RFI Deploys Predix Asset Performance Management to Improve Availability and Minimize Costs

Rete Ferroviaria Italiano S.p.A is the Italian national railway infrastructure manager of two companies: RFI, which manages infrastructure, and Train Italia, which is the rolling stock company. RFI’s mission is to commercialize train tracks on a secure and reliable infrastructure, and it strives to respond to changing market needs in a sustainable manner.

RFI looks to build predictive maintenance strategy

Until recently, all maintenance was conducted on a proactive or scheduled maintenance basis. To achieve the goals of safety and sustainability, RFI decided to optimize its maintenance management by building a predictive maintenance strategy that could deal with legislation and reporting requirements of the Italian National Safety Authority.

RFI also needed to take control of its operating costs in the face of rising material and labor expenses, as well as higher costs for utilities, taxes, and duties. With limited dollars and manpower, RFI decided that it needed to move from a time-based to a predictive maintenance strategy.

A key requirement of RFI implementing an asset performance management (APM) solution was that it integrated with its SAP system. From a technology standpoint, RFI works with:

• 200 SAP object classes
• more than 2,000 technical characteristics
• almost 2,000,000 functional locations
• over 5,000 maintenance tasks

Conducting mean time between failure (MTBF) analysis as part of APM implementation

RFI implemented Predix Asset Performance Management (Predix APM) (formerly Meridium Enterprise APM) and separated its operations by market and by the number of trains running on those lines. Next, the company determined the availability and defined maintenance activities for each line, and then conducted mean time between failure (MTBF) analysis and reliability growth and distribution. Finally, the company developed key performance indicators (KPIs) and metrics by sector. All users have access to the KPI affecting their sector.

Predix APM provides RFI with an objective view of the health of its assets, as well as guides the company in deciding when it is necessary to perform specific maintenance or not and how to make the most effective use of manpower resources.

RFI achieves improved earnings and reduced maintenance costs with APM

After implementing Predix APM, RFI achieved improved earnings and reduced maintenance time and costs. It now has the ability to identify and assess both existing and proposed maintenance activities and to assess the health of its infrastructure. The solution also helps conduct performance and reliability analysis—optimizing maintenance and resources for nearly two million functional locations.