RATP Keeps Paris Metro on Track With Data Management System

Cliente: Régie Autonome des Transports Parisiens (RATP)

Desafío Gather and maintain enough technical information and instructions, from centuries-old paper documents to the latest computer files, to totally rebuild a train, if necessary.

Solución Windchill, a structured information management system, which makes the access to information easier and more reliable for workers by integrating it within a single repository.

Resultados The new system provides faster, easier and more secure access to data for technicians, who can quickly locate the right data, minimizing errors caused by using an obsolete part or manually managing information from paper maps.

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Beneath the City of Light, more than a billion passengers ride an underground rail system each year. CSC is helping them arrive on time with an innovative information management system that makes maintaining rail cars easier for technicians.

Trains in public service have a 40- to 50-year life span, during which time the rolling stock of parts and repair manuals evolve continuously. Since most of a train's parts will be replaced between its commissioning and retirement, technical teams must be able to access technical specifications at a moment's notice for repairs.

Since 2003, CSC has provided the Régie Autonome des Transports Parisiens, or RATP, the major transit authority responsible for the Parisian public transportation system, with a better way to gather and disseminate technical information and parts for a train car throughout its tour of duty.

Keeping the trains rolling

Études Planification Référentiel–Gestion or EPR-G, RATP's operational division, oversees part of the 16-line Paris Metro subway, a five-track regional express network and a four-train tramway, running on nearly 500 miles of track with more than 600 stops. The EPR-G gathers and maintains enough technical information and instructions to totally rebuild a train if necessary.

"We are the keepers of the flame," says Luc Pouveroux, head of EPR-G, "but not without difficulty."

The main challenge of this group is to store varied information, from centuries-old paper documents to the latest computer files. CSC helped RATP organize its data through the implementation of a structured information management system, which makes the access to information easier and more reliable for EPR-G's 3,000 workers by integrating it within a single repository.

Cataloging evolving data

"We were highly computerized, but the overall management was mostly manual," explains Éric Bareille, EPR-G's project manager. "Conversely, our suppliers were equipped with performing management systems and we didn’t want to lag behind. We needed a system of our own to introduce the scanned documentation in the repository. We also wanted to make the data more reliable by limiting human interventions."

RATP knew the system needed to be compatible with various design software data types. It had to automatically build a history and establish a link with the existing system because of the drastic evolution of a train during its lifetime. Each modification circulating between RATP and its suppliers, including a validation circuit that ratifies the changes made, also had to be integrated into this workflow.

RATP chose Windchill by software provider PTC for the administration of the repository, and needed to integrate it with the existing system. "The integration would determine what we could do and it had to be performed in six months," adds Bareille.

CSC, which had worked with RATP in the past on other computer-aided design projects, was selected from among five suppliers. "Not only did CSC propose the best quality-to-price ratio, but it also presented the most relevant and rationalized specifications according to our needs," says Pouveroux.

Two processes are used to scan and integrate RATP's documents into Windchill on an ongoing basis, including a scanning process for paper maps, blueprints and microfiches to generate files under multiple formats from CAD tools to multidimensional parts.

Listening to a customer's needs

CSC, assisted by a PTC consultant, developed data recovery methods to build a Windchill repository of computer-assisted design files, as well as the adaptation of the tool to RATP’s needs and requirements.

In order to add to the standard tool, CSC studied RATP’s working methods. This helped to provide the simplest solution possible and facilitate future upgrades. The project was finalized after completion of the data recovery stage, the integration of the computer-aided design tool, the definition of processes and the implementation of the workflow.

"With Windchill, all actions to classify and structure the information are easier and more efficient," says Bareille. "The system totally manages the evolution of information. We’re very satisfied by CSC’s work."

To date, the system holds data on nearly 100,000 parts, covering stock for several subway, express train and tram lines.

The new system provides faster, easier and more secure access to data for RATP technicians, who can quickly locate the right data, minimizing errors caused by using an obsolete part or manually managing information from paper maps.

"We have really appreciated the strong collaboration between CSC and PTC, both on business and technical aspects,” adds Pouveroux. “This close relationship has really made it easier for us. They have been resourceful, competent and proactive."