One column - 0 4935

• Sebastien Breton - Java Designer
• Joe Mangoni - Senior Project Manager
• Project: Precision Engineering
• Profile: Smart Yard

CN's rail network consists of 30,000 track miles with over 40,000 crossings, and 27,000 turnouts, just to name a few of the assets making up our extensive network. Each year, Track & Roadway employees visually inspect some 3.3 million track miles, and Signals & Communications employees perform over one million regulatory tests.

Based in SAP, the Precision Engineering project is designed to provide Engineering employees with better tools to plan and prioritize their workload. A key component is the Track Inspection System (TIS), which combines data from the Sperry Rail and Track Evaluation System (TEST) cars, along with information collected from visual inspections. This will provide Engineering supervisors and track inspectors with a detailed overview of all track defects, along with the ability to prioritize and assign work to field forces. The second phase of the project delivers mobile time and material reporting capabilities.

A key deliverable of Precision Engineering is to install PCs in work vehicles to provide employees with wireless access to report and extract information such as plant condition, track availability, along with train and Engineering crew locations. . The project will also deploy hand-held units to CN's 800 Signal & Communications Employees.

In addition to improving CN's end-to-end lifecycle for all defects: inspection, repair and reporting, Precision Engineering also provides better information to demonstrate regulatory and environmental compliance.