SNCF Cleans Up With Six Sigma

French railway company SNCF spends 135 million euros each year to ensure a clean, pleasant journey for passengers, most of whom will never be aware of the complex cleaning process involved. To meet the quality challenges imposed by the more than 20 diverse regions it operates in, SNCF launched a detailed cleanliness study in 2006 for three pilot sites – west of Paris, north of Paris and in Nantes.

SNCF employed the problem-solving methodology Six Sigma, supervised by CSC consultants, to optimize its cleaning processes, so that each euro invested provides returns for travelers. The approach focused on five major steps: defining the project, assessing the scope, analyzing results, implementing solutions and monitoring performance.

“CSC consultants have spent enough time in the field to gain credibility with the employees. They can propose indicators and promote solutions at all levels of the company," says Christian Proux, manager in charge of SNCF’s cleanliness projects.

The project met the necessary prerequisites to implement Six Sigma – measurable process, chronic defaults, tangible benefits, customer impact, and no clearly identified solution. However, starting the project turned out to be difficult. The trains’ internal and external cleanup is a complex process, as the train cars are constantly moving and cleaning had to be coordinated with an external contractor.

Impressive results in external cleanup

The Six Sigma project’s first benefit was to provide a culture of measurement. Previously, the processes’ performance was evaluated as an average number. With Six Sigma, SNCF could identify, at any given moment, which set of cars had been cleaned within the deadlines, and which had not. To be considered clean, the sets of cars must have been cleaned in a wash station every three days. While the previous indicators reported an average result of 3.2 days ("rather good"), the measurement performed during the project showed a strong disparity: Some sets of wagons were washed twice a day, while others were washed every eight days or longer. One case even reported 27 days between cleanings. The indicator measuring compliance with the three-day rule, integrated in the Six Sigma approach, revealed that the compliance rate was only 48 percent.

A detailed study of critical aspects, such as the lack of preventive maintenance for the wash stations and the inefficient programming of train washes, enabled CSC and SNCF to precisely target the required improvements and obtain everybody’s adherence to them. As a result, the indicator measuring compliance with the cleanup rules increased from 48 to 66 percent. A six-month forecast for one line's external cleanliness was 80 percent.

Reorganizing a complex interior cleanup

The trains’ interior cleanliness is the result of a complex day and night process, almost invisible to passengers. Six Sigma’s approach helped measure and analyze all the elements of the process and define real performance indicators. While the cleanup operations’ analysis revealed some failures on the part of contractors when performing their services, it also highlighted SNCF’s need to manage more rigorously. For instance, Six Sigma identified cases where a TGV train needed to be cleaned in 20 minutes while it was parked. To do so would require a crew of 20 people, yet the contractor generally employs teams of five. It could not be expected to hire 15 people for 20 minutes of work. The Six Sigma project identified such situations and also identified the associated processes – materials’ parking time and contractor's workload – to create innovative solutions.

Six Sigma’s approach, which aims to analyze an issue in an exhaustive and rigorous way, has proven helpful for managing the cleaning process. Improvements have already been noticed, causing SNCF to consider a progressive deployment of the methodology throughout the entire network.

"CSC has generated interest in Six Sigma’s approach," notes Olivier Noirot-Cosson, SNCF project director. "I had the chance to be trained by a Six Sigma Black Belt [the highest level of Six Sigma expert] during the project, who helped us understand an extremely complex subject and identify clear objectives to obtain tangible results."

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