes to existing procedures
- Terminal Performance Sheets
- Yard use optimisation
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- Standard Working – Shift Tasks, Arrival & Departure roads, etc
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- Preferred Yard Working Guides
- Incoming Train Marshalling
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- Improved Accountability / Transparency – KPI’s
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- Shift based KPI’s
- New technology
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This project resulted in a complete redesign of procedures and processes, which included mapping an entire week’s standard operations. The goal was to get “ahead of the game”, minimise re-work, work smarter not harder, and to optimise the use of the yard infrastructure.
Using tools from the Lean methodology, standardised work was implemented with agreement from all stakeholders, and KPI’s were revised to be more meaningful, thereby improving accountability and transparency.
Over the course of six months, this business improvement project dramatically transformed the SFT’s on-time departure performance, improving it from an average of 53 minutes late down to 0.5 minutes early, and from only 42.5% of trains departing on time to 86% on time performance.
