Railway Track & Structures - September 2007 - (Page 30) Choosing the best m/w machinery which lowers our overall cost of ownership. Overall, we believe that standardization can be a good thing as long as it truly lowers costs for the railway and does not stifle improvement efforts and R&D on new and better equipment.” "At the present time, we are tending to see less standardization as the market and suppliers develop more global strategies, “Graham of CPR said. “What we would like to see is more standardization, particularly in the North American markets.” “This is a two-way street,” Bagley of CSXT replied. “The builders and the railroads can both gain from standardization. From a manufacturing process, it makes the building simpler, with fewer changes from order to order, the assembly process goes more smoothly and faster and, in turn, the railroads should see a lower cost for a machine. The railroads would gain by having to stock fewer parts, and simplifying training for mechanics and operators. However, the builders have to take the lead. They know the differences between different railroads and the respective associated costs. They need to prioritize the list and start working with each customer trying to get compromises and/or concessions.” “We do not see more standardization in the marketplace,” Drake of NS observed. “Yes, it would be beneficial to have component commonality between machines.” “Standardization requires creating a standard and then maintaining the standard,” Domski of UP said. “Both are difficult to achieve. On existing equipment, modifications to meet a standard are not cost effective. In the future, our opportunities seem to be to standardize methodologies and then match the equipment to the operation. We also need to be aware of the potential pitfalls of standardization such as reduced competition and reduced maintenance, on-board diagnostics, etc.” “Equipment specifications are application driven,” UP’s Domski noted. “In our current environment, there are a multitude of regulatory constraints that must be addressed. We then look at performance issues, with the focus being on automation and simplicity for both operation and maintenance.” More or less standardization Is there more standardization in the market? Would you like to see more? “Several manufacturers are standardizing components and parts across their product lines,” Upward noted. “This helps us reduce spare parts inventories, 5. 30 Railway Track & Structures September 2007 www.rtands.com http://www.rtands.com
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