(Wabtec issued the following news release on September 30.)
WILMERDING, Pa. — Wabtec Global Services, a division of Wabtec Corporation, was awarded a three- year, automatically renewing contract by BC Rail, Canada’s third-largest railroad, to implement a car repair billing system that collects repair and inspection data from field locations, automates administrative billing tasks, and integrates with the railroad’s corporate accounting system.
“We are pleased that BC Rail selected Wabtec’s proprietary car repair billing solution, which dramatically improves and streamlines the complex process of recording and invoicing for repairs it conducts on freight cars owned by other railroads and leasing companies,” said James C. Hoffner, vice president and general manager of Wabtec Global Services.
The system developed for BC Rail integrates two Wabtec applications: Wireless Rail Car Maintenance and Billing (CRB), and new Back Office. Wabtec Global Services customized both applications to integrate with BC Rail’s accounting system, and provided training on the applications and general database maintenance.
“Our goals were to recover 100 percent of car repair costs, provide on- line repair information collected at the repair site, ensure that incorrect or inappropriate charges for offline repairs are not paid, and reduce processing costs of billing and receivables,” said Thomas Aydon, supervisor, mechanical systems for BC Rail. “Since implementing the system in May 2003, we’ve been able to better manage our inventory, and mechanical operations have been enhanced through a seamless integration with our SAP accounting system, which provides timely accounting summaries and crew time and material reporting. We expect that billing revenue will increase this year by approximately 10 percent and billing errors will be virtually eliminated. Overall, the system has met our expectations and will generate a solid return on investment.”
With CRB, maintenance personnel use a wireless, hand-held device to record inspection and repair work conducted on freight cars in off-site field locations, and to submit the information to a central network server. Repairs are validated in real time for completeness and compliance with Association of American Railroad (AAR) specifications. Maintenance staff can also retrieve car repair history information, access work orders, and print work orders and repair records to a network printer from the field. Built-in prompts, required fields and specified drop-down lists simplify decision-making and ensure repair information is entered correctly the first time. CRB is currently used by several Class I, short-line and regional railroads in North America.
Wabtec’s new Back Office application, first used by BC Rail, responds to the AAR’s desire for electronic standards and programs. The system automates many of the labor-intensive, administrative tasks of car repair billing, such as ensuring that a repair is billable, identifying the car owner to be billed, discerning AAR or special-agreement pricing, and generating paper and electronic invoices. The system also automatically audits repairs and generates invoices for work performed on BC Rail’s freight cars by other railroads.
Wabtec Global Services provides comprehensive support for all aspects of railway vehicle repair and maintenance, such as software applications for freight, locomotive and intermodal repair and billing; inventory management solutions; component operation and maintenance training; and electronic, pneumatic and mechanical components repair. The company services customers in nine strategic locations across North America, including Boulder, Colo., Carson City, Nev., Chicago, Ill., Columbia, S.C., Kansas City, Mo. and Wilmerding, Pa. in the United States; Calgary, Alberta and Stoney Creek, Ontario in Canada; and San Luis Potosi in Mexico.
Wabtec Corporation ( www.wabtec.com ) is one of North America’s largest providers of value-added, technology-based products and services for the rail industry. Through its subsidiaries, the company manufactures a range of products for locomotives, freight cars and passenger transit vehicles. The company also builds new switcher and commuter locomotives, and provides aftermarket services, including locomotive and freight car fleet maintenance. The company has facilities located throughout the world. Wabtec’s mission is to be judged by its stakeholders as the world-class corporation focused on helping its global customers compete more effectively through higher levels of safety, quality and productivity.