Transports Publics de Fribourg: CMMS to harmonize maintenance processes

The public transportation network of the canton of Fribourg in Switzerland is primarily operated by Fribourg Public Transport (TPF).The group manages the railway network, the regional bus network, as well as the urban bus network.

It is organized as a holding company that includes three subsidiaries: TPF TRAFIC (road and rail operations, rolling stock maintenance), TPF INFRA (rail infrastructure) and TPF IMMO (real estate development and property management). It employs nearly 1,300 people, including 800 train and bus drivers, and carries an average of 74.8 million passengers a year.
To optimize its maintenance management and customer satisfaction, TPF is equipped with CARL Source Transport CMMS.

A single CMMS to centralize data and optimize methods

In 2017, TPF TRAFIC chose CARL Source CMMS solution to modernize its maintenance management across its three sites dedicated to rail maintenance, urban rolling stock and regional rolling stock; three major areas of activity that then operated separately a n d relied o n Excel and paper maintenance work orders to manage their maintenance.

In 2018, it’s TPF INFRA‘s turn to implement CARL Source CMMS to modernize its maintenance management across the two entities dedicated to station and rail track maintenance.

In 2020, TPF TRAFIC consolidated its maintenance teams at the new operations center in Givisiez, near Fribourg. The CMMS becomes the structuring tool in the change that is taking place. The strategy is clear: it is essential to ensure the best operating conditions for rolling stock and equipment, to standardize methods, and to integrate the technical skills of teams through a unified CMMS to:

Centralize and optimize maintenance processes.

Digitize maintenance work orders.

Reduce maintenance work processing time.

Prioritize preventive maintenance and improve vehicle availability.

TPF: a project to standardize maintenance processes

Deployment of CARL Source CMMS software

CMMS deployment at TPF is a three-stage process:

In 2017, TRAFIC deployed CMMS across its 3 activities (rail, urban and regional bus), located at different sites, after raising awareness and training its users, as well as standardizing processes and integrating data into CMMS.

In 2018, INFRA is in turn rolling out CMMS for its electrical maintenance and civil engineering activities, with the same production rollout scheme as TRAFIC: user training, overhaul of maintenance processes, etc.

In 2020, thanks to CMMS, our teams were able to work together in the same location, which allowed them to become quickly productive.

“When maintenance operations and teams were grouped together at the new operations center in 2020, we introduced a CMMS charter showing how each technician is to enter data into CARL Source software. We have supported our workshop managers in the implementation of new cross-functional maintenance processes, such as Maintenance work, structured in the unique CARL Source database“, explains Florian Viseur, Operations Systems Manager. As a result, each maintenance work activity follows the same process, from notification of maintenance work, whether preventive or corrective, to the preparation of reports and the declaration of time spent on each job. This method ensures greater cohesion between all technicians and encourages cross-functional teamwork.

CMMS interfaced with SAP ERP system

The CMMS is also interfaced with TPF’s ERP. “We have set up a CARL Source interface with SAP to optimize maintenance budget tracking through stock movements, orders and entries in Maintenance work, and time spent on each piece of equipment, to then consolidate costs per piece of equipment. In this way, all data entered into CARL Source by technicians is fed back into SAP, in a way that is totally transparent for our technicians,” explains Florian Viseur.

“CARL Source is TPF’s key maintenance tool and its interface with SAP provides the budgetary insight essential to management decision-making.”

Florian Viseur, Operations Digitalization Manager

A positive assessment of the CMMS project

CARL Source Transport’s CMMS is a strategic tool in the modernization of the TPF Group. By centralizing maintenance data and ensuring full traceability of all technical activity, processes have been optimized to increase preventive maintenance, team responsiveness and rolling stock availability, and to support the harmonization of maintenance methods with a unified team at a single maintenance center.

According to Florian Viseur, “with the analyses drawn from CMMS, we have achieved numerous technical and organizational improvements. By refining our maintenance diagnostics, we have reduced time spent on Maintenance work and improved the quality of our equipment’s lifecycle“. Thanks to its industry-specific transport features, the particularities of the profession are managed: troubleshooting, preventive maintenance, forecasting, regulatory maintenance, new work, claims and vandalism… ” With CARL Source Transport, our regulatory maintenance is greatly simplified. Where it used to take us several hours to research and prepare for audits, we now only have to make certain CMMS queries to respond to the auditors’ checks“, says Florian Viseur.

To date, the CMMS project has been deployed for TPF building maintenance, as well as for TPF Trafic stop maintenance.

Our maintenance solution for rolling stock, fixed and linear installations: CARL Source Transport

CARL Source Transport is our CMMS solution dedicated to the transport sector. It has been designed to guarantee the best possible operating conditions for the resources provided (rolling stock, fixed installations, linear assets). It enables you to structure your fleet, guarantee equipment availability, passenger and staff safety, monitor your activity in real time, optimize costs, and manage your contracts while reconciling quality and budgetary control. Designed in partnership with major players in the industry, this solution helps you to meet the new constraints of the transport sector.