New railroad turnout maintenance service

KZN “Bieżanów” decided to establish a separate maintenance department. The maintenance department, staffed with ca. a dozen employees, was equipped with the tools necessary for a quick and efficient response to the clients’ failure reports,” the Company assures.

The Krakow-based company offered maintenance services before. However, until now there was no separate maintenance department. “Our turnouts were serviced by employees from other departments,” says Jacek Paś, Board Member and Technology & Development Director at KZN “Bieżanów”.  “Between the rapid growth of our organisation, large sales volumes and our goal to respond to the clients’ signals more quickly, we simply had to organise a separate maintenance department,” Mr. Paś explains.

A specialised department controlling the condition of the turnout structures is also the result of the need to calculate the life cycle costs (LCC) of the product. Information gathered from continuous observation of various types of turnouts, operated in different environments and with varying intensity, will enable the manufacturer to tailor his offer to the needs of specific clients, and be more efficient in building the technological advantage.

In order to facilitate the performance of the tasks related to the improvement of product quality and monitoring the condition of products, the newly formed department will remain subordinated to the quality control department, which will enable quick transfer of essential information. Since the knowledge of the characteristics of products and services is a crucial aspect for the new department, it is only natural that the core personnel will be composed of experienced quality control employees.

Eventually, the maintenance department, staffed with ca. a dozen employees, will be equipped with the tools necessary for a quick and efficient response to the clients’ failure reports. The maintenance service vehicles will have rail grinding machines, diesel impact wrenches, power generators, transport trolleys, etc. on board, making it possible to perform the necessary repairs in all weather conditions.

“The main task of the new department will be grinding of the key turnout elements, i.e. crossing plates.  In modern turnout structures made with high-manganese cast steel, bainitic cast steel and other generally applied materials, it is necessary to periodically remove the metal flows. A timely response ensures durability and prevents major damage to the structure,” emphasises Dariusz Prasiel, Maintenance Department Manager at KZN “Bieżanów”.