Operations improvement

In a typical environment, transportation service delivery relies on an cadre of skilled operators and maintainers who manage daily deliverables. Our team recognizes that 99% of the time, they do not need outside assistance, as the operation runs like clockwork under your skilled individuals.  We know this because we’ve run these big operations – we’ve been in your shoes and know you’re capable.  So, for that 1% of the time when the situation goes off-track, we are here to navigate your way back to normalcy.

All transit systems periodically encounter challenges and systemic stress. Not every challenge develops into a crisis, but a crisis can come from almost anywhere. We help mitigate additional fallout from crisis times by:

• Negotiating and settling a difficult labor agreement
• Succession planning and training for skilled senior operators and executives
• A political crisis-of-confidence, which requires an “outside expert” to provide an assessment of operations and an improvement plan
• A high-profile safety incident, which requires identifying root causes and building a new safety culture
• Deploying new technology, or improving on innovative practices that weren’t as effective upon initial rollout
• High profile cut-overs involving boundary conditions where the entire operations must be changed irreversibly overnight
• Potential high-risk situations involving complex engineering issues in areas such as track, signal, traction power, or vehicle systems
• State-of-good-repair issues requiring difficult but immediate changes to day-to-day operations under severe constraints
• Transition between incumbent and new service delivery contractor
• Developing a concessioning bid as a new entrant to an established operation

These are situations that call for experienced leadership by senior executives with practical knowledge of our quirky centuries-old industry. With decades of experience managing difficult operations interference, our people provide a plan to keep you on track with minimal disruption to operations flow.

There are basically a few different ways to work this, and we have experience in playing each of these key roles:

• We can be purely advisory. Our senior leaders help you by shadowing behind the scenes and counsel you on what questions to ask, which issues to look into, and what other stakeholders might do in response to your actions.  We are part of your war room – you provide the leadership, and no one else sees us.
• We can coach and mentor. We can provide coaching for your senior executives, your operations managers, or even your sponsors.  The best part about this way to work is that we will provide you with what you need to get “over the hump”, but after we’re done, your team will operate in a more streamlined and efficient manner.
• We can take the helm. In some cases, you would prefer that the outside consultant with many years of industry experience to provide public-facing interim leadership from the front row.  We are prepared to step in and be the authority when you determine it is appropriate for your goals.
• We can be analytical and supportive. In some cases, you have an existing management team who are doing a great job, but need input from others within the industry in a self-assessment or benchmarking effort. Not only can we provide turnkey solutions, we enjoy this part of the business because sometimes we learn from your team as much as you learn from us. Our integrative approach allows for free-flowing knowledge transfer to support all deliverables.

For each of these roles, we can be on-site or remote.  However, for the most complex or involved situations, we will be much more effective if we can be on-site in the trenches with your management and your operators.  That’s the nature of transport operations.  You’re at the sharp end of the business, and we’re right there with you.