Automation strategy gathers pace as purchasing moves online

Network to overhail back office technology

Network Rail is on track with back office overhaul

Network Rail is overhauling its enterprise resource planning (ERP) and document management systems to assist in its goal of delivering a world-class rail network.

As well as plans to develop an intelligent rail infrastructure that improves the maintenance and renewal of the tracks, the company is also upgrading back-office technology to improve efficiency and cut costs.

The firm has already deployed ERP software to more than 15,000 staff and will extend it to another 5,000 over the next two years.

‘This will be a combination of extending existing systems to more staff and adding new functionality,’ said Network Rail IT director Catherine Doran.

The company has rolled out Oracle’s e-business suite for financial, procurement and human resource systems, and is adopting a similar approach to that of its trackside infrastructure by developing automated and self-service systems.

‘Staff can now make orders and approve procurements online, replacing a number of manual processes,’ said Doran.

Network Rail is also enhancing its document management system, which records and stores documents such as technical specifications, engineering drawings and safety certificates.

‘These are the lifeblood of an organisation such as ours and a centralised system will allow everyone to share information despite the disparate location of staff,’ said Doran.

Network Rail has not historically invested heavily in new IT, but this allows it to roll out ERP systems without the need to replace or integrate existing systems, says Freeform Dynamics analyst Martin Atherton.

‘It has been able to roll out a single system to automate and replace a number of disparate systems with one process. Adding self-service will deliver even more benefits,’ he said.