Optimisation of Working Time Systems in Public Transport Vehicle Workshops

Subject of the consulting assignment was a benchmark-based study to optimise the working time organisation in the central production areas of a public transport company.
The design of the working time system is one of the key levers of business orientation. It affects many factors determining future competitiveness. An alteration of this complex system hence required a holistic approach, which took into account the dependencies and interactions of individual aspects.

First of all, a detailed survey was carried out to compare the existing central parameters of the working time organisation to the future influencing factors and to derive useful starting points for the planned development. These focused on the operational and technical requirements of the particular functional value adding areas such as the bus depot workshops, the central workshop, as well as maintenance facilities for equipment and infrastructure. In terms of the necessary comprehensiveness, it turned out to be useful to collect not only the parameters concerning working time organisation but also the essential indicators for productivity and efficiency in the workshops’ value adding areas.

Benchmarking with working time systems of other transport operators

Based on these data, the information was processed into appropriate qualitative and quantitative comparisons with other transport companies. These findings could be used as a basis for preliminary qualitative assessments of the expected effects a further development of the working time organisation may have. Considering the company’s objectives that were defined in the beginning (strain on workers, employer attractiveness), appropriate development opportunities for working time systems were finally identified.

19. February 2016