Supply chain Vital connections A new asset management system is helping to keep the supply chain links to remote communities in Canada running smoothly A s the Polar Bear Express passenger train enters Moosonee station in Ontario, community members wait to greet passengers and the arrival of vital goods. The only all-season land link to the Canadian town and remote communities on the James Bay coast, the Polar Bear Express is more than a passenger rail service. It provides access to education, shopping, travel, and business. Furthermore, the train is a vital component of the provinces supply chain, delivering food, mail, fuel, building supplies, and more. Ontario Northland, the company responsible for operating the Polar Bear Express, is a Crown Corporation of the provincial government that has serviced remote and rural Ontario for more than 120 years. The agency provides passenger rail and motorcoach services, and operates freight services and a remanufacturing and repair centre for industrial rail customers. Its longstanding history and diverse divisions are an advantage in providing transportation services that meet the unique needs of northerners (and industry partners, in the case of the remanufacturing and repair centre) and has made the organisation asset-intensive. As Ontario Northland carries on modernising its services and reaffirming its commitment to continuous improvement, it has benefited from a comprehensive enterprise asset management programme, now in its second year of implementation. The programme is already beginning to demonstrate its importance, in part because, once fully operational, it will provide a holistic picture of the organisations financial standing. Varied assets After a century of operation, the company has acquired ownership of various properties and buildings across the province, historical artefacts, and equipment relevant to the rail industry. Though data is still being collected, the net book value of the assets is in excess of $550m, with large investments in passenger rail to come during the next few years. Over the coming years, Ontario Northlands enterprise asset management programme will continue to take inventory of assets, digitise records, and analyse data to establish a more comprehensive understanding of the organisations financial standing, and assist the agency in making balanced investment decisions. The programme will ensure that asset management is integrated with business planning, budgeting, financial reporting, and internal audit processes. Author bio Chad Evans is the Chief Executive Officer at Ontario Northland. He is responsible for overseeing the operations of the Ontario Northland Transportation Commission, a Provincial Crown agency reporting to the Ontario Ministry of Transportation. During the past decade, Evans background in business, information and technology, and change management has assisted the agency in unlocking operational efficiencies and effectiveness. He is moving the organisation forward by modernising and expanding services. Standardising processes Of particular relevance to the supply chain and given the importance of rail infrastructure work in that aspect of the agencys business is the impact of the asset management system in driving the agency towards creating standardised company-wide processes and procedures. This is particularly relevant for Ontario Northland, which operates across a vast geographic territory, collecting a wide variety of data. Establishing enterprise-wide, standardised processes across asset, inventory and procurement, as well as a work-management stream, has been crucial to the success of the enterprise asset management programme. The work has resulted in significant efficiencies through a coordinated system of processes, people and technology. The agency is currently using this information to enhance maintenance systems with a reliability focus. Furthermore, asset management in addition to generating awareness about company best practices and contributing to a greater understanding of employee contribution to organisational success has already begun to provide the insight on asset performance and risk management to ensure passenger and employee safety. Greater insight is expected as the programme continues to be implemented organisation-wide. Short history and overview The Ontario Northland Railway has its beginnings in 1902, when construction of the railway started in Ontario. Since that time, the company has evolved to provide multiple reliable transportation services, all focused on improving access between northern Ontario and the rest of the province. Ontario Northlands rail network stretches from North Bay to Cochrane and then continues north to Moosonee (reaching the shores of James Bay). The line extends west from Cochrane to Hearst/Calstock and east from Kirkland Lake to Rouyn Noranda, Quebec. In addition to rail, the company provides bus transportation services across much of the province of Ontario into Manitoba. This service provides a vital link to residents of northeastern Ontario to enable them to get to medical appointments, and to school and college, and for personal travel. Ontario Northland continues to advance its services through innovation and a focus on operational excellence. The agency enhances Ontarios transportation system, creating connectivity and connection to some of the most northern communities in the province. People matter An important lesson learned early in the asset management journey that has now become standard practice is to ensure projects related to asset management are a collaborative process with frontline employees. The enterprise asset management team focuses on understanding the employees lived experience and the reason why current processes are carried out the way they are. Specialised training and modern change management practices for employees who have never worked with technology remains a crucial practice that is now built into project planning. This is particularly important during this modern climate, where recruitment remains a challenge across all divisions. With regards to recruitment in the asset management division, Ontario Northland has been able to retain talent by investing in internal applicants who have no formal training in asset management, but who possess a keen interest in specific programme areas. Providing asset management training to employees with diverse skill sets has established several in-house division experts who help to carry the project forward, contributing key insights and perspectives. Remote working The implementation of the management system in rural and northern Ontario was met with some unanticipated challenges, which have been used as key learnings as the enterprise asset management project continues to be implemented across the organisation. Equipping employees with adequate technology if they work in locations without access to Wi-Fi is also considered as projects move forward. Additionally, simple processes such as barcoding can have massive impacts on inventory accuracy and management, and will, ultimately, assist the organisation in understanding life-cycle costs and forecast purchase requirements. The programme has emphasised to frontline employees the benefits of the software, which is expected to contribute to operational efficiencies. Though invaluable, cloud-based data management programs also posed some initial challenges. In the experience of Ontario Northland, programs must be configurable, but not to the detriment of providing meaningful data and analytics. Furthermore, customisation should not be so specific that it becomes hindered or depleted with software and system updates, which should be expected for cloud-based products. Software upgrades should also be scheduled in advance, particularly if new staff members are being trained to use the product. Finally, extensive research and planning must be conducted to ensure any data platform being considered is compatible with current systems, including information from odometer readings on equipment, or relevant finance systems and so forth. The value of cloud-based solutions includes being able to access real-time data across all geographic locations, and remaining up to date on system improvements. Enterprise asset management is the system that helps Ontario Northland capture and make sense of data to inform decision-making, spot trends, and enhance operational efficiencies, so services such as the Polar Bear Express remain sustainable, reliable and affordable for remote communities Future planning Looking ahead, the enterprise asset management programme is already proving useful as the organisation continues to plan for the future. Project planning with regards to inventory, investments in infrastructure, and procurement of new equipment is now better able to consider options that align with the organisations environmental and sustainability values. The data being collected today will help inform future purchasing decisions, new service offerings or project commitments, and even employment as the agency gains a better understanding of the talent required to adequately maintain assets. Furthermore, this programme will assist Ontario Northland in operating more transparently, being able to reaffirm public confidence not just in fiscal responsibility, but also in all areas of business. Enterprise asset management is the system that helps Ontario Northland capture and make sense of data to inform decision-making, spot trends and enhance operational efficiencies, so services such as the Polar Bear Express remain sustainable, reliable and affordable for remote communities. Availability of assets that are in good working condition is crucial to the Polar Bear Express service. The enterprise asset management programme enables the agency to make decisions that ensure assets and activities meet customer expectations, and balance risk, cost and performance. Asset management has become the foundation that helps Ontario Northland continue its modernisation efforts and ensure even the most rural and northern communities have access to healthcare, education, and adequate food, fuel and travel today and tomorrow. Innovation and modernisation With its strong connections to the provinces economic and social development since the turn of the 20th century, Ontario Northland has a long history of evolving and modernising to respond to current needs of customers and residents. The organisations value of continuous improvement has seen the agency renew its focus on innovation and modernisation in recent years, optimising assets in a variety of ways. For example, during the past decade, the agency has shifted rail maintenance projects to a central facility in Cochrane, to make space for revenue-generating remanufacturing and repair projects in the North Bay facility. Ontario Northland has also enhanced internal systems and processes to enable a decentralised workforce to work more collaboratively and succinctly. The asset management programme is a natural extension of the agencys modernisation efforts, enabling it to unlock operational efficiencies and effectiveness to prepare for future growth and increased service offerings.